wifi Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Will it cost a lot to fix the WiFi on my laptop?

Posted on September 2, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Fred: I have a 2 year old Lenovo laptop. It was working fine till yesterday evening but now the Wi-Fi won’t work.

I thought it might be a setting, but the Wi-Fi adapter isn’t even showing up in the Device Manager under Windows 11.

Since it won’t work with Windows, I tried booting into Linux Mint (I have a dual-boot setup). Mint won’t recognize the Wi-Fi adapter either so I’m thinking it must be a hardware problem.

Can this be fixed without costing me an arm and a leg? [Read more…]

Q&A: How’s my daughter getting on Facebook with her phone shut off?

Posted on September 2, 2023

Question from Deidra: I have grounded my 13 year old daughter for a month for getting into some pretty serious trouble at school.

Part of her “grounding” is a total ban on cell phone and Internet use of any kind.

To enforce that, I’ve had her iPhone shut off and I’ve also turned off the Wi-Fi on our router.

The problem is she’s still finding a way to get on Facebook and talk to her friends because I can see her “liking” stuff and leaving comments. How is that possible? [Read more…]

How to retrieve a forgotten WiFi password from a Windows 11 PC

Posted on December 11, 2022

Here’s a quick question for you…

If you had to connect a new computer or other device to your WiFi network, would you be able to enter the network’s password (aka network security key)?

If you’re like most folks, the answer could well be no. [Read more…]

Review: Netgear Orbi Tri-Band WiFi Router System

Posted on October 4, 2022

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

I receive dozens of tech questions every week, and many of them ask me for advice on the best way to cover a large multi-story home with a strong and fast Wi-Fi network.

I’ve written several posts about this very topic over the years, and the solution that I recommend tends to depend on the state of wireless technology at that particular point in time.

I recently had the opportunity to check out the amazing Netgear Orbi Tri-band WiFi system, and I can tell you that this is an excellent solution for ensuring that every room in your home has a strong and super-fast Wi-Fi connection to the Internet.

The Orbi system is extremely powerful, yet dead-simple to set up. Simply connect the Orbi base station router to your modem, then place the satellite unit in a central location in your home and set up your Wi-Fi network using the simple browser-based setup utility.

Here’s a very short video that demonstrates exactly what you can expect after installing an Orbi mesh WiFi system in your home: [Read more…]

How to switch a Windows PC to a different WiFi network

Posted on July 5, 2022

If you have a WiFi-enabled Windows PC there might come a time when you’ll need to switch your connection to a different WiFi network than the one your machine is currently connected to.

For example, your laptop might automatically connect to a network with a weak signal when you know there’s another network available with a much stronger signal.

Or perhaps it automatically connected to an insecure unencrypted network instead of the secure network you intended to use.

Whatever the reason, you can easily switch your PC’s Wi-Fi connection from one network to another one with just a few clicks of your mouse. [Read more…]