Wireless is disabled?

So a while back i have disabled my laptop's capability to connect to a wireless router (or anything for that matter) by changing an option in my laptop. (I cannot remember what it was).

I did this because most of the time i was connected by ethernet cable so i really didnt need the LAN connectivity (i was also told it would speed up my laptops performance).

Anyways i want to restore its WLAN capabilities but i cant seem to find out how.

THe switch is turned to "ON" , and in device manager, everything is operating fine.

Whats going on?

 

What operating system do you have and is the mechanical wifi switch on or off. After checking this go to start/connect to/show all connections and enable it. There is more but you need to give more information if this does not help

 

Sometimes there is a combo key on your keyboard to turn on/off wireless.

E.x: Mine is "Fn + F2"

If yours has that, is it on?

 

What OS?

Windows XP - Start > Run > "services.msc /s" (without the quotation marks), scroll down to "Wireless Net Zero" and enable the service if it is disabled.

Vista/7 - Start > Search "Run" (without quotations) > services.msc /s > scroll down to WLAN Autoconfig, enable service if it is disabled.

 

Thank you for that , it was disabled. However when i started it and rebooted, i still had the same problem.

My laptop cannot detect any wireless connections :S

And yes, my hardware switch is on.

 

If you are having a Vaio FZ, check the wireless setting in the Wireless Switch Switching Utility. It can be opened from the taskbar icon or from Program Files/Sony/WSSU.

 

Good point. HOWEVER, i noticed that on my taskbar, i only see the blue "B" square

I do not see the seperation and then then green LAN square. That could be the problem.

When i double click on it, all i see is Bluetooth device, not Wireless Lan

 

Open the Windows Mobility center and see if the wireless is disabled. What OS are you running?

 

On my XP Sony: Start/All Programs/Vaio Control Center/Expend Network Connections/Wireless Switch Settings/Open

 

Here is what you do. Go to the device in Device Manager, right-click and go to Properties and uncheck the OS managing turning on and off the device. Then your hardware switch should work, along with the Fn button as well.

 

I dont have a wireless function in my Windows Mobility Center. And i am running Windows Vista 32bit

I dont see this option in any of my network adapters

Heres what im talking about guys. It seems that only my bluetooth is operating.


As u guys can see on the bottom right, the Wireless Function is only the Bluetooth Device.

 

Uncheck the first checkbox...

 

This didnt help unfortunately

 

You can uninstall the wireless card driver from device manager, check the "delete driver software option", restart, and reinstall the driver.

 

After unchecking the box you turned on the hardware switch and made sure the WLAN was enabled using the function keys? Unchecking the box only will not fix the issue, you have to make sure the hardware is on too.

 

I dont know which Fn combination will activate my WLAN, all i know is that the switch on my laptop is on and everything else you told me to do was spot on.

 

What kind of laptop do you have? The Fn key for your wlan should be the one with the pic of the little antenna transmitting on it. So you need to press the FN key along with that key, which is usually one of the buttons from F1-F12.

 

My laptop is the Sony Vaio FZ290 and i cannot find any key with an antenna symbol.

 

Not all laptops offer WLAN switching with Fn keys, and not Vaios for sure. I have the Vaio FZ-190.

 

I don't have Vista installed, went to Windows 7, but since you have tried most everything else, try this:

Click on the Vista Orb, bottom left and enter View network connections in the search field and press enter. You should see a Wireless Network Connection along with a Local Area Connection. Right click on the Wireless Network Connection and Enable it. This will also cause it to be displayed in 'Windows Mobility Center'. If all goes well you should now be able to connect to Wireless Networks.

 

Does your FW have it locked out.

 

Even if the Firewall had it locked out the Wireless Network would still show up in Windows Mobility Center, just as "Not Connected". Since the Wireless Network is absent in WMC it would appear that it is disabled.