My Lenovo Legion 5 is less than a year old, and its Intel AX201NGW Wi‑Fi adapter suddenly stopped connecting. Device Manager shows a yellow warning triangle on the adapter. I tried disabling and re-enabling it, uninstalling it, reinstalling it, resetting network settings, and restarting the laptop, but nothing helped.
I then installed a replacement Wi‑Fi card. Afterward, the new card still showed the warning icon, and the WAN Miniport entries also developed warnings. After another restart, the laptop powered on with the keyboard and power lights illuminated, but the display stayed black. Reinstalling the original card brought the display back, and Wi‑Fi worked for about five minutes before failing again.
Should I return the replacement card, try a USB Wi‑Fi adapter, or focus on drivers and other software troubleshooting first?
3 Answers
A small USB Wi‑Fi adapter can be a useful temporary workaround and can help confirm whether the problem is limited to the internal card. Ethernet is another option for testing. However, since the replacement card produced the same warning and the machine later developed a no-display symptom, I would not assume another internal adapter will fix it.
Before buying more hardware, check whether Windows is using the wrong or corrupted driver. You may be able to manually select a compatible driver already stored on the laptop, but Lenovo’s model-specific driver package is the better starting point. If the issue remains after a clean driver reinstall, try a Windows repair or reinstall only after backing up your files.
This sounds more like a driver or software problem than a failed Wi‑Fi card, especially since both adapters show the same warning. Download the exact Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth drivers for your Legion 5 from Lenovo’s support site, uninstall the current adapter and select the option to remove its driver if available, then install the Lenovo drivers and perform a complete shutdown before powering back on. If the laptop is still under warranty, it would be safer to have Lenovo inspect it rather than continue swapping parts.
Related Questions
Lenovo Thinkpad Stuck In Update Loop Install FilterDriverU2_Reload