[Lakmir]

Hi folks. At about 4:30 AM this morning, the wireless network adapter (Atheros AR5007EG) in my laptop (a Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5932) stopped working and I've no idea why. It pops up in the system tray and says that it isn't detecting any wireless networks, however several other devices I have in my apartment (a Wii, for example) are able to detect half a dozen such networks, including the one broadcasting from the router I normally use (which is about five feet away from the laptop at present.)

The laptop's wireless power switch is on and the LED is lit. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Atheros's drivers from Windows's device manager, to no avail. I've done a system update, nothing. I've run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and it didn't encounter anything. I'm running Spybot S&D right now.

Computer is running Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.

Here's the output from IPconifg /all:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Devr
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-63-D7-B8-C4
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-33-8D-F8-B9
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6871:7cb8:a2c9:9f1%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 24, 2010 1:39:06 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, November 25, 2010 1:39:06 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 167779891
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-F8-18-FD-00-1E-33-8D-F8-B9

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:286b:f77:b4ba:d3d8(Prefe
rred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::286b:f77:b4ba:d3d8%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{67E3BB38-6024-4F60-B679-280390CF9665}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{B0F31E43-512B-499E-AAA1-E7828F7C5D43}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


Edit: I've also tried resetting winsock and the tcpip stack. Rebooted after the reset. Nothing.

Please help!

[TerryNet]

Did anything change about the same time or shortly before the adapter stopped working? A different driver installed or a Windows update or an security application install or update?

Make sure you have the latest wireless driver from your laptop manufacturer's web site.

What, if any, non-Windows firewall or security suite do, or did, you have on this machine?

[Lakmir]

Haven't changed anything recently that I can think of, no. I ran CCleaner about a week ago, but if that caused any problems I'd have thought they'd manifest much sooner. Tried the latest drivers, no dice. No firewalls or anything; closest I've got is Avast! Antivirus, and that's been running for ages without issue.

Incidentally, I powered the laptop down for a few hours and was able to get it to start recognizing networks in and around my apartment again. Problem is, it can't connect to any of 'em - including the one I normally use.

I'm comparing my current ipconfig /all output to my previous, and the Teredo adapter now has two new lines in its list:
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 218103808
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-F8-18-FD-00-1E-33-8D-F8-B9

Everything else is the same, though.

[TerryNet]

Sounds like the adapter or the part of the motherboard to which it connects may be dying. If the adapter is easily reachable through a cover on the bottom remove it and reinsert it carefully and firmly several times. With battery and AC power removed, of course.

[Lakmir]

I'd tend to agree, but here's some new information...

I went out and bought a USB wireless adapter, thinking that while it may not be blazing fast, at least it'd be something while I can get a replacement Atheros, right? Well, *it* can't connect to my wireless router either! Now I'm wondering if there's a configuration hiccup with either Windows or my router somewhere down the line.

The router is a Netgear WGR614v9, running the most recent firmware (1.30NANA or something.) I've got it encrypted via WEP64 so my DSi can connect to it, but I'm not being asked for the key when I try to connect with either the new USB adapter or the Atheros. I don't have any access control enabled on the router though, and its logs aren't showing that anything is even *trying* to connect to it.

Edit: Changing the WEP authentication on my router from "shared" to "automatic" seemed to have fixed things. What's the difference? I'd really like to be better informed about this stuff.

[TerryNet]

I understand using "Open" rather than the even less secure (if that's really possible) "Shared" but I do not know what "automatic" is.