Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Fix for Windows 8 Wi-Fi (Off) problem

My HP M6-1184ca laptop recently had a problem where my wifi was disconnected and turned off, and I couldn't figure out how to turn it back on.  In the network connection panel, it was showing "Wi-Fi (Off)".

The HP wifi on/off indicator was showing amber (off), and pressing the FN-F12 combination wasn't turning it back on.  Toggling Windows 8 airplane mode on and off also failed to fix the problem, as did running Windows troubleshooting on the internet connection and network adapter.  All drivers were up to date.

The solution was to go to the Windows 8 Charms menu, choose Settings, then pick Change PC Settings at the bottom.  Within the Windows 8 PC Settings app (*not* Control Panel) I was able to select Wireless, and saw three toggles: Airplane Mode, Wi-fi, and Bluetooth.  Airplane Mode was turned off, but Wi-Fi was also turned off.  Toggling Wi-Fi back on in the PC Settings app fixed the problem.

I'm not sure how this would have become toggled to off... if I discover a way it may be inadvertently toggled off by mistake, I'll update this article.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just had this exact problem! Your blog post helped me out a lot. Thanks. And I have no idea what caused it!

Anonymous said...

I have same problem too. your blog gave me idea to fix my issue. I went in settings, then change pc settings. I think changing to and from airplan mode caused the wifi to turn off.

Jurupingo said...

That helped! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU!!!

This problem is a pain and your directions were perfect. Easy fix when you know how.

Eric said...

This was my exact problem. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Omg thank you so much! I was so annoyed that I couldn't find the source of the problem :< but this helped, so thanks again :)

comi said...

tnx i same problem with my hp m6.....saved me from downloading bunch of drivers

Unknown said...

Thanks, that fixed it.

Narendra Patel said...

Thanks a lot for fantastic blog and it really made my day..

Alex Blundell said...

Perfect, thanks very much!! What a stupid place to put it!

Mike said...

This was the fix! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I have same problem, I was searching and searching for the wifi driver for windows 8 os for my dell laptop. But I am failed. There are no driver !At last I found your suggestion. Thak you very much...

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, a new laptop and a not so savvy user, this was a big problem fixed with your input

Anonymous said...

Thax a lot!
Your advice was the only useful one for me, after trying all the "normal non win 8" options.

Unknown said...

Thanks a lot , it worked :)