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Wire configuration for Intel Dual Band Wireless - AC 3160 + prompt message : "We couldn't find any wireless devices on this PC."

idata
Employee
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Laptop Model : Dell Inspiron 11

I spilled water on my laptop sceern accidently (not on the side where WLAN hardware is placed, but on the opposite side near power button). I opened every thing up and let it dry for the whole day and the screen started working. But there's no wireless activity on my laptop. I am not sure abiut the way I plugged the white and black wires in my wireless card - AC 3160.

  • It has two pins labelled - 1 & 2. Where am I suppossed to connect the white and black wires?

I used Device Manager to test whether the Network adapters were okay, and its said all are great! I even used Dell System Auto Detect, that detected every driver and hardware but it showed no problem. Where's the problem, I just don't get it. Can someone explain?

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idata
Employee
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Hello Xandie,

For hardware and detection issues our best recommendation is to engage your computer manufacturer for support.

Please keep in mind that wireless antennas are provided by your computer manufacturer. They are usually labeled somewhere along the cable indicating antenna numbers, or if not, each cable may only reach correctly to one of the two connectors. However, we have no other way to provide this information, as not all manufacturers use the same (or even different) colors for their cables.

The adapter should be able to function and allow for driver installation even without antennas connected, the only difference being poor signal strength. However, when your laptop got wet it may have caused a short circuit or voltage spike, which may have physically damaged your adapter, even if it occurred on the other side of the board.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/OEMs.html Computer Manufacturer Support Websites.

From our end, we can recommend trying a clean installation of your wireless drivers. While these steps provide the downloads for our latest generic drivers, we recommend using the version provided by your computer manufacturer whenever possible.

1. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005559.html Download and save our latest Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software for your adapter.

2. Under Programs and Features in the Control Panel, uninstall any instance of the "Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software." When prompted, choose to "discard settings."

3. Go to the Device Manager > Network Adapters > Right click on your Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 and uninstall it. Make sure to select the option to "Delete the driver software for this device."

4. Clear out your temporary files: Press the Windows* Key + R to open the run box. Type Cleanmgr.exe and press OK. Here you will need to make sure Temporary Files are checked, you may uncheck everything else (unless you're ok with the extra wait) and press OK.

5. Reboot your computer.

6. Install the Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software that was downloaded back in step one.

Let us know if there's anything else we can help you with.

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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idata
Employee
995 Views

Hello Xandie,

 

 

We haven't heard back from you in a while. Hopefully you have been able to contact your computer manufacturer and replace any damaged hardware.

 

 

As previously mentioned, wireless antennas and their corresponding color coding is picked entirely by the respective computer manufacturer. As an extra mile, we were able to locate the following third-party guide:

 

 

- https://www.parts-people.com/blog/2014/12/01/dell-inspiron-11-3147-3000-series-wireless-wlan-card-removal-and-installation/ Dell* Inspiron 11-3147 (P20T-001) 3000 Series* WLAN Card Removal and Installation - by parts-people.com

 

 

NOTE: Any links provided for third party tools or sites are offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel® of the content, products, or services offered there. We do not offer support for any third party tool mentioned here.

 

 

Even if your model isn't an exact match, we hope this information helps.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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