Cellular option missing after upgrading to Windows 10

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

• What is the version of Windows 10 installed on the computer? Which Windows operating system am I running?
• When you say that the cellular option is missing in Windows, where are you trying to locate the setting/option?

Please refer to the following article to know about cellular settings in Windows 10.

Cellular settings in Windows 10

It is possible that the adapter is disabled. Let’s see if we can enable it back.

• Open the Run window by pressing the Windows key and the R key together.
• Type NCPA.CPL and hit the Enter key.
• Locate the adapter name, right click on it, select Enable and check if it fixes the issue.

As per the device manufacturer’s support site, the driver updates for this device were released in 2016 which may not be compatible with the latest version of Windows 10.

ThinkPad EM7345 4G LTE Mobile Broadband

For the latest update on the compatible systems, kindly refer to: Accessories and Options Compatibility Matrix (OCM)

However I would suggest to uninstall the EM7345 4G LTE Mobile Broadband driver completely and reinstall it.

• Download the device driver from: Sierra Wireless EM7345 Software for Windows 10 (64 bit)
• Right click on Start button (Windows logo) and select Device Manager.
• Under network adapters, locate Sierra Wireless EM7345 4G LTE.
• Right click on the device and select uninstall.
• Tick the checkbox to delete the driver from your computer.
• Reboot the computer install the driver downloaded from the above link.
• Reboot the computer again and see if it works.

You may also want to try downloading drivers from: ThinkPad EM7345 4G LTE Mobile Broadband

I would also suggest to update the device firmware from the device manufacturer’s support site or contact Sierra support for updated device firmware.

Hope it helps,

Regards,

Peer Samie

Microsoft Community-Moderator

Thanks, I'm afraid it didn't help. Windows is up to date. If I uninstall the driver and reinstall it then appears with a question mark in device manager and I have to do a system restore to get it back. It's really odd that the device appears and claims to be working correctly in device manager and in Network Adaptors, it's just that Windows doesn't offer any cellular options.

Thank you for your response. I carried out a system restore to 26th February, which was before making any of the changes you suggested. This has undone errors in device manger by reinstalling the drivers and I'm back where I started.

The 4G LTE devices is installed without errors in device manager and appears without errors in Network Connections. Despite Windows 10 knowing it is there and reporting no errors, the user interface does not offer the cellular connection option.

Hi,

Thanks again for the reply.

As the driver were removed completely from the computer and you are unable to reinstall them, I would suggest to try system restore and see if the drivers and cellular connectivity gets restored.

Note: System restore will not delete any of your personal files, however the apps and updates installed after the restore point was created will be uninstalled. Also any changes to settings make after the restore point was created will be lost. Select the restore point which was created before we uninstalled the drivers.

Please refer to the section Restore from a system restore point of the article:

Recovery options in Windows 10

Once the system restore completes, check the status of the device in device manager and let us know if the drivers are restored.

We look forward to your reply.

Regards,

Peer Samie

Microsoft Community-Moderator

Hi, reinstalling makes no difference. even in compatibility mode. I set it to run in Windows 7 compatibility Mode for all users and installed as Administrator as you suggested. There were no error messages.

As I have already stated, the device was fine in device manager and network adaptors when I migrated from Windows 7, the problem was Windows 10, despite the device being correctly installed, would not allow cellular connection. Having followed your advice the device now has a yellow exclamation in device manager with the error "the drivers for this device are not installed (code 28). There are no compatible drivers for this device". Clearly this is untrue because the device was installed without error when I migrated from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

Networking in Windows 10 generally seems poor, with Aircraft Mode switching itself on for no apparent reason and the computer failing to connect automatically to known networks even though the automatic connection option is selected. 

I'm very disappointed that having followed your advice the situation is worse than it was before.