My Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ITL05 running Windows 11 suddenly stopped showing any wireless networks after I tried connecting it to a new Wi-Fi network at home. The same network works on my mom's computer and other devices, but my laptop can't connect and no longer detects any networks at all.
I've already restarted the laptop, performed a network reset, checked and restarted the WLAN AutoConfig and WWAN AutoConfig services, uninstalled the latest Windows update, and reset Windows while keeping my files. None of that restored Wi-Fi.
In Device Manager, the Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz adapter has a yellow warning triangle next to it. The laptop is around three years old, and I need it for studying with an exam coming up soon. What should I try next?
2 Answers
Before replacing anything, check whether wireless networking is disabled in the BIOS or by a physical Wi-Fi switch or keyboard shortcut. If Wi-Fi is enabled there, the driver issue is the most likely cause. The AX201 should support both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, so the new router being 5 GHz-only probably isn’t the main problem.
The yellow warning icon usually means Windows has a problem with the wireless adapter driver. Use another computer to download the Wi-Fi driver for your exact Lenovo model from Lenovo’s support site, copy it to a USB drive, and install it on the laptop. You can also try the Intel AX201 driver if Lenovo’s package doesn’t work.
Since the laptop has no working internet connection, I’ll use another computer and a USB drive to transfer the driver installer.