Purchased reconditioned EliteDesk 705 G3 - no wifi, and now HP website doesn't recognize Serial #

[Baboodiot]

I seem to have two issues:

Background:  I bought a factory reconditioned PC (https://computers.woot.com/offers/hp-elitedesk-705-g3-mini-business-pc) that appears to have a 1-year limited warranty per Woot.  It arrived last Friday, so I was setting it up Friday night and spent multiple hours since then trying to troubleshoot its apparently complete lack of wifi awareness.  (For what it's worth, regarding me: I was never a total expert, especially about wifi, but I used to build my own gaming PCs from parts until about 10 years ago, so I'm at least not a know-nothing-break-everything kind of person. lol)

First problem:  After hours of troubleshooting, I wanted to confirm my specs and work with HP support, so I tried to register my device thinking that would get me to a support phone number.  However, HP's website does not recognize any version of the Serial # or Product #, so I can't get any help past the troubleshooting guides (and that's with me trying every variation - like, it has what looks like a zero, so I tried O, etc etc).   HP's error message says "We were unable to validate the serial number and add this product to your profile. Please visit your dashboard to add the product at another time.", which I've now been trying for days... 

Is this an issue with it being refurbed, and maybe serial number from the refurbing process hasn't been properly updated with HP..?

Regardless, this is important in case I have any *other* issues that might require me to work under the warranty - I'm disheartened this isn't working better!

Second problem:  The wifi issue itself.  The Woot specs say it has: "Network: Dual Band wireless 802.11ac (2x2)" (which is the same standard as my router), but the machine offers nothing other than Ethernet, VPN, Dial-up options, etc. - no mention of wireless at all.  The Device Manager likewise lists no wifi adaptor - no mentions of wireless at all. 

I'm a little paranoid that the Woot specs might have been wrong - maybe this machine really has no wifi capability..?  I've contacted them to try to confirm but haven't heard back yet.  Can someone just confirm for me whether I can reasonably expect a 705 G3 to always/never have wifi..? 

Thanks so much for anyone's help on either issue! 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Most HP business desktops don't come with built in wifi.

You have already determined that wifi does not exist, due to the lack of its presence in the device manager.

If the wireless driver was missing, you would be seeing a device labeled as a Network Controller listed under an Other Devices category in the device manager.

If you don't see a wireless AC adapter listed under the network adapters device manager category, nor a device labeled as a Network Controller in need of a driver, then you can be 99.9% assured the specs quoted are incorrect.

The serial number I can't help you with.  It should not have been changed.

You can do a warranty lookup at the link below and see if anything pops up.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/checkwarranty

If you can post the product number of the PC, I will see if I can find any specific info on it.

As you can see from the quickspecs below...wireless is optional, not standard equipment.

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c05238044.pdf

The product number can normally be found on the same label as the serial number.

[Baboodiot]

Thanks so much, Paul!  I really appreciate all that info. 

In particular, the confirmation of how I'd see a Network Controller under Other Devices if the adapter needed a driver, which I don't see. 

Also that the serial number shouldn't have changed just because of the refurb - interesting. 

Thanks very much for the warranty lookup, since that did give me confirmation of active warranties. though while saying this at the top:  "We were able to retrieve the warranty status but not all the product information tied with the serial number.  Sorry for the inconvenience."  It even lists my serial and product numbers, so I wonder what's wrong... 

Since you asked about my product number, it's 858491R-999, though I think your point about the quick specs info is probably spot-on - I have the Desktop Mini (DM) version, for which I can see the optional wireless adaptors and the mention of the one M.2 slot that can take one of them. 

Woot got back to me about this issue and offered me a full return or partial discount to cover the mistake, and so I've shopped those and decided to take the discount since I like the machine and it seems like I can compensate for this missing piece.  I just looked for, and finally found, the manuals with more detailed specs about how I could have that added (or add it myself), so I'll look into doing that.

Thanks again for your help with this!  I appreciate it!

[Baboodiot]

Oh, Paul - I'd like to make sure the device registration issue gets resolved, especially because it seems like maybe I should dispute the terms of my warranty based on how it says it started back in Aug, as opposed to late Nov. when I bought it, which means my 1 year will be up sooner than it seems like it should be. 

The awkward thing about this is that I saw a reference (maybe in some troubleshooting materials I read?) to how I should be able to dispute the warranty information by submitting my invoice, I think, but my results (maybe because of my device registration problem?) lack the "dispute" link I saw....  if you have any suggestions about the best way to try to get to the bottom of this, I'm all ears!

Should I just call the sales number (since that's the only contact number I see) and try to get routed to the right group, or should I post in another section of the forum, or ..?

Thanks again!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Since I don't work for or represent HP, the only suggestion I can offer would be to contact HP at this number in the USA/Canada, and see if you can get the registration sorted out.

1-800-334-5144.

If you don't live in the USA/Canada, you can start by contacting HP at the link below...

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

Have the serial number of the notebook handy to give to the customer services rep.

The product number you posted is unlike any other I have ever saw for an HP desktop or notebook PC.

Please use this guide for how to find the product number of your PC.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07555

As for adding wireless to the PC, I think you would be much better off purchasing an external USB wireless network adapter.

In addition to the M.2 form factor wifi adapter, you would also need to purchase the required antenna system, which will also be lacking.  And then you would have to figure out how/where to route the antennas.  I don't know if that info is in the service manual or not.