Windows 7 wireless connection problem - No Wireless Connections Available

Thanks for the help!

I am now able to "see" the wireless connections but not connect when I click to access the connection.

Friends who visit with their PC's can access my home wireless after they login with the password if they are using Windows XP and/or Vista.

My Windows 7 is still an enigma!

Spent $99 and 1/2 day with Microsoft online tech support without a solution!!!!

Upgrade to Windows 7 has been a "bummer" --- may have to go back to XP or Vista if Microsoft does not provide an update fix.

Again, thanks for the assist!

SOLVED Just signed up to perhaps help the miriad of stressed people as I was. I had 5 computers connected to home network combination of Vista and XP - no network problems. Bought new laptop with Win 7. Connected fine to network.

Left laptop alone for week or so - didn't even turn it off and when I tried to start it up - no network connection possible! Could still "see" network but wireless just would continually try to connect without success. Attached a ethernet cable from router to laptop and it connects fine - just no wireless.

Messed around with aes, tkip, antivirus plus heaps of other suggestions. But the solution was to upgrade the firmware on my router. Downloaded it from tplink website and opened the routers setting webpage and uploaded the newest firmware.

There's no doubt it is a Win7 problem as the old firmware works fine with xp, vista but they don't tell you this when selling you win7 and you spend heaps of time trying to find these solutions. I didn't try system restore but this would've been my next step as the win7 did work for a couple of weeks before it went down, so it has to be some kind of update or something that conflicted with the router after previously working.

Hope this helps someone.

While what you have listed here are some good basic things to follow, I was already doing them.  I saw my problem show up when a patch was applied to my laptop.  Originally I saw that patch being offered by the ASUS laptop update utility.  I backed it out and the problem went away.  Later I installed some Microsoft patches and the problem came back.  Here is the issue I am seeing:

When I first bring up the system the WIFI is never turned on automatically, as it is supposed to be and as it used to do prior to the patch.  I have to select the icon in the system tray, which shows the WIFI as of to turn it on.  It does so for all for about 5 seconds, just long enough to attach to the network, and then it turns itself off again!  I then have to do this a second time and that one will work.

It also turns itself off when any device changes are made to the system, such as plugging in or removing a USB flash drive.

I sometimes see it turn itself off when my screensaver has been running for a while, but it has to have been for quite a while, say at least 20 minutes.

I have completely disabled it being powered off by Windows, so it shouldn't ever be turning this off unless I tell it to.

This system has Intel My WiFi Technology in it and I saw some post about updating Intel drivers from their site fixed a similar issue, but it turns out that was for a different Intel WIFI chipset than what I have.  I have verified I am on the latest version of their drivers.

This become quite intolerable when I am at class at ITT and need to be on the network using my WIFI connection.

I am open to any suggestions.  Right now it seems my only option is to backout the last set of patches from Microsoft, because I don't know just which one causes the problem, and ignore all other patches that are made available.  That is not a good solution, because it means I will be ignoring possible security and bug fixes that I actually do need.

Mike

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to thank you all for the active discussion in this thread, and I would like to jump in and see if I can help address the multiple issues that seem to be covered in here.   I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Barb Bowman (MVP) for their efforts in this thread to date 

For a full list of steps to try, see the Wired and Wireless Tutorial on this page:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/wired-and-wireless-network-connection-problems-in-windows

After reading through the thread, there appears to be some confusion regarding Wireless Networking technologies and configurations using Windows 7 and I would like to spend some time to try and clear things up with some basic troubleshooting / best practices for Wireless Network related issues.

1.       First try and power off your modem, router and desktop/laptop. Then power on the modem, then the router, and then finally the desktop/laptop. Please do this in that order, allowing 60 seconds in between each device to enable the device to be fully booted and able to accept connections.

 

2.       Update the drivers for your wireless network adapter via Windows Update, or by using the website for either the company you bought your PC/Laptop from or the manufacturer of your networking device.

 

3.       Ensure that your router is set to broadcast it’s network name (SSID), ensure that you are connecting to the correct wireless network (SSID) and that you are using the correct WEP/WPA  passkey on both devices.

a.       Please use “Windows Connect Now” or “Wi-Fi Protected Setup” if available on your wireless router to ensure that the connection is setup correctly.

 

4.       If you are trying to use WPA or WPA2, please ensure that both your network adapter and wireless router support this protocol. If you are having issues detecting your wireless network when using WPA or WPA2, try configuring your router to use WEP instead and see if you can connect.

a.       Please note that the change between WEP/WPA/WPA2 will need to be made on both your computer and wireless router.

b.      If you are only able to connect using WEP, then your networking hardware may need a firmware upgrade. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, please call your hardware/router manufacturer for help in doing this.

 

5.       If you are having a problem with your wireless connection after resuming from hibernate or sleep, or are having intermittent connectivity issues, try to adjust your Power Management profile to change your Wireless Adapter Settings to Maximum Performance.

a.       To do this click “Change Plan Settings” next to your Power Profile, and choose “Wireless Adapter Settings” and set it to Maximum Performance. You should do this with all of your power profiles. Additional guidance is available here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/power-management

 

6.       Call the support line for your router manufacturer. It is likely that neither Windows nor the router are having problems, it is simply an issue of getting the configuration settings on both set up to work correctly together. The router manufacturer will be the best resource to know how to configure their device.  Most of the contact numbers are listed here: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/vendors/en-us

 

For more information please see the following links:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Why-can-t-I-connect-to-a-network

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/set-up-a-wireless-router

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Add-a-device-or-computer-to-a-network

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Wireless-networking-frequently-asked-questions

I will continue to monitor this thread but will likely end up splitting this thread into individual smaller threads to address the various different issues that have been mentioned so far.

If anyone has any questions please let me know.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

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