Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
Why can't my laptop connect to the Internet?
A couple days ago my Alienware laptop started to act up. It wasn't able to connect to the internet unless I sat right next to the router. I know that it is a problem with my laptop because all my other devices and other computers can connect with no problem but my computer can't. P.S. the laptop does show the wi fi, but every time I try to connect, it says that it fails to connect.
IT'S NOT A PROBLEM WITH MY ROUTER. I tried it at 5 other homes and my laptop still didn't work for them.
1 Answer
- 8 years agoFavorite Answer
I'm assuming your alienware laptop is a few years old, no longer in warranty, and you need to know what to do to get back your wifi. Why it no longer works is suggested by the details you gave. If you can connect at all, albeit at close range, then the card is partially working but likely it is on its last breaths and will need replacement. Your best option is external wifi adapters that you plug in outside of your laptop. The best route is an expresscard wifi adapter. A picture of an expresscard adapter is linked to below. You will need to verify you have a slot to slide this card into.
If you don't have an open expresscard slot a USB adapter is your next choice. See the picture linked to below. When you get your new (external) wifi adapter you will want to disable the old one. This is so you don't accidentally try to connect with the non functional card. Click on your windows start button and type "device manager" in the search box and hit enter. When device manager comes up look for "network adapters". Click on network adapters so you see the list of your network adapters. Look for " (brandname) wireless network adapter". Right click on that and a context menu showing an option to disable that should be showing. Finally, just for the sake of showing you what is going on "under the hood" let's discuss what you'd see if you took off the bottom half of your laptop's plastic case to see inside. I've linked to a video of an Alienware M11x r2 that shows a close up of the wifi adapter for that model laptop. It has one white and one black wire coming off it. Looks like a small square circuit board. I also have a link below for a picture of said wifi adapter. If you were to replace the card inside your laptop you can get an idea of how this could be done. Why, you asked, did that card inside stop working? All I know is for some reason those little things have a mysteriously short life.
--------------------------------
wifi external expresscard
--------------------------------
http://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/6339406?adid=15...
----------------------------------
External USB wifi adapter
----------------------------------
http://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/17419471?adid=1...
-----------------------------------------------------
video Alienware M11x pci express slot detail
-----------------------------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=UBK5K4a8...
--------------------------------------------
dw1250 mini pcie wlan (internal wifi)
--------------------------------------------
