Windows 11 Wi-Fi Adapter Disappeared

Question

Hi, fellow Windows users.

My wifi is problematic and it started happening since I updated to Windows 11. I've seen people with similar problems in the forums here and even on other websites but after trying (almost) all of their suggested solutions, I still can't solve the problem here. I've tried these solutions, but to no avail: winsock reset, network reset, unchecking "Allow computer to turn off this device to save power" in the driver properties, turning all the network settings to default, and all the troubleshooting options available. I would try to be as specific as I could in explaining my problems here.

It happens in a few particular situations, but I can't seem to find what these situations have in common. When playing games like Genshin Impact (online games), Hades (offline games), Overcooked (offline mode), or just being AFK long enough from my laptop, my wifi would disconnect, and then when I try to reconnect it, it would say "Can't connect to this network" while the wifi is actually fine on other devices. And if I'm lucky, I could just use the network troubleshoot and the problem is solved but only temporarily, and it would eventually happen again. And if I'm unlucky, my wifi button would disappear completely and in the Device Manager, my wifi adapter would be "hidden". Then I have to restart my laptop, and if I'm lucky, one restart would fix it, sometimes it takes 3 restarts, but other times the wifi adapter would be completely gone and I have to use "Startup Repairs" from my BIOS menu to fix this (which was a very random solution, but it was one of the myriads of solutions I've looked up, and it actually helped). But weirdly enough, this doesn't happen when I'm playing Minecraft (online games) and Overcooked (online mode).

This was never a problem for me when I'm using Windows 10, but according to what I've read in the forums, many people seemed to have had this problem even when they were using Windows 10. So, I don't know if it's a Windows 11 problem, or my wifi adapter. One thing for sure is I know this is not a problem with my connection, but rather it's my network adapter. So if anyone could help me out, I would really appreciate it.

PS. One thing I haven't successfully done is reinstalling the wifi network adapter, since I couldn't find a proper driver for the installation anywhere on the internet. After uninstalling the network adapter, I've actually downloaded a driver for the installation, but it doesn't help at all. My adapter isn't showing in the Device Manager, and I had to use the "Startup Repairs" from my BIOS menu to actually reinstall my wifi network adapter. My laptop is ASUS TUF A15, running on AMD Ryzen 7 4800H. The network adapter is Realtek 8822CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC. Thank you so much.

Answer 1

I just had the same thing happen to me today. I was trying to open Microsoft Edge but it kept saying I wasn’t connected. So I went down to the lil globe button to try and see why it was disconnected only to find out that the Wi-Fi option had completely disappeared. So I tried finding it in the settings and it wasn’t there either. There were NO network adapters showing, only Bluetooth adapter. I tried restarting but that didn’t fix anything. Then I tried troubleshooting and it said “No Network adapters are installed.” Or something close to that. So I went back into the settings and opened up the device manager. I clicked on Network Adapters and the only thing showing up was “Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Netowrk)” so I was confused. I was like what the hell I know there’s supposed to be an intel adapter here for the Wi-Fi but it wasn’t showing up. So I right clicked on “Network Adapters” and clicked the “Scan for hardware changes” option and it automatically just started downloaded all the missing adapters. Then I had to go back into Wi-Fi and choose my connection. It was like it was newly downloaded, I had to put my password in again like as if it had never been connected to the network before. No idea why this even happened. I think my laptop updated while I was asleep and when I woke up to use it the network was just gone. Hope it doesn’t happen again but if it does, at least I know what to do now. Hope this helped!

Answer 2

I've run into the exact same situation, but no matter what I do, including running scan for hardware changes in device manager or even opening up the command console and using different commands, the WiFi adapter refuses to install and I can only see my Bluetooth adapter, can anyone help me?

Answer 3

Thanks much for taking the time to provide details behind your issue and the fix. I was able to resolve the issue by going into settings/network and internet/network reset and that fixed it. Hoping that’s the final fix needed.

Answer 4

Ok look here's what I need you to do for me: completely restart your computer, when it starts up go to the network and internet settings and run a troubleshoot then take a picture of whatever message it gives you and send it to me. For example when I was having this problem and I ran a troubleshoot it had said something like "there are no drivers installed" or something close to that. After troubleshooting go back into the device manager and click on the little arrow drop down menu next to "network adapters" and tell me which adapters you see there. If it only shows "Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)" then right click on the "Network adapters" and choose the "scan for hardware changes" option. I know you said you already did that and it didn't work but just try one more time and see what happens. If still nothing works, let me know and I'll try and figure something else out but that's basically what worked for me.

Answer 5

A normal connection can use IPv6 for some purposes. For it to be available, your ISP has to support it, as does your Router. You might check with them and your Router's OEM..

Windows may provide Wi-Fi drivers in the Optional updates section. You may need to allow them to be downloaded.

I don't have a Realtek Wi-Fi device so I can't verify its operation in Windows 11 but currently most Win 10 drivers are being used with Windows 11.