Comments on: I installed a new wireless card inside my laptop but it cannot see any available signal

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:45:13 +0000

Well, I have trouble with my wireless card in a couple of Toshiba Portege 3500 model PP350U-0044F4W running on windows XP. My router handles WAP and the card cannot handle but WEP security. I tried updating the driver (Atheros) and its app with no avail. It seems to me that the best option would be to upgrade the wireless card but can I change the wireless card on this model? If I can, how can I determine if the card will be compatible with the system?

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:16:57 +0000

I am having a wireless problem as well.

My daughter has a Toshiba satellite A-105
S2141 XP laptop. All of a sudden tonight she is having trouble with her wireless connection. 3 other laptops in the house are connecting fine to the internet. On hers, the wireless connection is not even showing to be able to click and connect. When we turn the wireless on or off, sometimes the light appears, sometimes it doesn’t. She did a restart..nothing happened.

Did another restart and the computer connected to our wireless network but she is not able to access anything on the internet. Pages don’t load properly and say Try Again.

Any suggestion besides the new laptop she wants (17 year olds!!)

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:37:21 +0000

Hi. I have a Toshiba Satellite A105-S4254 laptop. I can pick up a wi-fi connection just fine, however my signal is what I call “choppy”. My signal strength can be excellent, but it’s constantly cutting in and out every 10-15 seconds. No kidding. It’s not THAT big of a deal, I can certainly deal with it, however, it can be a bit of a bother at times. I have to reload pages constantly, and can’t be on any sort of messenger program because the constant disruption makes it annoying to have to sign back on ever 10-15 seconds. If my connection is excellent, why is it so choppy? I can be very close to the router, without any metal or disturbance around, and it still freaks out and disconnects on me. Any help or advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:51:37 +0000

I’m having problems with the wireless network card in my daughters computer (HP DV1210US). It suddenly stopped detecting the wireless network in my home – (My son has the same model computer and mine is an Acer and neither one of them have had any problems). I’ve tried the built in trouble shooter and it said the wireless card wasn’t installed and also to reconnect a cable. I opened up the back slot and removed the card and tried re-installing it. However, the cables (I think they are the antenna connections) won’t stay connected. Is there a certain way to re-connect them or do I need to get replacement connectors ? Any ideas would help alot.

By: computerblue

computerblue — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:46:54 +0000

Thanks for the reply. I have never opened up a laptop. Would I be best served by having a repairman clean the contacts? Or could I do this myself easily? If so, how? As you can tell, I am a major novice when it comes to hardware issues.

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 08:03:27 +0000

computerblue,
What a coincidence. I’m typing on a ThinkPad T42 right now and connected to the Internet wirelessly. Having no problems.
If the Wi-Fi card is enabled and the TCP/IP settings are correct but you are getting “Limited to no connectivity” message with different Wi-Fi routers, then most likely there is something wrong with the wireless card.
You have freshly installed OS, so I assume your problem is not software related.
You can try removing the wireless card and cleaning contacts on the card, just to make sure it’s making a good connection with the motherboard. If it doesn’t help, I would try replacing the wireless card. You can search for a new one by the FRU number on the old card. Or just try using wireless PCMCIA card.

By: computerblue

computerblue — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:22:46 +0000

I have a somewhat similar problem. My ThinkPad T42 with Windows SP2 cannot connect wirelessly. I can enable the card, view available networks, and attempt to connect. However, it cannot acquire a network address on any wireless network (home, college, Starbucks, hotels, etc.) most of the time. When it does connect, I get the “Limited to no connectivity” popup. I have updated my drivers, uninstalled/reinstalled the network card, and performed release/renew using ipconfig in the cmd prompt. Whenever this occurs in cmd, it says that there is an hardware error.

I have already checked out my TCP/IP settings. Everything’s ok there. I used Lenonvo’s proprietary PC Doctor program to run a diagnostic test. It came back saying that my system failed a test of pcdrnetwork module, because it could not communicate with the remote host. (I have no clue what this means.) Finally, I can connect using a LAN, but I always have to reboot my system before I am able to use the connection. Note, all of these issues occurred after system reformat, so things are relatively clean.

Thanks for your time. I hope to hear from you soon.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:03:39 +0000

Thank you! I just found and ordered a new K000016040 set. Thank you for the advise, how to remove the screen link, and part number. I really appreciate it!
Mike ^_^

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 04:30:33 +0000

chris,
there is no simple answer to this question. Some people can write entire book just answering this question.
1. can you PING any website? if not check Network Connection Properties for the connection you are using. make sure IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, DNS server is set properly
2 can you PING by using an IP address (try 66.102.7.104 – it’s Google), if yes there could be something wrong with the DNS server
3. can you access Google if you use 66.102.7.104 in the address bar instead http://www.google.com, if yes something is wrong with the DNS server
4. check the encryption key for the wireless connection
There could be a lot of different problems, I cannot list them all.

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:24:38 +0000

Mike,
The correct way would be running these cables without cutting them. I think it could be your problem.
There is no secret in connecting wireless antennas to the card, you just snap both connectors to the wireless card. White cable goes to the main connector and the black cable to the auxiliary connector. (I think it doesn’t really matter). No insulation tube is necessary.
It’s relatively easy to replace wireless antennas. You’ll have to open up the display, remove the screen and glue both cables to the top cover with a sticky tape, that’s it. Here’s a guide for removing the LCD screen from Toshiba Satellite 2435 for example, you can see the wireless antenna cables on the step 10.
If you decide to replace antenna cables you can find a new set by the following part number: K000016040