Hardware switch is turned off.

[Bibhushan13]

Hello,
I have a Dell Inspiron 15r 5537. I have it for around 8-9 months or so. Everything was fine with it until yesterday when suddenly neither the WiFi nor the ethernet would connect to the network. This is what i did to overcome the issue:
- Troubleshoot the problem, the result was " Wireless capability is turned off - Not Fixed ".
- Checked Intel PROSet Wireless connection utility and tried to enable Wifi, and the result was Hardware Switch is OFF.
- The switch (via Fn + F2) is already on and always was.
- Since i had a presentation coming up soon, i used System restore suspecting it as a windows update that messed things up, and it still didnt work.
- Disabled/Enabled from Device Manager.
- Clean formatted Windows 7. I have original Windows 7 and 8 with keys, fully activated and installed both of them one by one.

The problem still persists. What do i do?

My drivers are fully updated, the OS is fully activated, every new driver provided by both Dell and Intel have been installed. As you can see i have left no stone unturned. What do i do from now? Thanks.

 

[darkbreeze]

Push the function key that controls the wireless on/off. It looks something like this and is one of the F1 through F12 keys, but it's different for different models so you have to go by the symbols on the key:

If that button has been pressed so that the wireless is disabled, nothing else you do will matter.

 

[Bibhushan13]

thank you darkbreeze, but im sure the key combination is Fn and F2, since i have been using it to turn wifi on and off for quite a while now.

 

[darkbreeze]

Most laptops don't require a combination of keys to enable and disable wireless adapters. Many have a slide switch or simply have a single function key that's natively programmed to switch the wireless adapter on and off. If your unit is different, and you've already tried simply pressing the single function key that has the wireless symbol on it, then it's most probable that your wireless adapter has failed.

As a last resort I would located, download and install the wireless adapter drivers from the product page for your laptop model to see if reinstalling does any good. I just had to reinstall the wireless drivers for my stupid Stream 7 tablet because the wireless stopped working and I don't use it for anything except an e-reader so I know nothing had affected it's currently installed drivers. It just happens sometimes for whatever reason.

 

[Bibhushan13]

hi again, i ran hardware checks too, it says the Network card is healthy. Also updated the BIOS to A08 and made sure that the card is enabled.
Yes i have tried the function key which enables and disables Bluetooth but not the WiFi. Previously, all wireless connections including Bluetooth and WiFi used to be enabled and disabled with the same key.

 

[darkbreeze]

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers.

 

[Bibhushan13]

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers.

just finished uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, both manually and from Device Manager. still the same..
thank you for your replies so far

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

1) contact Dell Technical support & see what warantee exists on the laptop
(they may fix it for you if you purchased it as new and less than a year old)

or 2) go to Dell site and look for guide to maintenance & upgrading (dismantling) laptop
see how easy it is to get to Wireless card?
(often just a cover not requiring complete dismantling gf laptop)

It may need removing and refitting because of a bad connection
or it may need replacing

You said neither Wireless or ethernet (rj45) network connection is working
what have you done to check ethernet connection by cat 5 or cat 6 ethernet cable to the router/switch
unusual to have both fail

regards
Mike Barnes

 

[Bibhushan13]

Hi

1) contact Dell Technical support & see what warantee exists on the laptop
(they may fix it for you if you purchased it as new and less than a year old)

or 2) go to Dell site and look for guide to maintenance & upgrading (dismantling) laptop
see how easy it is to get to Wireless card?
(often just a cover not requiring complete dismantling gf laptop)

It may need removing and refitting because of a bad connection
or it may need replacing

You said neither Wireless or ethernet (rj45) network connection is working
what have you done to check ethernet connection by cat 5 or cat 6 ethernet cable to the router/switch
unusual to have both fail

regards
Mike Barnes

Hi Mike,
i used a CAT.5 cable to check the ethernet port. The same cable worked on my PC.
yes the laptop is under warranty, still 2 months left in it and i bought it as new. I contacted Dell support and they advised me to come with the laptop to get it checked on Monday as i explained my problem to them.
The weird side of it is it was working well the earlier night, as i was working on a mobile app. I switched the laptop on the next day and without warning, both of them failed. There has been no droppings or any other physical shocks to the laptop.

all of this is getting me worried.
thank you for replying
regards.

 

[rehed21]

This may or may not help, but it won't hurt to try. In command prompt as administrator, ipconfig /all, which will give you information about your network connection. ipconfig /renew, also at command prompt, will renew your IP address.

 

[darkbreeze]

Maybe the problem isn't with your laptop at all. Have you checked internet connectivity with another device or somebody else's device? Maybe your router, modem or connection itself has a problem.

 

[Bibhushan13]

Maybe the problem isn't with your laptop at all. Have you checked internet connectivity with another device or somebody else's device? Maybe your router, modem or connection itself has a problem.

hi darkbreeze,
sorry for the late late reply. i tried to do everything you guys advised to no avail. i had to take the laptop to the customer care. apparently they couldnt determine the problem at first and they responded a week later ie today, saying the laptop will be replaced.

thank you all for your help.
appreciate it all

 

[darkbreeze]

No problem. Glad you at least got taken care of. Good luck to you.