Windows 11 Wi-Fi Adapter Disappeared

Anonymous
2022-03-04T11:18:57+00:00

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.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-28T00:54:26+00:00

    I have a Dell Inspiron 5482 2-in-1 laptop which started to do this for me. It was like that for a long time. (I remember one time the Dell manager software upgraded the BIOS to a wrong one, after which the laptop didn't boot, but thanks to fail-safe mechanisms I could restore the earlier BIOS. I'm just telling this that this wifi problem is not the first big debackle with it. It's just that the wifi problem is persistent and nagging.)

    1. I realized that if I physically open up the laptop, remove the wifi module from the motherboard's M.2 slot and re-seat it, the problem goes away. So essentially totally powering off the wifi NIC solves the problem (without removing from the socket the battery may keep some amount power on it for wake-on-LAN/wifi - although that is nto set in the BIOS). However physically opening the machine every time is extremely cumbersome.
    2. Lately I also realized that I can access Dell diagnostic routines from the BIOS, and running those also help with the issue, however the tests are lengthy, and this is cumbersome also.
    3. I realized that the disappearance happens after the computer goes to deep sleep and I wake it up. Therefore I did the following fail-safe measures:

    3.1. Disabled sleep when the laptop is on adapter

    3.2. I increased the sleep time when it's not on adapter

    3.3. I watch out for it to not go to sleep (especially deep sleep) and I completely shut down the OS if I carry the laptop somewhere or I need to leave it alone. This means that every time I need to boot it up, but honestly that's the least cumbersome thing. In the BIOS I can set the POST test speed between 3 choices, and I'm in the middle. Since my other systems are Linux and I always shut those down as well (at least those which are not servers) this is natural to me. Maybe some people would be bother by the 10-30 second boot time. Compared to the wifi disappearing that is negligible inconvenience.

    I'm pretty sure that this is essentially a problem between the wifi chip firmware and the OS interoperating for a sleep and deep sleep. For sleep the system status has to be saved into the memory, and during wake-up that state is "rehydrated". The wifi NIC's state is saved and then reloaded into the firmware, so the NIC can be powered off and the only power consuming part would be the memory (with only the DRAM refresh cycles). With deep sleep that also involves the HDD/SSD, so the memory can be powered off as well. If any of the component firmware is botched up or doesn't co-operate properly then the wake-up fails. In this special case some bug around this causes the NIC to get into such a state that it even disappears from the hardware list (not even visible in the BIOS). I'm not necessarily surprised when I come across sleep problems in Linux, but the failures with this Windows backup laptop raises my eyebrows. My rolling Linux distros which I'm on an unstable/testing line also can cause non boot or wifi problems, but I thought sleep is solved on Windows...

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-27T22:51:06+00:00

    Unfortunately no. I have done everything I could think of including resetting the computer back to factory settings twice. I have had to get a Wi-Fi extender and hook a ethernet cable to it and hook it up to my computer in order to get internet. The only people that have offered any type of solution is the company I bought it from offering to let me return the computer to Walmart for a replacement. Which I did not want to do and haven't done. I can't understand why there isn't some type of adapter that goes with window 11 that I can download onto a USB drive and then install on the computer. You would think that would be a simple fix and yet I have been unable to find what I need.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-24T14:27:54+00:00

    Broooo, u saved me. Started losing my hope but there you are. This made it for me. Galleys of chics in your household big brother ✌️

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-01-21T10:17:17+00:00

    我在更新KB5034123时遇到同样的问题。windows 的测试团队应该全部开除。win11都已经快结束生命周期了，我还没有成功更新过一次。

    等鸿蒙系统成熟以后，我绝对不会再选择微软的任何系统。win11团队对用户没有任何尊重。

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-01-21T08:33:34+00:00

    I'm getting the same issue. Nothing I've tried works. Even in boot mode it says wireless adapter not installed. Has anyone been able to help you?

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