Realtek RTL 8821CE Adapter not working and blocking laptop

[AKluh]

Hi Community,

as many users I have constant issues with this WiFi adapter on my laptop.

With time it went worse, so currently, it does hardly work at all, and also the  windows 11 task bar is not being displayed, and the Task Manager does not update data when started.

When I start the device with minimal drivers, everything is fine, so it is quite obvious that the Realtak Adapter causes these issues.

Since all firmware-updates, tricks and everything else failed, i finally chose to use an USB WiFi Stick instead and disable the Realtek. So I did disable the network adapter in the device manager, and used the stick.

So far, so good. But when I restart the laptop or it wakes up from sleep, the problem with the non-displaying Taskbar reappears.  So it seems the defect Realtek does harm the system even when disabled in the device manager.

So is it possible to completely disable this Realtek device (uninstalling drivers does not help either) to get finally rid of it?

Best regards,

Alexander

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Alexander:

Check your notebook's BIOS to see if there is a setting to disable the Wi-Fi adapter.

If there isn't then the only way to solve the problem that I know of would be to physically remove the Realtek Wi-Fi card from the M.2 Wi-Fi slot.

Make sure you insulate the antenna terminal after you remove the card, so the metal connector does not touch any metal parts of the motherboard.

[AKluh]

Hi Paul,

thanks for the proposal. I did disable WiFi and Bluetooth (since it is both on the same board I think) in BIOS.

Nevertheless, as soon as I plug in my USB WiFi Stick, the problem reoccurs. Task manager not updating data, Task bar not available after reboot.

How can the WiFi card be removed. Is there a manual/description how to do it?

Best regards,

Alexander

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Alexander.

Since there is no setting in the BIOS to disable the Wi-Fi adapter, your only other option would be to physically remove the card.

Please post the product number of your notebook so I can give you the link to the service manual for it.

Run the Windows system information app.

The product number will be found on the System SKU line about 1/4 of the way down on the report.

[AKluh]

Hi Paul,

the entry of System-SKU is:

5B6K8ES#ABD

HP 250 G8 Notebook PC

Best regards,

Alexander

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Alexander:

Below is the link to the service manual for your notebook:

Maintenance and Service Guide (hp.com)

Chapter 5 has the Wi-Fi card removal and replacement procedure.

Make sure to insulate the metal antenna wire terminal from touching anything metal on the motherboard as it could cause a short circuit.

Cheers,

Paul

[AKluh]

Hi Paul,

thanks very much for the manual to remove the WiFi card.

I removed the card but the effect was still there. As soon as I plugged in the USB WiFi stick, the task manager freezed again.

So then I made a fresh install of Windows 11 on the Laptop, and the effect was gone.

Then i put back in the WiFi card, and the effect was still gone.

So the problem was not the WiFi card, but the "malconfigured" Windows 11 ...

Best regards,

Alexander

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Alexander.

Glad you are able to use the internal Wi-Fi card again.

BTW, this is the latest driver for the RTL8821CE:

2024.10.229.1 

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp155001-155500/sp155074.exe

Best regards,

Paul