I am working on a laptop for a friend who's wireless will not enable. I was told that the issue occurred around the same time that the battery failed. I'll attempt to recall all the steps I have taken so far to attempt to resolve this. When CAT5 is unplugged, the wireless icon shows now networks available. Attempting to go to change device settings, the Wi-Fi adapter is disabled. Right click -> Enable shows the enabling pop up, but it remains disabled.
Fn+F2 (keyboard shortcut for enable/disable wireless)
Tried using a known working USB WiFi dongle (failed0
Downloaded new driver from Dell based on the laptop's Service Tag
Tried auto install, installed successfully, but no change
Manually searched for driver and selected it, still no change
Ran Windows Update
Tried restoring to a 2 month old restore point (fails)
Updated BIOS
Checked, started, stopped and verified set to automatic "DW WLAN Tray Service" and "WLAN Autoconfig" in the services.msc
Tried restoring to 2 month old restore point in Safe Mode (fails)
Uninstalled hardware in device manager, reboot, reinstall from Dell support site
I'm at a loss now. I have a Bachelors in Computer Science, and I cannot make a laptop enable it's wireless device.
*NOTE* The wireless is a DW 1704 with built in Bluetooth. The Bluetooth works fine, but the Wi-Fi does not.*
System Specs (directly from the support.dell.com site after running a HW scan. On the website, the network adapter shows as blank. However, it DOES appear correctly in my Device Manager.
The device driver I install is: Network_Driver_GR38D_WN_6.30.223.245_A03.EXE
Computer Model: Inspiron 3521
BIOS Vendor: Dell Inc.
BIOS Version: A12
BIOS Date: 10/25/2013
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 8.1
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1007U @ 1.50GHx
Memory: JDIMM 4 GB
DVD Drive: PLDS DVD+-RW DU-8A5HH
Disk Drives: WDC WD3200LPVX-75V0TT0
Display Adapters: Intel(R) HD Graphics
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers: Intel(R) 7 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller
Fn+F2 (keyboard shortcut for enable/disable wireless)
Tried using a known working USB WiFi dongle (failed0
Downloaded new driver from Dell based on the laptop's Service Tag
Tried auto install, installed successfully, but no change
Manually searched for driver and selected it, still no change
Ran Windows Update
Tried restoring to a 2 month old restore point (fails)
Updated BIOS
Checked, started, stopped and verified set to automatic "DW WLAN Tray Service" and "WLAN Autoconfig" in the services.msc
Tried restoring to 2 month old restore point in Safe Mode (fails)
Uninstalled hardware in device manager, reboot, reinstall from Dell support site
I'm at a loss now. I have a Bachelors in Computer Science, and I cannot make a laptop enable it's wireless device.
*NOTE* The wireless is a DW 1704 with built in Bluetooth. The Bluetooth works fine, but the Wi-Fi does not.*
System Specs (directly from the support.dell.com site after running a HW scan. On the website, the network adapter shows as blank. However, it DOES appear correctly in my Device Manager.
The device driver I install is: Network_Driver_GR38D_WN_6.30.223.245_A03.EXE
Computer Model: Inspiron 3521
BIOS Vendor: Dell Inc.
BIOS Version: A12
BIOS Date: 10/25/2013
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 8.1
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1007U @ 1.50GHx
Memory: JDIMM 4 GB
DVD Drive: PLDS DVD+-RW DU-8A5HH
Disk Drives: WDC WD3200LPVX-75V0TT0
Display Adapters: Intel(R) HD Graphics
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers: Intel(R) 7 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller
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My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1
- Computer type
- Laptop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Inspiron 15 (3521, Late 2012)
- CPU
- Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1007U @ 1.50GHz
- Memory
- JDIMM 4 GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- Intel(R) HD Graphics
- Sound Card
- Realtek High Definition Audio
- Hard Drives
- WDC WD3200LPVX-75V0TT0