Lenovo E49: Wi-Fi Issue

[insaneYLN]

Hello everyone.


I am having an issue, getting the wireless LAN feature of a Lenovo E49 laptop working. The machine has been installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (x86), and I have downloaded all relevant drivers from the Lenovo India support portal, Drivers and software - Lenovo E49 Notebook

After installing the operating system, I installed every driver, on a trial and error basis. The taskbar displays the wireless icon, but with a 'X' symbol. As per the said machine's User Guide, the key combination to enable the wireless feature is, Fn+F5. But, when the key combination is applied, it does not perform its intended function.


Could the presence of the other wireless LAN drivers I installed on the trial and error basis, cause an interference or conflict?


I await your expertise and your assistance, and I thank you all for your patience.

 

[SunE]

Uninstall all the drivers and then install the proper driver. See if that works. If not then make sure your device isn't disabled and working properly.

 

[insaneYLN]

Uninstall all the drivers and then install the proper driver. See if that works. If not then make sure your device isn't disabled and working properly.

@SunE, thank you for your response.


I am unable to upload a screenshot, and as such, will attempt to be descriptive! The Device Manager displays the name of the Network adapters - 1x1 11b/g/n Wireless LAN PCI Express Half Mini Card Adapter and Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller.
For the wireless LAN adapter, the Device status reads, "This device is working properly.", under Properties.

There is also an Unknown device reported under Other devices, and I am suspecting it is probably the Bluetooth.


Coming back to your response, are you suggesting I should uninstall 'all' device drivers? If so, would the simple action of right clicking on a particular device and choosing Uninstall under Device Manager suffice, or should I uninstall through the Control Panel?
Since I did install almost every available driver on a trial and error basis, I presume I would have to remove the 'unnecessary ones', and thus, am wondering if I should use an appropriate software application suited for this task?


I await your replies.

 

[SunE]

Just uninstall the wifi one.

 

[insaneYLN]

Just uninstall the wifi one.

@SunE, I uninstalled the Wi-Fi driver first and then re-installed it again, and checked if the Fn+F5 key combination enables the wireless functionality, but to no avail. I have uninstalled the driver again. Here are the Hardware Ids of the Network Controller.

Spoiler

PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4365&SUBSYS_061117AA&REV_01
PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4365&SUBSYS_061117AA
PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4365&CC_028000
PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4365&CC_0280

I searched the first string line of the Hardware Id on Google, and came across *forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-3000-and-Essential/Lenovo-G700-and-no-wireless-internet/td-p/1304411. Should I download the content(s) of the link, posted by the thread's author from the Lenovo forum?

 

[SunE]

Yes you can try that. I think it will work as it is mentioned as the solution.

 

[insaneYLN]

I downloaded and subsequently installed the WLAN and Bluetooth Driver (Broadcom, Qualcomm) application from *forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-3000-and-Essential/Lenovo-G700-and-no-wireless-internet/td-p/1304411, but unfortunately it did not remedy the issue.


I will try the drivers from Free Driver Download for 1x1 11b/g/n Wireless LAN PCI Express Half Mini Card Adapter - LENOVO 20207 (Lenovo B490- SKU:LENOVO_MT_2020), and hope one of them fixes the problem.


Concurrently, I await your continued suggestions and assistance.


- - - Updated - - -

UPDATE
It turns out, I have to register/sign up with Driver Identifier, but I do not have the inclination to do so. If someone is a member of the said portal, could he/she download the newer versions of the drivers from 1x1 11b/g/n Wireless LAN PCI Express Half Mini Card Adapter driver free download for windows - LENOVO 20207 (Lenovo B490- SKU:LENOVO_MT_2020) on my behalf, if and only if, my need DOES NOT violate any form of rule(s) and regulation(s)?

Alternatively, could someone suggest another reliable source/method of acquiring appropriate drivers?

 

[insaneYLN]

Solution

Hello everyone. I managed to remedy the Wi-Fi issue of the Lenovo E49 laptop.


I contacted a technical representative through Lenovo India's live chat support. After going through the formalities and describing the issue, the technical representative very convincingly suggested to install the Lenovo Power Manager application, informing that the said application was a prerequisite for the Fn+F5 key combination to work, and assured me the said key combination will work once the aforementioned application was installed and the system was rebooted.

For the sake of formality and my sanity, I tried the Lenovo India technical representative's strong suggestion. But, it was futile.


I observed that the wireless LAN LED on the front side of the laptop would light up during POST, and would stay lit when the BIOS setup was accessed, but it would immediately go off once the system booted to the Windows desktop environment. After having confirmed with the technical representative, that the Broadcom 43142 Wireless LAN Adapter was indeed the correct device driver, I intuitively decided to install the Hotkey Features Integration application, and voila! - I could finally enable the Fn+F5 key combination!


This thread is ready to be marked as SOLVED, and possibly locked, if the moderators deem so.

 

[SunE]

Good to know that you solved your problem and great job on the posting the solution for everyone else to see.