Wifi adapter disappearsfrom device manager and lose connection to network

[Newvillage2]

7 YEAR OLD HP WORKING GREAT, THEN OUT OF NOWHERE THE WIFI IS LOST. ALL THIS TIME IT WAS NEVER WIRE CONNECTED.

NO PROGRAMS OR HARDWARE CHANGES.

REBOOTED AND EVEN RESTORED TO EARLIER DATE AND NOTHING.

WENT TO DEVICE MANAGER AND RESTARTED NETWORK DEVICE, ATTEMPTED TO UPDATE DRIVER BUT WAS ALREADY THE LATEST VERSION. ALSO TURNED OFF NETWORK DEVICE AND TURNED BACK ON IN VARIUOS FORMS INCLUDING RESTARTING COMPUTER.

RECENTLY I SHUT DOWN THEN PULLED THE PLUG AND LEFT IT POWERLESS FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES, WHEN RESTARTED THE WIRELESS CONNECTION WAS RESTORED, BUT DIDN'T LAST A DAY.

I HAVE A RALINK 3290 PCIE WIFI CARD

WHAT NOW !?  

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

That is a known issue with the Ralink cards and W10.

No fix other than to buy an external USB wifi adapter.

See this discussion, and try some of the suggestions I posted before buying another wifi adapter.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Wireless-and-Networking/I-need-to-download-a-wifi-driver-for-H...

[Newvillage2]

WOW !

THANKS FOR THE INFO.

I HAVE NOT YET PERFORMED YOUR SUGGESTION, ALTHOUGH I HAVE TEMPORARILY WIRED  MY CONNECTION. 

SO SHOULD I NOT REPLACE THE RALINK CARD WITH THE SAME OEM (I HAVE ALREADY ORDERED) AND INSTEAD PURCHASE AN EXTERNAL DEVICE AND IF SO DOES THAT MEAN I WILL LOSE BLUETOOTH FUNCTION?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome;

There is probably not a thing wrong with the wifi card.

It just does that, and there are no newer drivers.

Does the Bluetooth work now, or has the Bluetooth device manager category disappeared too?

If the Bluetooth is working, you can just add a USB wifi adapter that has support for W10 and the Bluetooth will continue to work on the Ralink card.

Have you opened up the PC?

Are there two wifi antenna cables connected to the Ralink wifi card in there now?

If so, you may be able to upgrade to a better wifi adapter that won't have those issues.

What is the full model number or product number of your PC?

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

Please do not post the serial number.

[Newvillage2]

THE BLUETOOTH IS ALSO AFFECTED AS IT DISAPPEARS AS WELL FROM THE DEVICE MANAGER WHEN WIFI GOES.

I HAVE NOT OPENED THE UNIT, SO NOT SURE IF THERE IS ONE ANTENNA OR TWO.

THE MODEL IS HP ENVY 20-d030.

I WILL CERTAINLY CONSIDER A RECOMMENDED UPGRADE CARD TO PUT THIS BEHIND ME, SHOULD THE PREVIOUSLY RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE NOT WORK OUT. 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

If your PC has two antenna cables connected to the Ralink wifi card in there now, you should be able to upgrade to this model wifi adapter...

Here is the card I recommend...

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11 ac 2x2 WiFi + BT 4.0 HP Part # 710661-001

The card is readily available on eBay or Amazon.

Do your search by the HP part number, not by the model number of the wireless card.

Before installing the Intel card, uninstall the ralink wifi and Bluetooth devices and drivers in the device manager.

If there is any Ralink Bluetooth software listed in the Programs section of the Windows control panel, uninstall that too.

Then remove and replace the wifi card.

Below is the link to the service manual.  There won't be a procedure for replacing the wifi card, but it should help you get inside the PC to find the wifi card and remove it.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03599028