Laptop won't Recognize Wireless

[Sawan Chan 7]

I have 3bb internet fibre optic and also true internet cable which both work with my computers. However, my best laptop, a Toshiba can't recognize the true wifi signal. Also, when I take it to my work it has a problem picking up the wifi.

It is only months old and just has absolutely no true wifi which puzzles me as all the smartphones and other mobile devices pick it up.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on?

[RichCor]

What 2.4GHz WiFi 'channel' is the True Residential Router/WiFi box using? If 12, 13, or 14 then some devices aren't configured to see/use those channels.

Can your laptop see the True Router SSID?

Have you tried telling the True Router to use different encryption types (AES rather than AES/TKIP).

You can also try reinstalling the laptop Ethernet/WiFi drivers from the Laptops support website. It might clear up the other issues you're having.

[Sawan Chan 7]

What 2.4GHz WiFi 'channel' is the True Residential Router/WiFi box using? If 12, 13, or 14 then some devices aren't configured to see/use those channels.

Can your laptop see the True Router SSID?

Have you tried telling the True Router to use different encryption types (AES rather than AES/TKIP).

You can also try reinstalling the laptop Ethernet/WiFi drivers from the Laptops support website. It might clear up the other issues you're having.

Thanks for the reply but i don't know what channel it is using.

The laptop can't see anything now but when I restarted it today there was the wifi showiing with a weak signal. Then it disappeared. All other devices show it as a strong signal. I can see all my neighbours wifis but not the one 10 feet away.

How do you tell a router to do something? i don't want to mess up all the other mobile devices using the signal.

[RichCor]

If the laptop is consistently showing a weak signals for all SSID -- and has never shows a strong signal even when siting close to the source -- then perhaps the laptop internal antenna are disconnected or loose.

On many laptops, WiFi is a replaceable module that can be accessed from one of the bottom doors of the laptop, with one or two antenna pigtails attached. Other times, the keyboard must be removed to reveal the module.

If the laptop displays strong signals for some SSID, just not yours, then I would look at how the router/WiFi is configured.

You'd need to find out the make/model, know it's gateway address and login credentials (name/pass), and connect to it either with a working computer or the problematic laptop via Ethernet cable. Once connected and logged into it's WebConfig software (using the gateway IP address), then try selecting other channels (1, 6, 11 ... some channel with weak competition from neighbors) -- then see if the laptop WiFi signal indicator improves for that SSID.

[Paul944]

Go back to the place you bought it and get it fixed under the warranty.

[Pib]

You may want to download/install InSSIDer Ver 3.X...it's freeware...only about 4.5MB in size. I've been running it for a long time....it will show all the wifi networks in your area, strength of each signal, info about each signal such as channel number/strength, etc. May be helpful in working the problem.

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html

[Sawan Chan 7]

Thanks for the replies.

I called the service support and somehow they got the signal to appear immediately, saying connection excellent but still couldn't connect to the internet. They are sending a technician round tomorrow.

Cheers

[Aachen]

Maybe it just was not switched on ......

[Sawan Chan 7]

You may want to download/install InSSIDer Ver 3.X...it's freeware...only about 4.5MB in size. I've been running it for a long time....it will show all the wifi networks in your area, strength of each signal, info about each signal such as channel number/strength, etc. May be helpful in working the problem.

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html

That's a really cool app!

[Pib]

You may want to download/install InSSIDer Ver 3.X...it's freeware...only about 4.5MB in size. I've been running it for a long time....it will show all the wifi networks in your area, strength of each signal, info about each signal such as channel number/strength, etc. May be helpful in working the problem.

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html

That's a really cool app!

Yes it is. And be sure to review the Learn section of the apps menu...like the User Guide. Ton of good info in many of the links in the User Guide like this Link from the User Guide talking channels, channel overlap, co-channels, etc.

[dddave]

Any chance you purchased your laptop in the USA???

I had exactly the same problem several months ago when I installed a new router. All my Android devices detected the signal with no problem but my laptop did not.

My HP laptop was purchased in the USA. Computers sold in the US can not receive Wi-Fi signals on channels 11-14 because they are reserved for Govt. use.

My new router had arbitrarily assigned the signal to one of those channels, thus my computer could not detect it. It was a simple matter of going into the routers admin and changing the channel to one other than 11-14.

Of course, it took two hair pulling days to figure this out.

Edited November 10, 2015 by dddave

[Sawan Chan 7]

Any chance you purchased your laptop in the USA???

I had exactly the same problem several months ago when I installed a new router. All my Android devices detected the signal with no problem but my laptop did not.

My HP laptop was purchased in the USA. Computers sold in the US can not receive Wi-Fi signals on channels 11-14 because they are reserved for Govt. use.

My new router had arbitrarily assigned the signal to one of those channels, thus my computer could not detect it. It was a simple matter of going into the routers admin and changing the channel to one other than 11-14.

Of course, it took two hair pulling days to figure this out.

Thanks for the reply - no it was bought in Thailand. The technicians came round today and sorted it - they said it they changed something in the router, so maybe it was he channel.