Wifi/Bluetooth issues in my Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54.To turn wifi on need to connect external Wifi USB

Hi,

I have an Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54, i5 9300H and GTX 1650

It had been running perfectly until one day, it randomly decided to give up on it's Wifi and Bluetooth capabilities. If I pressed the Wifi button, it would automatically turn off. LAN was not functional either, and the only way the wifi would work is by using an external Wifi USB.

I checked online and tried various solutions however none of them worked, (new drivers, factory resetting, regedit, driver settings, BIOS). I figured, it might be a hardware issue then.

I replaced my network card which is an Intel AX200, however the new network card did not work either. I then changed my laptop to Linux and the WiFi starting working again.

Please advise and help on what I should do, how do I make the network/bluetooth work on my Windows 11? Why is it only working on linux

Thanks

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Accepted answers

All comments

AnhEZ28

@yousafshah

Does the Windows troubleshooter find any errors?

yousafshah

@AnhEZ28

Nope, there was no issue from Windows Troubleshooter.

AnhEZ28

@yousafshah

Do you see the driver error in the device manager?

yousafshah

@AnhEZ28

No, there is no error shown with the network card in any area of the laptop.

AnhEZ28

@yousafshah

Can you show me the screenshot when the laptop is trying to find the WiFi?

Lesly

@AnhEZ28

Hi. I have the same problem with my computer. We have the same model. The wifi connection just disappeared (image below). When I tried to install it again, this message appeared:

"This device cannot boot. (Code 10)

The device does not exist."

William_mk2

@yousafshah

I understand internal wifi is not working and it is working through external wifi. It is also working only through Linux.

I am really sorry for the inconvenience.. Let us do the basic steps first..

Doing the power drain and bios defaults will really help. Kindly follow the steps given below:

Kindly go through the details from the link given below

https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/75-acer-internal-battery-reset

Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices or any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, you can find a pin hole. It is a tiny hole. You can a find a battery symbol indicator next to the hole. It is like a + and – sign symbol as though somebody is trying to shift the battery out. Insert the pin on to the hole for 30 seconds. Remove the pin. Flip the laptop. Connect the charger cable, turn on the computer. Only on laptops where the battery is inbuilt you can find the battery reset hole on the back of laptop.

If you don’t find a pin hole on the back of laptop then you might be using removable battery. There is no need to unscrew anything to remove the battery. Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices and any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, please look at the top or bottom depending on the way you look at it. You can find a long door. It is a battery removable door. Just below that you can find a latch. If you move the latch you can remove the battery door. Once the battery is removed, flip the laptop. Open the top cover, press and hold the power button for 1 minute. Connect the battery back on the back of computer. Connect the charger cable back and then turn on the computer.

If you don’t see a reset pin hole on the back of laptop or if you are not able to remove the battery (if it is inbuilt) then please unplug all the cables and devices out of laptop. Hold the power button for 1 minute. After releasing the button you should wait a while before plugging in power. Just because the button has been pressed doesn’t bleed off all the residual electricity on the motherboard. Wait 15-30 minutes before plugging in power. Then once power is connected wait for a full battery indication before turning the system on. That allows the battery to fully reset it’s internal statistics.

Connect all the cables back and restart the computer.

While turning on the computer, tap f2. It will go to bios. Press f9 once. It will show load bios defaults with a yes or no popup. Press enter. Popup screen will disappear. Press f10 once. It will show save changes popup with yes or no. Press enter. Computer will restart and it will load into windows.

It might also be the issue with battery, charger or power outlet. Try to use the charger in a different room on a different power outlet. Try to bypass the surge protector and connect it directly to power outlet. Try to use an alternative charger if possible. Try to turn on the computer without the charger and check it ( as long as the battery is not drained out )

It should work fine..

William_mk2

@yousafshah

Boot the computer through windows . Login to windows. It will show you all the icons

Try windows + x
device manager
expand network adapter
Right click on wifi adapter
update driver
chose 2nd option - browse my computer
chose 2nd option - let me pick
It will show you list of drivers ( It might show you 2 or 3 drivers - install one by one and check )
chose the first one - next - It will install the driver - click on close
Now try to connect to wifi
It should work fine.
Try the same steps for second and third driver, restart the computer and then connect to wifi

William_mk2

@yousafshah

Try windows x
go to device manager
expand network adapter
Right click on wifi adapter - uninstall
restart the computer.

If it is still not working properly

Go to website - support.acer.com
chose your country
type the snid or chose the model no
go to drivers
Install the wireless driver

Before installing the wireless driver go to device manager - uninstall the wireless driver. Without restarting the computer - try to install the wireless driver from acer support website.

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Alejandro_AC 55

Jack22 40

Puraw 35

Slade 35

billsey 30

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™