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February 12th, 2017 12:00

Dell Inspiron 15 3521 Wi-Fi will not turn on after Win 10 Upgrade

I have a Dell Inspiron 15 3521 that came with Windows 8 installed. I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and everything worked great. When Windows 10 came out I was reluctant to upgrade, but I finally did right before the free offer ran out. Again, everything worked great (except for now having a dozen user accounts that I do not need – but that’s another story).

After a month or so, Windows 10 did its upgrade and that’s when everything got messed up.

Now, my wi-fi will not even turn on. I click the toggle in Control Panel/Settings/Wi-Fi and it will toggle on and then immediately back off. The only way I can use wi-fi is to use a Cisco USB wi-fi dongle.

I, of course, have Googled till my eyes bleed, but can find nothing that has helped.

Supposedly, this model is on the list tested for Windows 10.

The onboard wi-fi adapter is a Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b|g|n (2.4 GHz)

Anyone have any ideas what to try?

 

TIA,

Bob Mathis

4 Operator

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6.4K Posts

February 13th, 2017 07:00

" The onboard wi-fi adapter is a Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b|g|n (2.4 GHz) "

I believe your wireless adapter is for windows 8.1. If I am correct, click on link below, click 'Change OS' to windows 10, stroll down 'Network' and then expand it. Install Dell Wireless 1703/1705/1901 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Driver.

4 Operator

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6.4K Posts

February 13th, 2017 07:00

February 14th, 2017 11:00

This did not work.

I did the above and then I:

1) Uninstalled the wireless network adapter.

2) Rebooted my machine, because usually when you make a change, you need to do that.

3) That reinstalled the adapter, so I uninstalled without rebooting.

4) Ran the “Network_Driver_N80VN_WN32_10.0.0.0_A00.exe” that I had downloaded.

5) It installed, then rebooted my machine.

6) I still do not have W-Fi without the Cisco dongle.

a) When I go to Network settings/Wi-Fi and click the toggle, it still goes to the On position for only the time the mouse is being clicked, then immediately back to Off

b) If I click the network icon in the taskbar, it shows Wi-Fi is off.

c) With the Cisco dongle in place, it shows Wi-Fi is Off and Wi-Fi2 is on and I can connect.

I can deal with it somewhat, but it is annoying and worrisome having the 2” dongle sticking out the side of the laptop. I worry that it’s going to get snapped off and I have to waste money getting another one, when it is supposed to be built into the laptop.

4 Operator

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6.4K Posts

February 14th, 2017 16:00

If the issue still isn't fix, .....

Third, type Device Manager Control Panel onto the [Control Panel], stroll down to Network Adapter and then expand it. Look for a yellow triangle by any of the adapters, if there is one, right click adapter and then update it. Please watch Dell video below.

4 Operator

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6.4K Posts

February 14th, 2017 16:00

Lastly, if the wifi issue still isn't fix, I suggest you reset the Network adapter. Please follow instructions in the link below.

Reset Network Settings To Default In Windows 10 - YouTube

4 Operator

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6.4K Posts

February 14th, 2017 16:00

Please go back to Network & Internet settings, check and see if Airplane mode is turn off. Secondly, press the Fn + F2 (Symbol) or just the symbol to turn on wifi.

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