Cant Connect to WiFi? Fix Your Network Adapter in 5 Mins

Having WiFi connection issues can be incredibly frustrating. A broken or faulty network adapter is one of the most common reasons why you can’t connect to WiFi. With just a few simple steps, you can troubleshoot and fix your network adapter in under 5 minutes.

Symptoms of a Faulty Network Adapter

Here are some common symptoms that indicate your network adapter may be having issues:

• Your WiFi is not showing up at all. If you don’t see any available networks show up when you try to connect, this likely means your network adapter is disabled or not functioning properly.

• You can see networks but can’t connect to them. If you can see your WiFi network but get an “unable to connect” error when trying to join, the network adapter may be corrupted or experiencing driver issues.

• Connections are spotty and unreliable. Frequent disconnects, very slow speeds, or an inability to load webpages can also point to a faulty network adapter.

• Your internet works fine on ethernet but not WiFi. Since ethernet bypasses the wireless network adapter, this indicates the WiFi adapter specifically is having problems.

Step 1: Restart Your Computer

The first step in any tech troubleshooting is a simple restart. Restarting your PC will clear out any software bugs or memory leaks that could be interfering with the network adapter.

Follow these steps:

1. Save any work and close any open programs.

2. Click the Start menu and select Power > Restart.

3. If that doesn’t work, hold down the power button on your computer tower for 10 seconds until it fully powers off.

4. Turn your computer back on and see if the WiFi works now.

Restarting solves many wireless issues surprisingly often. If the problem persists though, move on to the next steps.

Step 2: Toggle Airplane Mode On and Off

Toggling airplane mode is a quick way to reset all network connections on your PC. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Action Center by clicking the chat bubble icon on the taskbar.

2. Click the Airplane mode tile to enable it.

3. Wait a few seconds, then disable Airplane mode again.

4. Check if you can connect to WiFi successfully now.

Toggling airplane mode essentially power cycles the network adapters, forcing them to reconnect from scratch. This can dislodge any faulty connections.

Step 3: Run the Network Troubleshooter

Windows has a built-in network troubleshooter that diagnoses common WiFi issues automatically. Here’s how to use it:

1. Type “troubleshoot” into the taskbar search box and select Troubleshoot problems and diagnose network issues.

2. In the troubleshooter, select Internet Connections > Run the troubleshooter.

3. The troubleshooter will now analyze your network adapters, connections, firewall, etc to identify and fix any problems.

4. Once complete, check if your WiFi works now. The troubleshooter often resolves network adapter faults automatically.

Step 4: Update or Reinstall Network Adapter Drivers

Outdated or corrupted drivers are a primary cause of wireless network adapter failures. Updating them is easy:

1. Open Device Manager > Expand Network adapters. Right-click your WiFi adapter and select Update driver.

2. Choose to automatically Search for updated driver software on your PC and on Windows Update.

3. If an update is available, install it and restart your PC.

You can also try uninstalling the adapter drivers entirely in Device Manager, then reinstalling them fresh. This often fixes driver corruption issues.

Step 5: Reset Your Network Adapters

If all else fails, resetting your network adapters will force them to reinitialize completely. Here are the steps:

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt by searching for “Command Prompt”, right-clicking it, and selecting Run as administrator.

2. Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.

3. Next type netsh int ip reset and press Enter.

4. Restart your PC. Your network adapters will now reset to factory default settings.

Resetting often resolves even stubborn network adapter problems. After following these steps, WiFi connectivity should be fixed within 5 minutes. Let me know if the problem still persists!