Aspire-E1-522; Windows 8; Wireless Adapter intermittently not recognized

centeares

For the price, this is an awesome machine. Bought it new at Target. I have had it for about a six months now, and I am very happy with the specs and general performance.

 

However, there is a recurring problem where the computer ceases to recognize the existence of the wireless adapter. It doesn't matter if the computer is running 8, or 8.1, nor if the computer is fully Updated. This seems to be a hardware problem or some sort of electrical short, not a driver problem. I have done a bit of research over the last four months or so (when the problem first started happening), and the problem I am experiencing is most likely caused by either a faulty card, or a card that is loose from its socket on the motherboard, and not by a driver/hardware discrepancy.

The strange part is the intermittent nature of the computer's recognition of the device. Stranger still is that despite what appears to be a hardware problem, I have usually been able to fix it, either by:

 

1. Uninstalling then reinstalling the device's drivers,
2. Restoring the computer to a previous point,
3. Reformatting the computer using the built in Windows 8 feature, and/or
4. Removing certain Windows Updates in reverse chronological order (until the integrated WiFi device is recognized).

I don't know why there are four wildly different methods to fix the problem.

 

Last night, the problem happened again. It was maybe the 4th or 5th time overall, and the 2nd time I was forced to "hard reformat" in an attempt to fix the problem. Until just a few minutes ago, when I partially deconstructed then reconstructed the device, the "hard reformat" method didn't fix the WiFi. After the "hard reformat" didn't work, I decided to attempt to see if the wireless adapter was indeed loose from it's seating. Half way through opening the cover, I decided it was a bad idea, and secured the cover. Upon turning the computer back on, it recognized the wireless adapter, I connected to the network successfully, and here I am now, documenting what happened.

 

I essentially did nothing significant to the device, and now the wireless adapter is recognized. Why?

 

All that being said, I believe I have narrowed down the cause of the problem, at least in my case. I believe there is some sort of electrical short issue. The short is caused by one (or perhaps both) of the following:

 

1. Assuming the physical location of the wireless adapter is next to the location of the port for the AC adapter, I think the AC adapter, when moved or jiggled by a hand, somehow negatively interferes with the wireless adapter, causing it to fail.
2. Shutting the lid of the computer, perhaps when combined with the above, and/or under other conditions (something having to do with power settings?, something having to do with the state of the network when the lid is shut?), causes the network adapter to fail.

Something very similar used to happen on an old Dell notebook I had, as well as on a CR-48, towards the end of their lives. That is, in order for the internet to work, I had to have the AC adapter at certain angle when it was plugged into the computer. Otherwise the wireless connection would drop. It seems like there's a connection there (pun intended), but perhaps not?

 

I guess, ultimately, I wanted to fully document my problem, maybe get some feedback on why it happens, and get input on what I can do, if anything, to prevent it from happening in the future. If it is indeed a faulty adapter, that might explain why it is intermittent.

IronFly

you did a good work on reporting!

 

reading all your efforts to find a solution, i agree with you that the WiFi adapter or the slot where is located is loose, probably you can easily fix it by yourself but....since your laptop is still in warranty, i would contact the Acer support service.