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Unknown1988's avatar
Unknown1988
Aspirant
Jan 19, 2019

WNA3100M N300 Windows 10

First time poster. I have looked through the forum but can't find any mention of this problem so far.

My USB wireless adapter, pretty recently purchased, worked out of the box from day one with no problems. Then it started acting up, requiring a restart before it would work. Now it is not working at all, no light from the adapter, nothing.

The computer recognises that the USB is plugged in, but WiFi says it is "turned off".

I have tried the obvious - uninstalling and reinstalling, trying alternative drivers, but nothing has changed.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Troubleshooting

9 Replies

  • michaelkenward's avatar
    michaelkenward
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jan 20, 2019
    Unknown1988 wrote:

    The computer recognises that the USB is plugged in, but WiFi says it is "turned off".

    The WNA3100M is a wif client. That seems to be a message from the wifi source. Have you investigated that?

    • Unknown1988's avatar
      Unknown1988
      Aspirant
      Jan 20, 2019

      Yes, I should add that the computer is now not receiveing any WiFi signal in any location - home, next to the router, in my office or out and about.  I bought the USB adapter to replace the WiFi built into the computer that had failed.

       

      And It did work when I first got it, so I guess it could be an actual hardware problem and technical problem with the USB device.  If that turns out to be the case obviously I can just return it for a replacement.

      • Nodism1125's avatar
        Nodism1125
        NETGEAR Expert
        Jan 22, 2019

        Check the USB adapter driver status under Device manager. This might help you to identify if this a driver issue. 

        1. Right-click the Start button and open Device Manager.
        2. Navigate to Network adapters.

        Another option, try to install the WLAN adapter to another computer. 

  • Unknown1988's avatar
    Unknown1988
    Aspirant
    Jan 22, 2019
    Not sure what you mean by status. The driver is there, version 1027.4.322.2017, pretty sure that's just the driver installed straight from the set-up disc.

    Trying to install the adapter on another computer is a worthy next step and I'll give that a go.
      • Unknown1988's avatar
        Unknown1988
        Aspirant
        Jan 31, 2019

        Two updates to my issues:

        1 - New driver installed to my laptop with no effect, still no blue light on the USB and no network picked up by the laptop.

        2 - Tested USB device on a different computer as suggested above and it has worked first time.

         

        I cannot fathom what error there could be with my laptop that it recognises the USB as plugged in, has the latest drivers, worked previously but now does not.