Configuring a wireless network for Windows 8. How to enable Wi-Fi on a laptop

Clients often come to me with a very strange for an advanced user and a very frequent question for an unprepared person - how to turn on the WiFi adapter on a purchased laptop and then how to connect to wireless network router.

Why does such a simple procedure raise so many questions for beginners? Yes, simply because they do not know which button to press, and they are afraid to experiment with the device they just bought. Now I will tell you how to do it quickly and without any risk.

How to enable wifi on laptops from different manufacturers.

A wireless Wi-Fi adapter on a laptop is usually turned on in hardware by pressing a button. Moreover, this button can be located either on the computer case:

Or it is combined with some function key - F2, F3, ... F12. Usually, to turn on wifi, it is enough to perform 2-3 simple operations. Which one depends on the model and manufacturer of the laptop. Here are the options to include wifi networks on beeches of the most popular manufacturers:

Please note that the Wi-Fi icon is drawn in a different color. This means that in order for this button to work to turn on the network, it must be pressed together with the Fn function key.

That is, you must press two buttons simultaneously, for example FN and F8:

At the same time, each manufacturer tries to adhere to one standard, but he does not always succeed. So, on ASUS laptop usually a combination of FN and F2 buttons is used, on Lenovo you need to press FN and F5, Samsung, as a rule, uses FN and F9 or F12 to turn on wi-fi. HP and Compaq also love to use the F12. Although more often they make a separate button above the keyboard with an icon in the form of an antenna. But on Acer, E-Machines and Packard bell, hold down the FN and F3 buttons.

On outdated laptop models, the following sliders were often made from the end of the device case:

There may be a Wireles, Wi-Fi, or Wlan signature next to or right on the button. Move the slider towards On and the wireless network is turned on!

How to connect a laptop on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 to the Wi-Fi network:

So, we plugged in the laptop adapter - half done. Now you need to connect it to the network of your home router. To do this, in the lower left corner, near the clock, we are looking for the wireless network connection icon:

Found it? Fine. We click on it with the left mouse button and the "Networks" panel appears on the left. We look for our grid in the list and click on it:

By the way, you can immediately check the Connect automatically checkbox. In this case, the computer will automatically connect to the network when it is detected. Click the Connect button. Now the system will ask you to enter the password for the WiFi network:

How to enable wifi on laptops from different manufacturers.

A wireless Wi-Fi adapter on a laptop is usually turned on in hardware by pressing a button. Moreover, this button can be located either on the computer case:

Or it is combined with some function key - F2, F3, ... F12. Usually, to turn on wifi, it is enough to perform 2-3 simple operations. Which one depends on the model and manufacturer of the laptop. Here are the options for enabling the wifi network on beeches from the most popular manufacturers:

Please note that the Wi-Fi icon is drawn in a different color. This means that in order for this button to work to turn on the network, it must be pressed together with the Fn function key.

That is, you must press two buttons simultaneously, for example FN and F8:

At the same time, each manufacturer tries to adhere to one standard, but he does not always succeed. So, on an ASUS laptop, a combination of FN and F2 buttons is usually used, on Lenovo you need to press FN and F5, Samsung, as a rule, uses FN and F9, or F12 to turn on wi-fi. HP and Compaq also love to use the F12. Although more often they make a separate button above the keyboard with an icon in the form of an antenna. But on Acer, E-Machines and Packard bell, hold down the FN and F3 buttons.

On outdated laptop models, the following sliders were often made from the end of the device case:

There may be a Wireles, Wi-Fi, or Wlan signature next to or right on the button. Move the slider towards On and the wireless network is turned on!

How to connect a laptop on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 to the Wi-Fi network:

Found it? Fine. We click on it with the left mouse button and the "Networks" panel appears on the left. We look for our grid in the list and click on it:

Ready! Your laptop is successfully connected to the Wi-Fi network!

p.s. I want to add one more thing. If you confront on your laptop with the fact that after some time it loses the wireless network, then the reason for this is most likely that the Power Saving Mode is set. You can check this in the Windows Control Panel - Power Options:

You just need to change the scheme to Balanced, after which your laptop will stop losing the Wi-Fi network!

At present, the controversial expression 10-15 years ago, "a computer is a network, a network is a computer," is perceived as an axiom. The network connects computers and other devices at home and at work, and without the Internet, many can no longer imagine their lives. And if suddenly some kind of failure occurs and access to the World Wide Web is terminated, this is perceived extremely negatively. It also happens that everything is fine with the equipment, but a laptop or computer running under Windows, for the life of me, does not see Wi-Fi network... What may be the reasons for this problem and how to solve it, we will talk in this article.

Causes and solutions

So, suppose we are on a business trip, we receive a new laptop with installed Windows 8 and trying to connect to Wi-Fi, but the OS cannot find the network. The list of available connections is empty. There may be several reasons for this, and they are divided into hardware and software. With the hardware, everything is quite simple - it is very likely that the WI-Fi adapter on the laptop has broken. It is impossible to replace it yourself, so if there is no time to go to the service, you will have to connect to the network with a cable in the old fashioned way or use another computer. Problems with the router are possible, of course, but if the other users have a wireless network working without complaints, and even your smartphone sees it perfectly, then it has nothing to do with it, and the point is in the laptop.

Among the software reasons that the computer does not find the network, there are several of the most probable ones:

You must use the wireless adapter on your laptop.
Wi-Fi controller is disabled in Windows.
Drivers are not installed or are not suitable.

1. BIOS.

In the first case, there is a chance that the wireless device is disabled through the BIOS. You can get there by pressing the F2, F10, Del key - the specific value also depends on the brand of the laptop. Next, we find a section whose name contains the word Configuration, Advanced, System devices or something like that, the main thing is that it contains information about built-in devices. We check if the value is Off or Disabled opposite the wireless adapter, designated as Wlan device, Wireless, Wi-Fi controller, and so on.
2. Power button on laptop.

If everything is fine in the BIOS, and the problem persists, pay attention to the laptop case, most often the wireless power button looks like a switch and is combined with an indicator:
3. Power buttons on the keyboard.

It may happen that there is no hardware button, but this does not create a problem either - you should study the keyboard, among the function keys there is one that, when pressed together with the Fn key, turns on Wi-Fi. It is indicated by a special icon. Let's illustrate how it might look for different laptop manufacturers:
In the second case, if the Wi-Fi controller is disabled, you should check two different Windows 8 settings.

4. Turn on the Wi-Fi adapter.

The adapter itself can be turned off, to check, go to "Control Panel" - "Network and Sharing Center" - "Change adapter settings" and, if we see that the wireless connection is gray, and its status is "Disabled", it remains simple turn it on.
5. Check if Wi-Fi is enabled in Windows 8 software.

You need to make sure Wi-Fi is not turned off in the right pop-up Windows panels... Move the mouse cursor to the upper or lower right corner of the monitor and go to the "Wireless mode" section. We turn on the adapter, but if it is disabled only for the "Airplane" mode, we check to see if it is currently being used. 6. Checking the Wi-Fi driver... Finally, if the previous options did not work, you will have to tinker with the driver. If the bundled with Windows 8 is installed, this may be the cause of the problem, it is always better to use the program from the manufacturer. We open the device manager by going to the "Control Panel" - "System" or by pressing Win + R on the keyboard and typing in command line text devmgmt.msc. Find the Wi-Fi controller (the name will contain the word "Wireless" or "Wi-Fi"). When the device icon looks like yellow triangle with an exclamation mark - there is a problem with the driver and needs to be reinstalled.

If, at first glance, everything is fine, it is worth making sure that the correct software is installed for the adapter. By clicking on its name with the right mouse button, we will open the properties window, after which we will go to the Driver tab and see information about the supplier and the release date of the program. If Microsoft is listed there and two or three years have passed since the driver was released, you should definitely go to the official website of the laptop manufacturer, download and install latest version... It is possible that a different version of Windows was installed on the computer and the driver supplied with it is not suitable for this hardware.

Every lenovo, asus, acer, hp, samsung, toshiba, dns, dell or msi laptop has a wifi function - just to start using it, you need to turn it on.

Through wi-fi, you can use the Internet, which has conquered our lives. He is with us at work, at school, in entertainment and in communication with friends.

The Internet has become a virtual reflection of everyday reality and an increasing number of people cannot imagine their life without it - only you have to launch it first.

And what to do when the equipment refuses to cooperate and the network is not available or worse, you have no idea how to connect Wi-Fi on your laptop?

To help you find a solution to this problem, below is a guide to the easiest ways to enable wireless connection and settings.

This is a step-by-step guide for windows 7 and 8 - hardly anyone is using old Microsoft systems now.

Check function keys or how to turn on Wi-Fi on your laptop

I am fully aware that lack of knowledge is a serious problem, however, the solution is often simpler than you initially think.

So don't panic and read it calmly. Every laptop purchased over the past 5 years has a set of function keys.

They are used for volume control, media pause, screen saver, touchpad lock, etc.

Among them are also responsible for enabling / disabling the wireless wifi network.

By default, they are usually assigned to the F2 button - just press the Fn + F2 key combination, if they do not work in your laptop, then the WLAN control can be assigned to another button.

The simplest methods are usually the most effective - but if the keyboard shortcut above does not produce any results, move on to further reading.

How to enable WiFi on your Windows 7 laptop

Windows 7 has been the main system preinstalled on laptops by most manufacturers for the past few years - most likely yours too.

Below are the steps to help you learn how to turn on Wi-Fi on your laptop - "at seven"

Go to control panel

Just click on it to see a list of all available wireless networks in your area. Select the network you want to connect to from the drop-down list.

How to enable WiFi on your Windows 8 (8.1) laptop

In addition to Windows system 7, the other most popular is preinstalled on most new laptops - Windows 8 or 8.1.

Since her interface has been significantly changed due to the "metro" steps for her, enabling WiFi on the laptop is slightly different.

Turn on network settings

Move the cursor to the lower right edge and click on the icon: "Settings". I have Windows 8 in English, so your inscriptions will be different than in the pictures - in Russian.

Go to your wireless network and turn on WiFi

When you are in computer settings go to Wireless and change the wireless device from Off to ON.

Enabling Wi-Fi for laptop models

As mentioned above, some laptops may have "non-standard" settings.

Therefore, below I will give the most popular solutions for various models - I think this will be useful for many, especially if they do not have instructions from the manufacturer.

Please note that in addition to keyboard shortcuts, there may also be special buttons on the case.

How to turn on wifi on acer

Keyboard shortcut - Fn + F5
Aspire 1000 / 1640Z / 1690 - button above keyboard
Aspire 16xx - button above the keyboard
Aspire 2000 Series - Switch on the front of the laptop
Aspire 2012 Button - above the keyboard
Aspire 3005 - Switch on the right side of the laptop
Aspire 3500 - on the front of the laptop
Aspire 5610 - on the front of the laptop
Aspire 5612 - Laptop Side Button
Aspire 9302 - blue button on the left side of the laptop
Aspire 94xx - button below lock key
Aspire One [Legacy] - Button with antenna in the lower right corner of the palmrest
Aspire One [New Models] - Fn + F3 Keys
Extensa 2000/2500 Series Button - Button in the upper right corner of the keyboard
Ferrari 3000/3020/3400/4000 - buttons on the front of the laptop
Travelmate C series button - top left key, the screen menu will pop up, select WLAN

How to turn on wifi on the asus

Keyboard shortcut - Fn + F2
One press: turn on bluetooth / turn on Wifi
Two clicks: turn off bluetooth / turn on WiFi
Three clicks: turn on bluetooth / turn off WiFi
Four clicks: turn off bluetooth / turn off WiFi
Older models - [antenna icon] button above keyboard, press and hold
New models - bottom button to the left of the keyboard
Compaq Armada - Enable Integrated Wireless
Compaq Pavilion ZX5190 - [wireless icon] switch on keyboard
Compaq Presario - button on the back
Compaq Presario CQ Series - (Antenna Icon) Above Keyboard
Compaq Presario M2000 - (antenna icon) above keyboard
6910p - HP / Compaq button in the upper left of the keyboard
HP 600 - in the lower left corner of the keyboard
HP nc4000 / 4010 - button above keyboard
HP NC4220 - on the left side of the laptop [near USB Port]
HP NC6000 / 6220 - above keyboard
NX9010 - on the front of the laptop
HP Omnibook 6200 - Left Side of Laptop

How to enable wifi on Dell

Most of them are Fn + F2 or Fn + F8 or Fn + F12
600 m - Fn + F2
E6400 - Right side of laptop above the headphone port
Inspiron - FN + F2
Inspiron 1510 / 500M / 600M / 1150 - FN + F2
Inspiron 1505 - system tray icon right click and power on
Inspiron 1521 - Laptop Right Side
Inspiron 1525 - [wireless icon] button on the front of the laptop
Inspiron 1720 Switch on the left side of the laptop
Inspiron 5100 - Integrated Wireless
Inspiron 6000/8600/9300 - Fn + F2
D400 / D500 / D600 / D610 / D400 / D500 / D600 / D610 / D620 / D800 - Fn + F2
Latitude D630 (D640 and newer) - Toggle switch on the left side from the front
Latitude E6400 - FN + F2
X300 - FN + F2
Vostro 1500 - Large buttons on the left side on the back

How to turn on wifi on Lenovo

In DV series notebooks - the antenna-shaped button above the keyboard
R40 - Fn + F5
Thinkpad - buttons on the left side of the laptop
T43 / X32 - Fn + F5 opens OSD menu, select "Turn On"
X61 switch on the front right side of the laptop
Lenovo T-61 - Switch on the front of the laptop

How to enable wifi on MSI

The button next to the power button
U100 - Fn + F11

How to turn on wifi on a Samsung

Blue button in the middle of the keyboard

How to turn on wifi for Toshiba

Keyboard - Fn + F5 or Fn + F8
A100-078 - switch on the right side of the case
Equium - on the front of the case
Libretto - on the front of the case
M1 and M2 - switch on the left side of the case
M40 and M70 - Button on the front of the laptop
Portege & Qosmio - on the left side of the case
Quantium - on the left side of the laptop
R100 - switch on the right side of the case
Satego - on the right side of the laptop
Satellite - switch in the lower left corner of the keyboard Fn + F8 shows the status
L355D-S7825 - switch below the keyboard just to the left of the center
Satellite A60-S1662 - switch on the right side next to the USB port
Satellite Pro button side or front
TE2000 - switch on the left side of the case
Tecra 2100 - switch on the left side of the case

What to do if the instructions above didn't help

If you have done everything that is written above and nothing helps, then the problem can be only in one thing - in the absence of the correct driver.

Where can I get a driver? It is best to download it on the manufacturer's website, but you can do it differently, especially if you cannot find it there.

The driver can be downloaded by. I will not describe how to do this once again - here is a detailed instruction.

Very, very rarely there are situations when it is impossible to turn on the Wi-Fi at all.

Yes, this is a rarity, but it happens - I'm not saying that a module came out of standing, it's just that the manufacturers themselves do not intentionally make mistakes.

Or, for example, you have old laptop, you hung Windows 7 or 8 on it, and there may not be drivers for such OS on it, since the manufacturer has long forgotten about it. Let's hope this is not your case and everything went well. Good luck.