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USB WiFi Adapter Not Working [FIXED]
6 min. read
Updated onApril 17, 2024
updated onApril 17, 2024
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Key notes
A USB Wi-Fi adapter is a handy little gadget that should be part of your home essentials alongside a good computer or a fast Internet connection.
If your computer has no Wi-Fi connection built into it, you can choose to use aUSB Wi-Fi adapterto ensure you get online and continue browsing, streaming Netflix, or even playing games.
USB Wi-Fi adapters eliminate the need for running cables or installing internal hardware, plus you can use them on multiple devices.
If you’re trying to get online but your USB WiFi adapter is not working, here are some solutions you can use.
How can I fix USB WiFi adapter not working?
1. Roll back the network adapter driver
If the button is unavailable, that means there’s no driver to roll back to.
If Windows can’t find a new driver for your network adapter, visit your computer manufacturer’s website to download the latest network adapter driver.
1.1 Update drivers automatically
We strongly suggest you do this process automatically by using theOutbyte Driver Updatertool.
Dedicated software like this one ensures that you download just the right driver for your PC; besides, it also makes the very best recommendations in this sense, so you won’t have to waste time searching the Internet.
Hence, if you strongly need to update your network driver correctly and without any difficulties, proceed confidently withspecialized driver updating software.
2. Check your Wi-Fi connection
3. Turn off Airplane Mode
4. Restart your Wi-Fi router
If the previous solutions didn’t work and your USB WiFi adapter is not working, and you have tried to move closer to your router or access point, you can also restart your Wi-Fi router.
This helps create a new connection to your ISP, but it will disconnect everyone on your network temporarily. It should be one of the last solutions to try though. Here’s what to do:
5. Run the network troubleshooter
6. Temporarily turn off the firewall
There are times when your firewall or antivirus and anti-malware software may prevent you from connecting to the Internet.
You can temporarily turn it off and try to connect again. Check the software’s documentation for steps on how to do this, although the steps should be quite intuitive.
It’s recommended, though, to turn the firewall back on as soon as you can. Otherwise, your computer remains vulnerable to hackers and malware threats.
7. Uninstall the network adapter driver and restart
Windows will automatically install the latest driver. If Windows doesn’t automatically install a driver, try to install the backup driver you saved before uninstalling.
Alternatively, you can use the method recommended in the first step to use dedicated software for this.
You can apply this solution if your network connection stopped working after a recent update, as well.
8. Use network reset to reinstall network devices
This should be the last step you try if the other solutions don’t help when your USB Wi-Fi adapter is not connecting to the Internet.
It can also help solve connection problems you might have afterupgrading from a previous version of Windows to Windows 10, as well as fix problems where you can connect to the Internet but not to shared network drives.
It removes any network adapters you have installed and the settings for them.
Once your computer restarts, network adapters are reinstalled, with default settings.
Note:To use network reset, you must runWindows 10 version 1607 or later.
After using network reset, you may need to reinstall and set up other networking software you might be using, such asVPN clientsoftware or virtual switches from Hyper‑V.
Note:Network reset might set each one of your known network connections to a public network profile where your computer is not discoverable to other PCs and devices on the network, which can help make your PC more secure.
If your PC is part of a homegroup or used for file or printer sharing, you need to make it discoverable again by setting it to use a private network profile.
Here’s how to make your computer discoverable again:
Did any of these solutions resolve the USB WiFi adapter not working issue? Let us know by leaving a comment in the section below.
More about the topics:Fix WiFi problems,windows 10 fix
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
