AMILO Pro V2040 - Problem with Integrated Wireless....HELP

Hi,

I have an Amilo Pro V2040, and up until the other day the integrated wireless has been working fine (Bought the laptop in Jan 2005 and the warranty has expired).

Anyway it will no long pick up wireless networks that are in range. In device manager it says the device is functioning correctly, but when searching for a network using Windows XP Home it says no networks can be found.

If you right click and choose properties on the network card in device manager then in there it also has a place to turn it on or off, and it is turned on. Is this a common fault for the internal WLAN card to go faulty? If so can I buy a replacement part and replace it myself??

I bought a PCMCIA Belkin Wireless card and it picks up and connects to networks perfectly. Can anybody shed some light on this as integrated wireless is much more convenient and means not having a card sticking out the side of the laptop. Thanks for any help!!

Dan

 

Most notebooks now use mini-PCI wireless cards, and several places sell the Intel Pro Wireless cards, but you may want to contact your reseller to see if they offer replacements of the same card your notebook uses (or if they know which other internal cards it can use).

It is possible the problem is not in the card itself, though. If the problem is a short in the antenna, you're pretty much screwed (as far as an internal connection goes), since the antenna wire is normally wrapped around the edges of the LCD.

 

Anybody know if it is possible to get access to the wireless card itself and if so how?

 

It's going to depend on your notebook, but the wireless card has generally been placed under one of the access panels on the bottom of the notebook. Check those panels first. If it's not there, it's probably underneath the keyboard. You may want to see if you can get a service manual from your reseller, too.