Surface laptop stops connecting to home wifi, but can connect to phone hotspot

Question

My laptop, a Surface Laptop 4, stopped connecting to my home wifi. Everyone else's laptop at home can connect to the home wifi. My phone connects to the home wifi as well. My laptop is able to connect the hotspot created by my phone. I started having this problem the day before, when I tried to connect to the airport wifi when I was in transit at an airport. Can someone advise?

***Moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Internet and connectivity***

Answer 1

Hello YMTer,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

We noticed that you are using a Surface Laptop 4, so we moved your thread to the correct location.

After thoroughly reading all of the information you've posted here, we note that you've actually done some tests and found that other laptops and phones can connect to the same Wi-Fi signal normally, but only your Surface Laptop 4 can't.

This depends on whether the Wi-Fi signal is the source or the Surface Laptop 4 itself.

Since I've noticed that the same home Wi-Fi may be connected to multiple devices, including laptops and phones, check to see if the router has a limit on the number of devices you can access, and you can also test using the Surface to connect to a Wi-Fi network separately after completely disconnecting all devices connected to Wi-Fi.

Alternatively, try using your phone to turn on the hotspot for your Surface Laptop 4 and make sure the Surface Laptop 4 recognizes and connects correctly.

If you find that your Surface Laptop 4 is unable to connect to any Wi-Fi signals, then we can conclude that the problem may be stemming from your Surface's networking capabilities.

Please download the driver and firmware package for Surface Laptop 4 from the support link below, using a separate Windows device that is properly connected to the Internet:

Download drivers and firmware for Surface - Microsoft Support ****

Please download the appropriate driver and firmware package based on your Surface Laptop 4 CPU model.

Once downloaded, copy it to your Laptop 4 via USB stick and install it manually. After the installation is complete, restart your Surface to make sure the problem is rectified.

In the meantime, you can also try entering UEFI:

How to use Surface UEFI - Microsoft Support ****

In the Devices, verify that the Wi-Fi function is enabled:

• If it is off, then turn it on.
• If it is on, turn it off and try to open it manually again.

Finally, try holding down the power button for 20 seconds to force the Surface to shut down and restart. This is a Surface-specific recovery process, similar to a laptop powering down and restarting, which releases the hardware cache and attempts to wake up a device that is itself in a "suspended" state.

Best Regards,

Mitchell | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Hi YMTer,

If this is a driver level failure, then this process may be able to fix the problem. But if the problem persists after all is done, it may be a hardware issue that needs to be repaired on your Surface device.

I can direct you to Surface Live support, who can help you create a repair order:

1. Use your personal Microsoft account (not your organization account) to access the following links:

Contact - Microsoft Support

2. Type Surface, press Enter, and click "Contact Support" at the bottom:

3. Select Technical Support and select the device model you are currently using in Produce family, then click Confirm:

4. You will see contact options for Chat support and Phone support, please contact them during business hours:

I wish you all the best.

Best Regards,

Mitchell | Microsoft Community Support Specialist