Wi-Fi issues on my IBM R40

So, you think you fixed the radio issue? Maybe. But look—no wireless network manager (whether it’s Windows or Atheros) actually has anything to do with that radio itself—that's strictly a power manager thing. If you can see networks but just can't connect, you're looking at a totally different headache—like your driver, card, or OS not being able to handle newer stuff like WPA2. You could try switching your AP over to WEP just to test it out—but seriously, don't leave it like that because WEP is a joke security-wise! WPA is fine, though...

Which network manager are you running, and how do you set it up? Just hit Control Panel—network connections—properties for your wireless network—hit the wireless tab—and check the box that says "use Windows to configure my wireless..."

quiettiger9 said:After I selected "yes," my wireless networks completely vanished. They aren't appearing in the options anymore. When I check the BIOS, the only thing listed is the Fn key lock option, which is currently disabled. Furthermore, when I attempt to toggle the Wi-Fi using the Fn+F5 shortcut, I am met with this error: "unable to change power state of 802.11 wireless radio. Update drivers of network adapter."

Try reinstalling the Wi-Fi driver.

I find myself in the exact same predicament right now. When I was going through the installation process, I received a prompt stating: "During installation, you chose to not use Microsoft wireless configuration manager to control your network card. However, it is currently enabled for this device. Do you want to disable it?" I selected "yes," thinking I was doing the right thing, but immediately after—all my Wi-Fi networks vanished! They are simply gone.

quiettiger9 said:I find myself in the exact same predicament right now. When I was going through the installation process, I received a prompt stating: "During installation, you chose to not use Microsoft wireless configuration manager to control your network card. However, it is currently enabled for this device. Do you want to disable it?" I selected "yes," thinking I was doing the right thing, but immediately after—all my Wi-Fi networks vanished! They are simply gone.

Try reinstalling the driver. This time, make sure you don't let Windows take over the Wi-Fi management. If you stick to the original manufacturer's setup—like an old-school IBM wireless install—that Fn key combo should start working properly again.

Well, it’s just great. After I clicked "yes" to confirm that Windows wasn't managing my Wi-Fi, now there aren't even any networks showing up at all. Nothing...

quiettiger9 said:Well, it’s just great. After I clicked "yes" to confirm that Windows wasn't managing my Wi-Fi, now there aren't even any networks showing up at all. Nothing...

Does your Fn F5 key—or whichever one handles the wireless toggle—actually register when you press it?

It is obvious that the registration went through since I was prompted to connect to the Wi-Fi networks, but now, nothing is working. What am I supposed to do?

I'm throwing in the towel 🤔

What frustrates me most is that the networks actually showed up briefly after you told me to disable the Windows setting that allows the OS to manage my Wi-Fi, yet now they've vanished again... I’m starting to think Kyle Sanchez96 was right—there must have been some sort of error occurring somewhere between the modem and the network card.

quiettiger9 said:What frustrates me most is that the networks actually showed up briefly after you told me to disable the Windows setting that allows the OS to manage my Wi-Fi, yet now they've vanished again... I’m starting to think Kyle Sanchez96 was right—there must have been some sort of error occurring somewhere between the modem and the network card.

It isn't the modem, and it isn't the card. What you're describing sounds purely like a software glitch. I have no idea what kind of drivers you're running, but at this point, the only logical explanation is that you're missing the proprietary Lenovo utility that manages the wireless card. To be clear, we aren't talking about the driver—that’s just the installation component. We're talking about the actual management software. If you still have the original installation disc, it should be on there.

I don't have the original disc. All these Lenovo utilities include an option to toggle the Wi-Fi directly through the software instead of using Fn F5, but none of them actually work on XP—they're all designed for Windows 7. I’ve tried installing everything from the drivers to those utility programs found online, and I even ended up catching a virus on my computer, which forced me to reinstall the OS last night. I was just at my wit's end...

quiettiger9 said:I don't have the original disc. All these Lenovo utilities include an option to toggle the Wi-Fi directly through the software instead of using Fn F5, but none of them actually work on XP—they're all designed for Windows 7. I’ve tried installing everything from the drivers to those utility programs found online, and I even ended up catching a virus on my computer, which forced me to reinstall the OS last night. I was just at my wit's end...

I honestly have no idea what's going on here. Hang in there and try not to let it get to you too much.

After I checked the "use Windows to configure my wireless" box just like you suggested, the networks have reappeared, but they refuse to connect.

...maybe it doesn't even support WPA2, and your router is set to that? ...it says right there for that adapter it's just a,b,g mode (so we're looking at a max of maybe 25Mbps) and uses AES, WEP, or WPA security.
Maybe the owner is running AES or WPA, which is why it works for them...?

You could try switching your router settings to no security or just WEP, and make sure the mode is set to "auto" rather than "n only" (just remember to switch everything back to how it was later).

The ZTE ZXHN H208N is my router, but even when I switch it to run without any security enabled, the same thing happens: it just won't connect.