How to enable and configure Wi-Fi on a laptop

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For the most part, users prefer to use wireless Internet. This is not surprising, because if earlier only a desktop computer was connected to the World Wide Web, and using a wire was logical, then today in every house there are at least three or four gadgets that need to go online. Not every user knows how to activate Wi-Fi on a laptop and, if necessary, configure it, and the text below is devoted to this topic.

How to turn on Wi-Fi with buttons

Laptop manufacturers provide two options for starting a wireless connection on a gadget — using keys and directly through Windows. Depending on the brand that created the device, the button launch process may differ in combination, but the essence of this does not change.

WiFi

To turn on Wi-Fi on a laptop, you need to use a button specially designed for this: it is combined with one of the F keys and is indicated by the Wi-Fi icon. To make it work, it is pressed simultaneously with Fn. After that, the corresponding LED will light up on the device, and the screen will show that Wi-Fi is on. If the device has previously connected to this network, then no further action should be taken. You can disconnect the gadget from the Internet by pressing the same buttons again.

As mentioned earlier, in the vast majority of cases, the Wi-Fi power button on a laptop is combined with functional F:

  • Lenovo, Asus — F2;
  • Acer — F3;
  • Toshiba, Irbis, Prestigio — F8.

Function buttons

The key combination for turning on Wi-Fi on a laptop within the same brand often differs, since there is no single agreement between manufacturers. Even in models of the same company, released at different times, different combinations are used.

If the laptop is old, then the button is not necessarily combined, this is rarely seen today, but in older MSI or HP models it is a common occurrence. However, this situation was met with every brand. Later, they began to take care of the aesthetics of the appearance of the device, and the buttons began to be combined with others. For older devices, the desired button can be located either on the top panel directly among other keys, or it can look like a switch located on the side panel next to the USB outputs.

Wi-Fi button on the end

Important! Any laptop is equipped with «aviation» mode. When enabled, all wireless connections stop working. If it is enabled on a laptop, then the key combination suggested above will not work, the “air” mode has a kind of priority.

Some manufacturers, such as Sony, Dell or Samsung, allow you to turn the flight function on and off from the keyboard, on the button, respectively, an airplane is drawn. If there is no such button, then turn off the mode directly in Windows. At the same time, in older versions of the OS, a separate mode is not provided, it appeared only in the eight.

Airplane mode

Enabling Wi-Fi using OS

Turning on Wi-Fi on a laptop is done without a keyboard. In this case, the user can resort to one of several methods.

In the tray next to the clock, you need to find the Wi-Fi icon. It can be highlighted with a red cross (wi-fi is off or no networks found), have an asterisk (multiple networks found) or an airplane will be drawn (all wireless modules are disabled). To turn on the Internet or select one of the available networks, you need to click on the tray icon, after which a window with available networks will open. In Windows 10 and 8, the buttons for turning the network on and off, the airplane mode and the mobile hotspot are also highlighted here. Windows XP and 7 operating systems do not have such buttons, just a list of available networks is offered. It remains to select the desired Wi-Fi network and enter the password from it. When you use the laptop again, the connection will be made automatically.

tray icon

If a wifi symbol not found in tray (as well as in the seven and XP), you will have to find «change adapter settings» in the network control center. In the window that appears after logging in, all communication options will be indicated. We are interested in «wireless network». Click on it and on «launch». Now you can connect the laptop to the network.

Control Panel

Important! This method is more suitable for Windows 7 and the previous version, since, unlike Windows 8, when Wi-Fi is turned off, the icon disappears from the tray, it remains for the eight and tens, but is crossed out with a red cross.

If the method specified in paragraph 2 does not save, and you cannot turn on Wi-Fi on the laptop, then the problem lies deeper, namely in forcibly disabled module in the system. You need to enter the «device manager» and open «network adapters». Among all, we are looking for an option in the name of which there is the word wireless, select «activate device».

Device Manager enable

How to set up wifi on a laptop

Those users who have just purchased the device may be faced with the fact that they need to set up Wi-Fi on a laptop. In fact, you don’t need to configure anything on the device, just connect to the network once so that it doesn’t raise questions in the future, but for ease of understanding, the process of setting up Wi-Fi on a laptop will be described step by step in the form of instructions.

  1. To connect with the user must be a wifi router.
  2. If the device is new, or the operating system has just been installed on it, then WiFi driver required. It is quite easy to understand that a driver is needed — the button that turns on Wi-Fi on a laptop does not work, there is no icon in the tray, and Wi-Fi is highlighted with a yellow exclamation mark in the device manager. In this case, there are three solutions. First — directly in the device manager, open the properties of the wireless adapter and in the driver tab, click update / install. The second option is more reliable — download the driver on the official website of the creator of the device. The third option is to use the application to automatically update the driver.
    Update Driver
  3. After the driver is installed, you need to set up Wi-Fi on your laptop, or rather — find your network and enter its password. To do this, turn on Wi-Fi using any of the methods proposed above.
  4. In the list of found ones, select one of the Wi-Fi networks and click on it. A window will open in which you need to enter a password, after entering it, click OK and enjoy working on the Internet.
    Password entry
  5. By default, the item is enabled in the connection settings. automatic connection to this network, if it is in range. If this does not happen, that is, the system each time prompts you to choose a network yourself or enter a password from it, then after the next connection you need to open its properties and activate «automatic connection».
    Automatic connection

In standard situations, setting up Wi-Fi on a laptop ends after the above steps. But if something went wrong, below is what needs to be done.

Possible connection problems

Internet connection problems may include:

  • the laptop does not see the Wi-Fi network;
  • not connecting (wrong password or error);
  • connects but no internet.

If the laptop does not see Wi-Fi networks, there may be the following solutions to the problem.

  1. Physically disconnected module (in this case it will not show up in device manager). You can check the presence of the module through the AIDA64 utility, which scans the entire gadget and lists its stuffing. If the Wi-Fi module is disabled in the device, then it will not be included in this list. The second option, if it is not in the list — the module is broken.
  2. Wi-Fi is disabled in device manager, or on it no drivers installed. The solution to this situation has been described above.
  3. If only the user’s Wi-Fi network is not visible, but there are others, then the problem lies in the router. It needs to be reconfigured or rebooted.
  4. A common reason why a laptop does not see the network is Airplane mode is on (how to fix — described above).
  5. Sometimes the laptop does not see Wi-Fi due to a failure, which is solved by simply rebooting the gadget.
  6. Another reason — Wi-Fi connection service disabled. In the Windows search, we drive in “services” and in the huge list we look for “Wi-Fi Services Connection Manager Service”, click “start” and check if the Internet is working.

Wi-Fi Services Connection Manager service

If you managed to set up Wi-Fi on a laptop, but at some point the device simply does not go online, and there is a connection, then the reason is directly in the connection. The solution is to turn the router on and off. If this does not help, then a call to the hotline will save, maybe there is no access due to work on the line. In some cases, the problem is caused insufficient balance on the user’s accountthe provider in this case does not turn off the connection, but makes the speed so small that the gadget thinks there is no Internet, although technically Wi-Fi continues to work.

Forget password

Sometimes the problem at the entrance of the device writes that Wrong password entered. In this case, you need to click on the selected network and select the «forget» item. The device deletes all settings about this connection, and the user re-enters the password, while remembering the correct input language and case. Sometimes it turns out that someone changed the password and forgot to tell about it, it will not be superfluous to find out the correct option from people who have access to the router. If no one changed the password, then you will have to reset the router and reconfigure the wireless network.

Conclusion

In general, setting up Wi-Fi on a laptop is not difficult, and the process comes down to two clicks. A moment that all users should know: if some kind of failure occurs, or the user has changed the provider, it is impossible to set up the Internet on a laptop via Wi-Fi, a wired connection will be required.

Useful advice! If there is not a single device in the house that connects to the Internet with a cable, getting rid of the LAN wire is extremely reckless. It will come in handy if the Wi-Fi settings fail, or if the network password is lost.


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