HP Pavilion dv6 notebook pc, wifi not working

[SMDunn2]

Hi, for the past month or so I have been having trouble using wifi to browse the Internet on my HP Pavilion dv6 notebook PC. I can see all the available connections and even connect to them but once I am connected and try to use the Internet in any form it just doesn't load any web pages and comes up with the same error when I am not connected to any Internet at all. While I am connected to the wifi it fluctuates from saying I have Internet access to no Internet access but no matter what it says connection to the Internet is impossible. Up till now this hasn't really been a problem as I have been mainly using Ethernet cables which seems to work fine on my laptop. I know that for a fact it's not any of he wifi's that aren't working as other laptops around the house are working on it fine. I have had this laptop for about a year but about a month or so ago this problem came about and I haven't been able to solve it myself since.
Any help on this problem would be much appreciated as I am changing all the Internet in my house to wifi so need to sort this out soon. Once again thanks for any help.
Sam

[amg314]

Have you tried doing a system restore?  Maybe there was some change made and you just need to set it back to a time when it was working properly.I would suggest you check to see if you have a restore point to about one month ago. 

[SMDunn2]

Hi, Thanks for the reply. Would doing this reset delete any of my saved data? If not i think i shall give that a shot 🙂

[Cloud_Strider]

I understand you are inquiring if a system restore will affect your personal data.

A system restore shouldn't affect your personal data or data outside of system files.  What may be affected is items on your desktop.  Some users store their files on the desktop and this is one area that is affected.  Before proceeding with a system restore.  I recommend copying any important files to a location not on the desktop.  Other than that, your personal files shouldn't be affected.  Programs that were installed after the restore date may need to be reinstalled as the registry would be reverted to a time before the said program was installed.

If you do not like the results of a system restore, you can also undo the system restore.

amg314 had answered your original post, but I wanted to provide an answer for this particular question.  

[SMDunn2]

Hi, thanks for that, so the latest restore I could have done was about a month ago but I don't think it was far enough back. I still tried to do it but it hasn't changed anything, wireless still not working but Ethernet is. Any other ideas? I do have insurance for five years on my laptop but I would rather be able to fix it at home if possible?

[Cloud_Strider]

Does it work in safe mode with networking?

1.  Power on the system.

2.  Start pressing F8 about once a second until the advanced boot menu appears.

3.  Select safe mode with networking.

4.  Several file paths will be listed and may even appear to have at the end.  After a few minutes, it should be loaded into safe mode with networking.

This is a minimal operating environment for Windows, but it will help isolate or minimize the sources of the issue.  

Let me know what happens.

[SMDunn2]

Alright, I have had some advance in my wifi, I tried it again today after flicking the switch a few times on the base of the laptop that is also the swith used to remove the battery and now wifi will work for a bit, about the first few internet pages, before it dies on me again. I will give your suggestion a shot tomorrow though to see if that makes any difference so thanks 🙂

[Cloud_Strider]

You are most welcome.  

I will watch for your response.  🙂

[SMDunn2]

Well I started in safe mode and the wifi seems to be working. It's a bit slow but that may just because of the connection and the fact that it's in safe mode. Does that mean that there is nothing wrong with the hardware? Also in this mode Skype doesn't work which is one of the main reasons I need it to work. Thanks again 🙂

[cookiesdad]

same porblem with both mine and my daughter dv6, both bought in the last half of 2011. Spent the day on the phone with ISP to no avail.  Works fine hard wired, works fine in safe mode didn't work using wifi (painfully slow). 

Finally solved the problem by updating driver. Went into 'Device Drivers' and it said drivers were up to date. Googled the model of wifi hardware, in my case: Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1030. That took me to the Intel site: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/wireless/cwn-1030 , had Intel load something that checked my drivers, found one out of date, loaded it, problem solved.

Hope this works for you.  🙂