It is difficult imagining life without the internet these days. Most of the services required nowadays are available online, and people usually find their desired content within a few clicks. Data costs are also going down, and this is booming a new era that is shifting nearly everything online.
Some Windows 10 users have reported an issue where they cannot connect to the internet using the Wi-Fi adapter. When they run the built-in network diagnostic troubleshooter, they are presented with a message that says, ‘problem with wireless adapter or access point’.
Here I shall discuss what this error means, and how you can resolve this using the solutions provided here.
Why Is My Wireless Adapter Not Working?
If you see this error on your Windows 10 device, it can be caused by many reasons revolving around your wireless adapter.
The most common reason that was reported among users is a corrupt wireless profile. Mismatched data in the profile caused the adapter to not be detected normally in Windows 10, and hence users were presented with this error.
Another common reason is outdated network drivers. Corrupt or missing drivers often lead to hardware failure, and you may be getting the ‘problem with wireless adapter’ error due to outdated drivers.
How To Solve ‘‘Problem With Wireless Adapter Or Access Point’?
We need to first isolate the cause of the error, and then proceed to find a solution according to the cause. Here are some tested solutions that you can try in order to solve the ‘‘problem with wireless adapter or access point’ error.
Solution 1: Refresh Your Connection
Problems with wireless adapter or access point can be caused by an unstable connection. You need to restart your network if this happens, as you may not be able to connect to the internet with Wi-Fi.
- Turn off your device.
- Unplug both your modem and router and wait 30 seconds.
- Now plug in your modem and router one by one, and wait for them to load up.
- Log into your ISP terminal if there is an option for the same, and then turn on your device.
- Try running Wi-Fi again.
Now check if the wireless adapter or access point error persists for your device. It should now be resolved.
Solution 2: Flush DNS And Reset TCP/IP
On nearly every kind of network, there is a timeout period, after which the connectivity throttles upon continued usage. Restarting your router and putting your device on Airplane mode and back, will reset the network, and the throttle should be over. This will clear the network errors, and you should be able to resolve the ‘problem with wireless adapter or access point’ error.
On Windows, you can try clearing the DNS cache as well. To do that:
- Open an elevated Command Prompt. To do this, open a Run window by pressing Win + R. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
- Type the following commands in order to flush your DNS cache and reset TCP/IP:
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
nbtstat –r
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
netsh winsock reset
Wait for the confirmation message, and then reboot your device.
Now check if you are able to load sites using your Wi-Fi connection. Your error should now be resolved.
Solution 3: Delete WLAN Profiles
You can also try deleting all WLAN Profiles to refresh the connections and solve your ‘wireless adapter or access point’ error. To do so, follow these steps:
- Open an elevated command prompt. To do so, open a Run dialog by pressing Win + R, type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
- Type this command in the cmd and hit Enter to view all the WLAN profiles set up on your device:
netsh wlan show profiles - Then type the following command to remove all Wifi profiles from your device:
netsh wlan delete profile name=”PROFILE NAME” - Wait for the confirmation message.
- Repeat the above step for all the Wi-Fi profiles and then reconnect your device to the Wi-Fi network.
Connecting to your network from scratch should reset the connection and delete all the older profile data that was causing the disconnection error with your wireless adapter. It should now be resolved.
Solution 4: Update Network Drivers
Drivers refer to the configuration files, which facilitate the communication between your hardware device and your operating system. Missing and corrupt drivers are associated with many errors that revolve around your hardware device misbehaving.
Outdated network drivers may be the reason that you are facing the problem with wireless adapter on your device. Updating your drivers should update the configuration files and eventually solve the error. To update your drivers, follow these steps:
- Open a Run dialog box by pressing Win + R.
- Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to launch the Device Manager console.
- Expand Network adapters by clicking on the small arrow next to it.
- Right-click on your network adapter and select Update Driver Software from the right-click context menu.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the latest device drivers for your device.
If Windows 10 is unable to find the drivers, you might need to download the latest drivers from the manufacturer’s website and update them manually.
Solution 5: Network Reset
If none of the solutions provided above helped you, you have to perform a network reset to solve your wireless adapter or access point error. To do this, follow these steps:
- Open the Windows Settings You can use the keyboard shortcut Win + I, or launch it from the Start menu.
- Click on Network & Internet.
- Make sure you are on the Status menu in the left pane.
- In the right pane, locate and click on Network reset.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to reset the network.
Wrapping Up
So there you have it. Now you know how to solve the ‘problem with wireless adapter or access point’ error on your Windows 10 device using the solutions provided here. Comment below if you found this useful, and tell us how you solved the error with your wireless adapter.
