Wireless not working. Hardware Radio Switch Off..?

[Stevemail4210]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

 

[Stevemail4210]

Sager NP2098
15.6" HD 16:9 WXGA Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy LED Screen (1366x768)
Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 "Montevina" 2.53GHz w/ 3MB L2 Cache - 1066MHz FSB - 25watt
4,096MB DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
2GB Intel Robson Turbo Memory II
512MB ATi Mobility Radeon HD4650
2X Blu-ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
Built-in Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
Integrated Fingerprint Reader
Bluetooth EDR Card
Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
Internal 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS)
Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
Full Range Auto Switching AC Adapter - Included
Smart Li-ion Battery (6-Cell)
Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit)

 

[barnaclebillbellman]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

Been having the same sort of trouble, still havnt sorted it out , but I found whats causing the trouble, the default setting on your windows firewall stops home and work networks getting through the firewall,I,ve tried to remove the block but can,t, I.ve got up to the advanced settings bit, but cant find any mention of networks. perhaps you could try that, and let me know how to do it, as you seem a bit more au-fais with computers than I

 

[Stevemail4210]

I don't think it's my firewall because I had this same problem when I was using Norton, and Windows Firewall was disabled. And now I have completely removed Norton, and temporarily turned of Windows Firewall manually, and the problem persists.

 

[Stevemail4210]

Any suggestions at all will help!? And if you need any more info just ask.

 

[Stevemail4210]

please help!

 

[Alex Johansen]

Any solution to this?

Only work around I have is to go to devmgmt.msc from Run and enable/disable the intel adapter under Network Adapters.

 

[Jaichander Ramesh]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

Goto: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting\Network and Internet
Right click network adapter and select "run as administrator"
Your problem should go away....
Was stuck with this problem for almost a day ....haven't found a satisfactory answer online.....running the network adapter diagnostic as administrator seems to be the key here...
Hope this helps you and the scores of others who are facing this problem....

 

[The_Monia]

Hi there,
My computer had the same problem and I have just managed to find a solution.
I pressed Fn+F2. [After hours spent over this issue I was quite disappointed to find such an easy solution]
Hope that can work for you as well.
Monia

 

[Balaji Muniraju]

Hi there,
My computer had the same problem and I have just managed to find a solution.
I pressed Fn+F2. [After hours spent over this issue I was quite disappointed to find such an easy solution]
Hope that can work for you as well.
Monia

Fn+F2 is for Mute/Unmute,how this helps... still tried and no help

 

[donatsz]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

same problem here, the hw switch is double checked (righ side of the front) it is switched on.
bios also checked, but system says the radio is switched of.
the windows trouble shooter also highlights the hw switch as a solution.

any idea maybe?

 

[TechMan101]

THIS should FIX it

http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdDetails/?lang=en&cc=us&swItem=ob_86003_1
........................................................

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

same problem here, the hw switch is double checked (righ side of the front) it is switched on.
bios also checked, but system says the radio is switched of.
the windows trouble shooter also highlights the hw switch as a solution.

any idea maybe?

 

[jimdenver]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

 

[jimdenver]

WLAN AutoConfig is set to Automatic but will not start and produces this error... “Error 1083: The executable program that this service is configured to run in does not implement the service” In our example Wireless will not start and shows the radio is turned off…
1. Open Services.msc
2. Open the properties of the service (General Tab) that won’t start (WLAN AutoConfig)
3. Make a note of the last entry at the end of 'Path to executable' i.e. C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted
4. In the registry navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Svchost
5. In the right pane open the string that matches the Path to executable entry, (LocalSystemNetworkRestricted)
6. Then add the exact service name “Wlansvc” from the properties window; right click on the executable entry and select modify to add.
7. Close regedit and reboot. Now check if the service has started.

 

[DTKent]

For my Toshiba Satellite P755 - I found this answer on Toshiba Forums - (and it worked for me - lost wireless connection twice, and went 3 months 'on the wire' before finally solving problem.)

Go to the folder on your c drive "Program files\Toshiba\TBS. Then scroll down the list of program files and double click on the file named TBSWireless.exe and hey presto, the wireless communication will turn on (Amber Light will come on on the front bottom right panel of the computer). From now on the FN-F8 Key combination will turn it on and off.

 

[Richard Samola]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

 

[Richard Samola]

Its easy, just use the fungsional button + one of the f button with a connect icon, mine is fn+f3 others have different...

 

[plargent]

Same Problem. WIFI couldn't be started using any of the usual steps. Looked at all the usual suspects. The Intel diagnostics "Manual Diagnostics Tool" failed on "Radio Test". I had a "Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 AGN" on a Lenovo laptop.

Solution: Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> under "Lenovo's Internet Connection" I chose "Turn radios on/off". This tool claimed the radio was off and when I clicked "Power ON" the WIFI system started working properly.

No idea how this software feature got turned off on my Intel WIFI service. This is different than the physical switch that exists to turn off all radios

My FN-F2 and FN-F3 did not load anything useful.

 

[Paul Avail]

Guys, this also happened to me. I was ready to throw my laptop through the wall when I noticed the connection button lit up between my keyboard and screen. I'm not the most tech guy but it looks like an inside down thermometer with a signal. Push it. Worked for me

 

[Aaron C]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

Goto: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting\Network and Internet
Right click network adapter and select "run as administrator"
Your problem should go away....
Was stuck with this problem for almost a day ....haven't found a satisfactory answer online.....running the network adapter diagnostic as administrator seems to be the key here...
Hope this helps you and the scores of others who are facing this problem....

perfect fix, thank you

 

[alvin7]

I am unable to connect to the internet wirelessly. The ethernet cable works just fine. When I run network diagnostics it says to turn the wireless capability on. I am able to connect using other devices, (psp, xbox 360) The switch and light on my laptop is turned on. When I press Fn-F2 (wireless capability) buttons, nothing happens. Intel My WiFi Utility says hardware radio switch off. And a program i downloaded from Intel's website: Wireless Select Switch, says bluetooth and wireless LAN are disabled. The network adapter in my laptop is Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN, and the drivers are up to date. I have also tried rolling back the drivers, System Restore, Setting the BIOS to default, and uninstalling the drivers, restarting, then reinstalling the driver... Please help! REDACTED - SS is my email, you can contact me directly or on this site.

Goto: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting\Network and Internet
Right click network adapter and select "run as administrator"
Your problem should go away....
Was stuck with this problem for almost a day ....haven't found a satisfactory answer online.....running the network adapter diagnostic as administrator seems to be the key here...
Hope this helps you and the scores of others who are facing this problem....

Thank you! Worked well!

 

[Astro45]

I was having a problem with my mouse pad causing the cursor to jump around when typing an email or most any text. I read someplace that you can disable the mouse pad by pressing fn and F2 or F3. I did that on my wife's computer and it disabled the mouse pad. However on mine it not only disabled the mouse pad on mine but also the wireless adaptor. It was when I read the suggestions here, that I then re-hit my fn and F2 and the wireless started working again. All of this is to say that both our computers were bought at the same time with Windows 7 from Dell, but those commands are set up slightly different between the two computers. I am not smart enough to make them match but thanks to these suggestions both our problems are solved. Well at least until we get another update from MS.

 

[Kadathan]

Keep in mind also, that some computers put the option to disable the wifi and bluetooth antennas in the BIOS as well as on a function button. If your function key / wireless button isn't doing the trick, and "wireless hardware switch is off" is your problem, check the outside casing for any toggle, if none are found, the next place to look is in the BIOS.

 

[Jackie Clay]

My computer was doing the same thing today. Took it to work, and people got their hands on it. I figured someone had accidentally hit a button, but I didn't know what button. Luckily, I saw these suggestions. F2 didn't work for me, but I kept pressing function keys, determined to find out which was for wifi. I have a Gateway, and F4 worked for me. Immediately I saw my computer trying to connect..... And what do you know? Wifi is back baby. Thank you guys for all your input.

 

[Shawnee20]

If you have a Sony VAIO with Windows 7, you can go to the start menu and in the search field, type in: vaio control center. Scroll down past all of the folders until you see the VAIO Control Center application. Run it and select the Network Connections tab from the left side of the window. VAIO Smart Network should drop down and be highlighted. Toward the lower right, click the Advanced button and there is a small window that opens with a wi-fi on/off switch. Turn it to on and you're done. While this specific set of instructions will only work on this type of computer, rest assured, unless you have a radio switch that is physically broken on the inside, there is a software setting, not in control panel or network diagnostics, but in Program Files (x86), that you CAN find if you look for it. Just go to Computer, Local Disk (C: ), Program Files (x86), and from there, my computer is a Sony, so I click Sony and a great deal of VAIO system apps and tools are within that folder, but I imagine you could find a similar folder that says HP or Dell or whatever model of laptop that you are trying to fix.