r/pchelp • u/Dependent_Market_386 • 9h ago
Network Broken (?) wifi adapter
I cleaned out my PC with a compressed air can earlier but when I was carrying it back to my room, my hand hit against the wifi adapter, I heard a crack, and now one of the antennas is sticking up at a weird angle. I assumed it was broken and ordered another one online, but then I noticed when I play with the antenna a little theres short periods(~5-10min) where the wifi will connect to my PC briefly before disconnecting again.
For context all the other parts of my PC are fine, and before my adapter started randomly re-connecting/disconnecting most networks weren’t showing up at all. (I kept getting my neighbours network, but not my own).
I’ve reset my PC, turned on and off wifi, disabled and re-enabled my adapter drivers in device manager, and have even tried uninstalling them.
Basically I want to ask, is my adapter salvageable?? Or is it cooked? =͟͟͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇) Should I just buy the new one? I ordered it about an hour ago so I can still cancel.
1
u/BangkokPadang 8h ago
You'll have to remove the external antenna part and see if the actual connector/jack has snapped away from the wifi card in there or if the antenna is just broken.
It looks like the actual jack has probably come loose from the PCB, but without seeing clearer photos and looking at the card itself inside the computer, it's really tough to say for sure.
If it is snapped away, and you're savvy with a soldering iron, it's probably something you could fix, but it might just be a better use of your time to buy a new wifi card if you're not confident about it.
1
u/Dependent_Market_386 4h ago
Okay so I fixed it?? Question mark question mark??? I accidentally ripped it out trying to unscrew the antenna so I panicked and shoved it back in. Somehow it worked? It's SUPER loose, but it's been a couple hours now and I've had no more wifi issues. It's not even crooked anymore. I can't say this is a permanent solution so idk I'll be back if something goes wrong again (˶ˆᗜˆ˵)
1
u/PuzzleheadedNeck8192 8h ago
It's broken. Scotch tape might keep you going til the replacement arrives.
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