Aspire E3-111 wireless disabled

tuxifix
tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User
edited March 2023 in 2014 Archives

Hi,

 

today, after a reboot wireless stopped working on my E3-111-C3W0. In the Windows 8.1 connection tab the wireless is switched off and greyed out. Windows says that I have to enable wireless via a key or a button on the computer somewhere. However, the fn+F3 combination does only enable/disable the flight-mode, whereas I see no possibility to enable the wireless somewhere.

In the Windows device manager the adapter seems to work fine. Also I tried to reboot and reinstall the Launch Manager and wireless driver.

 

I am glad for any help!

 

Best regards,

Max

«1

Answers

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    Can you check if the wifi adapter is enabled?

     

    windows key logo + X

    Control panel

    Network and sharing center

    on the left side, change adapter settings

     

    check if wifi adapter is greyed out and marked as disabled.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    Hi IronFly, thanks for the quick response. The adapter is enabled. It seems that there is some kind of hardware setting that prevents Windows of managing wireless.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    When on Connection tab of windows 8.1, hit Fn+F3 and check if WiFi became available.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    Unfortunately this only disables/enables airplane-mode. 

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    Have you already tried on Device Manager to uninstall the wifi adapter?

     

    right click on it, choose Uninstall, reboot.

     

    at reboot it will install the adapter and drivers again, check if switch is working.

     

    or

    1) open  network and sharing center

    2) highlight wifi connection then at top click "diagnose this connection"

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    Reinstalling did not resolve the problem. The diagnosis says that I need to switch on wifi with a function key or a switch at the sides of the computer. I think the problem might be that the FN+F3 combination enables/disables the airplane mode instead of wifi.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    Uninstall the Launch manager and try to enable it on windows switch only, after a reboot.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    This does not work either Smiley Sad

    Without launch manager FN+F3 does nothing, still the WiFi switch in the connection tab is greyed out.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    Edit....

     

    stil thinking

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    Thanks a lot! I highly appreciate your help!

  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    After the BIOS update the problem still persists...

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    Device manager, right click on the wireless adapter, Disable, confirm then right click again on the wireless adapter and click Enable.

    check Wifi switch.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    Still nothing...

    The greyed out WiFi switch is exactly what happens if I use the FN+F3 key on my aspire 5741. However, here on the E3-111 the airplane mode is switched instead of the WiFi. Is it possible to tell the Launch Manager to switch WiFi instead of airplane mode?

    I'll continue tomorrow, as it's already late here. Thanks so much for your help so far!

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer
    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    Yes, I installed the laters version. I also installed the Dritek Launch Manager 5.2.1 and hoped that this one is able to disable/enable WiFi instead of airplane mode. On pressing FN+F3 there actually is a window that lets me switch Bluetooth and WiFi. However, switching Bluetooth works, but WiFi has absolutely no effect at all.

     

    Is there another version of Launch Manager that I should try?

  • keith111
    keith111 Member Posts: 79 Troubleshooter

    Disable your firewall while you reset the wireless router.

  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    keith111 wrote:

    Disable your firewall while you reset the wireless router.


    This has nothing to do with firewall or router issues. It's not that the connection to the router fails, I cannot even enable WiFi.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    check this:

    In the device manager, under the Human Interface Devices,  disable the "airplane mode switch." 

    if you can't disable, uninstall it.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • tuxifix
    tuxifix Member Posts: 13 New User

    This disables switching the airplane mode with FN+F3, but has no effect on WiFi. I think I will do a factory reset and hope that at least this will solve the problem.

     

    There is always trouble with my Acer products. This will definitely be the last one I purchased...