An internet connection is one of the most common requirements these days. For that, some people use fiber connections, and some use hotspots.
However, today we will see the complete list of Wi-Fi connecting issues in a computer along with the fixes.
Does your motherboard have built-in Wi-Fi?
Most desktop PCs don’t have Wi-Fi built-in motherboards. The reason is simple: high-end motherboards have a built-in Wi-Fi system.
So, there is no wonder that your PC does not support connecting to a network without additional hardware. Find your motherboard model and check whether it has built-in Wi-Fi or not.
Compared to desktop PCs, Laptops require less additional hardware like Wi-Fi adapters, Bluetooth adapters, etc.
If your motherboard (Desktop PC & Laptop) doesn’t have a built-in Wi-Fi system, you need to buy a Wi-Fi adapter to make the internet connection.
Have you plugged in the Wi-Fi adapter?
You are reading this content means you want to solve your issue instead of replacing the hardware. That’s a good thing.
In the process of solving the problem, checking the Wi-Fi adapter on your PC is the first thing you need to do. If you don’t put it in before, do it now and see.
Is your router signal displayed on available networks?
The routers can send the Wi-Fi signal from around 10 to 15 meters. If your device is not in range, you will get very weak or no signal. In such a case, you can’t connect to the Wi-Fi even if the Wi-Fi adapter is working fine.
Your PC will display the available networks after you mount the Wi-Fi adapter. You can see the listed networks on my PC.
In some cases, the router signal needs high-level security type WPA2. If your Wi-Fi adapter or the port does not support the security level, the router signal can’t display on your PC. Then you need to use 2.0 ports on your PC.
You can fix the signal issue by reducing the distance between the source (router) and the slave (CPU).
- Useful read: How to fix PC consuming more data?
Connect to the available Wi-Fi network:
From the listed networks, choose your trusted network and click on it. If the network is secured with a password, you need to enter the password to connect to it.
PC can’t find the mobile Wi-Fi signal
Sometimes, your PC will not detect the Wi-Fi signal from your phone. But the computer and the network adapter are displaying the available networks except for your mobile Wi-Fi network.
Here is the list of fixes you can apply when your PC can’t find the mobile Wi-Fi signal.
- Restart your mobile and try
- Change the network bandwidth from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz and again change from 5 to 2.4 GHz
- Change the password or set no password and try to connect
- Rename the device and connect
Try these methods, one way or another you can fix the issue.
Have you entered the right password?
When you enter the wrong password, your PC can’t get access to connect with the Wi-Fi network from the router. Here your Wi-Fi adapter does nothing because it’s your fault to enter the wrong password.
Make sure you entered the right password or get the current password from the router admin.
Make sure your device isn’t blocked
Although you did all things right and entered the right password, you can’t connect with the router’s Wi-Fi network because someone blocked your access.
When you are using the Wi-Fi signal, your device will display to the router admin under connected devices. If the admin wants to block you from accessing, he will.
In such cases, you can ask the admin to unblock or permit your device to access.
Eject the adapter and reinsert it
If your PC is not showing available networks or problems in connecting like displaying “connecting the network” but not connecting, then remove the adapter and reinsert it. It might solve the problem.
Turn OFF Airplane mode:
You’ve mounted the adapter, but the networks are not displaying. In this case, you need to check the PC whether is in airplane mode or not.
If your PC is in airplane mode, it could not connect to the internet.
Here my PC is not in airplane mode and that’s why there is no highlighting color on airplane mode like Bluetooth.
Remove the network history
Remove the network history before the Wi-Fi adapter is reset. The network history is just like cache data in a Windows PC. Here you can find how to find and remove cache on Windows PC. Also, you’ll get to know why you need to remove the cache from your device.
Here is the step-by-step process to remove network history on your PC.
- Open Settings on your Windows PC
- Then select ‘Network and Internet from the menu
- Select the ‘Wi-Fi‘ option on the left panel
- Then click on ‘Manage known networks‘ – the list of networks will display
- Select the network, then click Forget
Make sure that your Wi-Fi router has no issues:
From the network point of view, a Wi-Fi router is a source for the internet connection to a PC. These are the considerable factors that you need to check from the router side.
- Turn ON the router and keep it in a discoverable range. Sometimes, the range does not discover a router by your PC. Adjust your router in such conditions.
- If you are using limited plans, check your plan status. An expired plan doesn’t make you connect to the internet even if it shows the network signal.
- The number of connected devices to a router is maximum, so your PC could not connect to it.
Network Reset will help you :
Windows has the best feature called “Network Reset” to solve almost all the network problems that are caused by Windows 10 PC.
Here are the steps to make the ‘Network reset’ on your PC.
- Go to Settings (Windows Key + I)
- Select “Network & Internet“
- In ‘status‘, the network status of your PC will display like this
You can find the “Network Reset” option at the bottom of the page. Then your PC asks you to restart to fix the network issue. Click on “Reset now“
After doing the network reset, your PC will keep the network settings as a default. An unstable network connection will cause a Blue Screen of Death on your PC.
However, other options exist on this page. Let’s look at them briefly.
Change adapter options:
With this option, you can shift from one network to another based on the hardware installed on your PC.
Also, you can select the adapter and change its IPv4/IPv6 status. This change will help your adapter to work.
Network and Sharing Center:
This option will help to share data with other devices. We can select particular files that we want to share with particular devices.
Network Troubleshooter:
This is the common thing that we need to do when our PC is not connecting to the Wi-Fi network. Troubleshooting a PC from here can solve the network problems. Not in all conditions, but in most cases.
This is the first reason that I recommend Windows 10 OS over any other. It has some extremely good features like protection, customizing, etc.
View hardware and connection properties:
Here, you can find the complete hardware properties for the network adapter. This information will help you to understand your device.
Windows Firewall :
It is a protection system for the computer. Windows allows a network by your demand to connect to your PC. If you connect the network from unknown sources, your data will be at risk.
Windows Firewall’s main aim is to protect your PC. If you’ve not changed anything before on Firewall & Network protection, leave it. Windows will keep the best settings as default.
If you’re blocking the incoming connections by selecting “Block all incoming connections, including those in the list of allowed apps,” unblock the incoming connections by clicking on them.
- Useful Read: Importance of motherboard in a computer
Conclusion :
Hope these settings and fixes will solve your problem and make your PC connect to the Wi-Fi network. However, you need to keep your PC drivers up-to-date.
We do not recommend you buy the new adapter even if none of the techniques will help you because we are here to help you to analyze and solve your problem.
If the product gets damaged, then only we think about buying the new one. Otherwise, try to solve the problem.
Just comment on your problem, I’m happy to help you. Drop your mail to get useful information in your inbox.
