Can't connect to WiFi, driver missing (even after installing new one from Intel)

Question

Can't connect to WiFi, driver missing (even after installing new one from Intel)

Anonymous

Hello,

I'm writing here after many days of trying to solve a problem that cropped up roughly 3 weeks ago. It's become so bad to the point of frustration; I cannot get anything done on my laptop that needs to be done online. I'd appreciate any and all help from tech experts and the community.

THE PROBLEM

Roughly 3 weeks ago, I noticed my laptop began randomly disconnecting from my home's WiFi. The problem would occur every 12-24 hours but became increasingly worse over time. It was every hour, then every 5-15 minutes. At first I learned to simply restart my laptop, which used to fix it instantly. This worked until a week ago, and then a restart failed to help anymore.
After trying multiple network resets, troubleshooting steps, and more, I gave up (hoping to revisit this with a fresher mind) and resorted to using my phone's hotspot to wirelessly connect to the internet.
About 3 days ago, even the "WiFi" option under "Network & internet" simply disappeared. I now have to connect via Ethernet to my phone using USB tethering. I am writing this post using this method at the moment.

WHAT I'VE TRIED

Simple checks (is my phone able to connect to the WiFi? Are other users' devices, including their laptops, connected? Yes to all)
Laptop restarts (this used to resolve the problem, now it doesn't)
Network Reset (Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Network reset. Then, restart laptop)
Windows Update (from 10 to 11). I have Microsoft Windows 11 Education (64-bit), version build 23H2. No new updates (not even optional ones) are remaining to be installed.
Driver Disabling and Re-enabling
New Driver Install (I uninstalled the current driver and clean installed its latest version. Before doing this, I even installed the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant to tell me which driver to install)

MY NEW DRIVER IS

Intel® Wireless Bluetooth® Drivers for Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 and Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265**

HOWEVER

The problem persists. Worse, I cannot see my new driver's name under "Network adapters" in the Device Manager. I know I installed in correctly because I ran the install wizard through to completion, and the Intel Driver & Support Assistant says I have it installed. I did another restart, praying that the driver would appear and that I'd be able to reconnect to the WiFi, but nothing worked. That is, I cannot:

see the WiFi option
see my new driver
connect to WiFi

**Note: I noticed that Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 is now unsupported by Intel as mentioned here. However, this is the driver I had earlier, and is the driver recommended to me by the Intel Driver & Support Assistant.

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3 answers

Answer 1

Hi Shambhavi Upadhyaya

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

According to your description, I understand that your laptop can't connect to WiFi and the problem still exists after installing the latest driver provided by Intel, I understand your feeling very well! You have tried some solutions, although did not successfully solve your problem, but commend your ability to solve the problem and thinking!

I will try my best to solve this problem for you and give you some solutions that will hopefully solve your problem successfully.

Option 1: I noticed in your problem description that you had a reboot that solved the problem, but now it doesn't, which is kind of like a problem I had. Because the laptop mold is older and the NIC is located closer to the hard disk and CPU, it causes the NIC to fail when the hard disk and CPU temperature rises during use.

Therefore, please try to update your BIOS or install a more stable BIOS version by searching through the official website of your laptop's brand name that matches your relevant model number. Some BIOS versions will adjust the associated heating and reduce the frequency of similar problems.

Please note: Stable BIOS versions are only the ones with less user feedback and better reputation. You can usually find them in the brand's community or content.

Option 2: I see that your wireless card is no longer supported by Intel, but you should be able to get a driver for it by contacting Intel's tech support or aftermarket. Since your wireless card is no longer supported, installing new drivers, installing drivers via Intel Driver Assistant, and uninstalling and reinstalling drivers via Device Manager may install incompatible drivers.

Some third-party websites may also provide drivers related to your card model that you can try.

Please note: If you have installed the correct driver, after restarting your computer, the device manager should recognize it properly and the Wifi content and WiFi signal should be displayed and searched when you click on Network in the taskbar at the bottom right corner!

Option 3: You have already tried the network reset, but please do something else on top of the network reset via the command line.

Click “Windows Logo Key” to open the search bar -> Enter “Windows PowerShell” in the search bar and open it with administrator privileges -> Enter the following commands in order

ipconfig /release 
ipconfig /renew 
ipconfig /flushdns 
ipconfig /registerdns 
netsh int ip reset 
netsh winsock reset 
netsh winhttp reset proxy

Please note: Please wait until the previous command has been fully executed before entering the next command!

Option 4: Please try to use an external USB WiFi adapter to see if it works. Because in addition to the situation you described including the solutions you tried, i can't rule out the possibility that the laptop's built-in WiFi adapter may be the cause of hardware problems.

I sincerely hope that the above solution will solve your problem. Please feel free to contact me if you encounter any problems.

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Best Regards

Arthur Sheng | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Anonymous

Thank you for your response!

I understand that there seems to be solutions that have successfully helped you resolve your issue.

Looking forward to your good news!

Best Regards

Arthur Sheng | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

0 comments

Answer 3

Hi Arthur,

Thank you so much for your detailed and prompt response. I appreciate that!

Today, after giving my laptop about 18 hours of complete rest before signing in, the WiFi option has miraculously reappeared. It also looks like the Device Manager has finally recognized my network adapter (Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265).

Unfortunately, after using my home WiFi for about 3 minutes, the same issue reoccurred. That is, I got disconnected from the internet and was unable to locate the "WiFi" option on my PC anymore. In efforts to try some of your recommended solutions, here's what I did:

I restarted my laptop, got automatically reconnected, and attempted your recommended Option 3 (command line reset) as quickly as possible before I lost WiFi connection again. Made sure to use PowerShell as administrator. Also made sure that each command was fully executed before trying the next. After all the commands were complete, I restarted my laptop once more. It looks like I am now connected to the WiFi and (luckily!) haven't lost connection in over 15 minutes, which is a very long time compared to to how long I've been able to stay connected in recent days. I pray my connectivity remains this stable for the longer term.

I will continue to monitor my WiFi and network performance today and let you know of any issues that might pop up. In the meantime, I'll also back all my data up in case a BIOS update is needed. Thanks so much again! I'll be in touch.

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Can't connect to WiFi, driver missing (even after installing new one from Intel)

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