Ralink RT5390 Wifi Adapter is not working

[cbmayling]

my pavilion g6 laptop's wifi adapter hasn't been working correcty recently. my internet router and networks are running fine as  they should be, but every time i reboot my laptop, it keeps saying that there is no connection and no other wifi netowrks, when there clearly is other networks because of my  surrounding neighbours.

i have tried a system restore to resolve the problem, but it has no affect and my norton is affecting the system restore of disabling the antivirus.

i am stuck on ideas to resolve this and i do not know a lot on networking and internet stuff, so i am pretty helpless here

here is a link to my laptops specs if needed:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03136241 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The antivirus may be affecting the internet connection.

See if installing this driver helps.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=32...

[CreamKing · Accepted solution]

These ralink adapters are plain ol' sh*t. I'm not sure if this will be a complete fix for you, but I've been wresting with my network adapter for months and this has proven to be the most effective for my computer. I have an HP Envy fortunate enough to be equipped with a Ralink RT3290, running windows 8.

Soooooo....

Out of the box, my comp was working fine and it connected to the network OK. As soon as I moved further away from the router, I experienced constant drop outs, and the connection would always flounder between low signal strength, to completely disconnecting itself from the router, where I had to manually re-connect it. A really frustrating issue at that. I use my computer on the top level of my house, and the router is at the basement. So I was getting sick of it fast. Driver update after driver update, no luck. After trying everything under the sun, I decided I would bite the bullet and I tried something a little unorthodox... 

I simply uninstalled  the driver from my comp. Yes, really. When a component on your comp has it's driver stripped, Windows software has a few drivers that will install by default for your hardware so that it can remain functional on your computer. So, once removing the ralink driver from my computer, windows installed it's default driver for my network adapter and... Voila! My connection problems are practically non-existant at this point. The hardware is still not the best but I can at least browse the net in my room without my connection experiencing constant dropping out.

Now, other than the wireless button light stuck with an orange glow, and device manager listing my network card as #10, I am still using this driver with minimal issues. Occasionally, it will forget the connection once I awaken the laptop from sleep, but this issue was much, much worse with the ralink drivers than without.

If you are fully aware of the risk involved (which is little, to be realistic, this can always be undone & you can always re-install the ralink drivers if this deosn't prove to be an effective solution), I will explain in detail how I managed to do this.

1) Open up device manager (right click the bottom left corner in windows 8 and a shortcut to it will appear in the drop-down menu)

2) Find network adapters and expose it's contents

3) Right-click on your WLAN adapter (should be something similar to "Ralink RT5390 802.11b/g/n...") and click "uninstall" from the drop down menu

4) - A popup should appear and you should be given the option to proceed with the uninstall or cancel it. Make sure to check the "delete driver software for this device" before you proceed or else windows will re-install the ralink driver.

- Scan for new hardware if your network card isnt detected after uninstalling it. Your card should appear as "802.11n Wireless LAN card"

- If you have a ralink driver installer that's newer or equal to the driver already installed, you can run the installer to remove any leftover driver software that is usually overlooked by device manager when uninstalling it from your computer

- Optionally, you can check C:\Windows\System32\Drivers for any potential leftover driver files. It is important to check for any leftovers that device manager/the ralink installer may have missed because it can potentially conflict with the alternate default windows WLAN driver. the drivers should have an abbreviated name of your adapter (ex. rt3298.sys); they shouldn't be hard to find. Be careful as well; IT IS WISE TO ALWAYS BACK UP ANY DRIVER SOFTWARE YOU MAY BE REMOVING IN CASE YOU MAKE A MISTAKE.

5) Re-enter your network information and you should be good to go!

I hope this is of any help to you. People who know nothing about what they're talking about will tell you to install the latest driver and yatta yatta yatta well since that didn't work I had to take the liberty of trying to find a fix for these accursed adapters myself. I hope this somewhat helps your issue!

[MrMatthew]

Even though our opinions on how to solve a problem may differ we're all in this together.  Let's remember to keep things courteous.  🙂

[Jerkygirl]

I have been having the same problem! It's extremely frustrating. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Ralink RT5390 Wi-Fi Adapter a dozen times. It will work for a little while and then it drops off. 

I have an HP Pavilion G7 2022us Notebook with Windows 8.

I have an Actiontec Rev. I router for Verizon FIOS.

I have Kaspersky Internet Security 2013.

I have spent hours online with both Verizon and Kaspersky to try and resolve the problem. I have also spent hours on the phone with HP and there was no resolution. 

Questions:

What could be the cause?

If it is conflicting with the anti-virus, how can I fix it?

If it is conflicting with the router, how can I fix it?

Please someone help me!!

[cbmayling]

forget the solution here as i did try that a couple of times and it didnt work. how i fixed mine was by doing a whole factory reset. i did that cos at the time, i had the BSOD so a factory reset was the only option for me.

if you are opting for the factory reset, do remeber to backup all of your important data into a external source, like a external hardrive with the amount needed to support all of your data. 

use the advanced startup option and select the reset settings. 

if you take up to a week or more to try solve this issuse with no repsonse, then i think your only way out is to do a factory reset or get in taken in from HP or get it to a shop where they fix PCs. 

[LaMan]

My WiFi driver - Ralink RT5390R 802.11bgn Wi-Fi Adapter - fails frequently and the problem is not resolved by deleting and reinstalling the driver.  It stil has the same problem.  Each time it quits working, I have to "disable" the driver and then "enable" it again to get it to work with my WiFi or restart my HP laptop to get it to work.  Seeing all the other responses to this problem should be a serious FLAG to HP and RALINK.  This problem seems to persist throughout the PC world where the driver is being used.  FIX IT PERMANENTLY!

[cmissyjones]

Hi Paul Please excuse me butting in but my posts are not being answered. Is the link specific to the PC in question or do you think it might work for me. I have a Compaq Presario CQ56 running Windows 7 Home Premium. I have a Ralink RT5390 WiFi adaptor. My router is fine because my phone connects with no problem. I have tried everything I have seen suggested in other posts including updating the bios. I uninstalled the adaptor, deleting the driver but Windows still found a Ralink driver and I still can't connect. I should say that the network is visible, I just can't connect to it.

Hoping you can help,

Colleen

[HandyAndy14]

Hello @cmissyjones,

I understand you're unable to get an appropriate driver for the Ralink RT5390 WiFi adapter. According to the manufacturer of that adapter you should be able to download and use the one from the link below:

http://goo.gl/EpGxEy

Let me know if this resolves the issue.

Thank you,

[cmissyjones]

Thank you for trying to help but the link leads to a page which says 'HP was unable to find the page you wanted.' I tried the advice above as well but Windows couldn't find a driver so obviously doesn't have a generic driver for it. I'm back to square one.

Thanks anyway,

Colleen