Topic: Laptop Wireless Adapter No Longer Working

[LennyLaptop]

Hi There,
 I have an HP Pavilion dv6500z CTO Entertainment Notebook running Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit with a Broadcom 4321AG 802.11a/b/g/draft-n Wi-Fi Adapter that no longer picks up wireless signals.  The laptop itself is 20 months old and has recently (within the last 2-3 weeks) developed issues where it could locate, but not connect to, my Linksys wireless router, claiming low signal strength even while the laptop was no more than four feet from the router.  Now it no longer detects any wireless signals at all.  In the Device Manager the adapter has a yellow caution sign on its icon and under device status it reads "This device cannot start. (Code 10)".  It says my drivers are up to date, and I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the adapter software with no luck.  I completed a system restore back ten days from last night and still no luck.  I am considering popping in the system restore CDs and wiping the laptop, but thought I would post my problem here before going through all of that.  Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

[Simon]

Hi, and 

Not being an expert, until one comes along, I'll have a guess that the wireless adapter itself might have developed a fault.  Do you have a USB one you could try?  At least that would eliminate any fault with your router.

[LennyLaptop]

Thanks for responding, Simon.  I do not have a USB adapter to try, unfortunately.  I have also presented this problem to a friend who thinks, like you, there may be a problem with the adapter itself, as well.  I'm still going to cross my fingers the problem is more easily solved, but we will see how the votes tally.

[Simon]

I don't think a USB adapter would be all that expensive, but could you possibly borrow one from a friend to try it?

[Sandra]

Another vote for probably a faulty adapter.

[sam]

yep same here.... if you router has a wired connection it might be worth checking to see if all the setting are correct.

There is a hardware switch to turn the device on anywhere is there?

[LennyLaptop]

I don't think a USB adapter would be all that expensive, but could you possibly borrow one from a friend to try it?

Unfortunately, I recently moved to a new state so I do not know of anyone around me that would have a USB adapter.  I did a little looking online and they are not terribly expensive, so I may consider purchasing one rather than spending a lot of money to get the part replaced if there is no other good answer.

[LennyLaptop]

yep same here.... if you router has a wired connection it might be worth checking to see if all the setting are correct.

There is a hardware switch to turn the device on anywhere is there?

I do not believe the router has any issues as my wife's computer (XP) connects to the router just fine and I have not made any changes to the router lately.

[gmax]

Unfortunately, I recently moved to a new state so I do not know of anyone around me that would have a USB adapter.  I did a little looking online and they are not terribly expensive, so I may consider purchasing one rather than spending a lot of money to get the part replaced if there is no other good answer.

I't's probably just a mini PCI  wifi card, it should be easy enough to change yourself, their not expensive either.