WLAN adaptor won't connect unless disabled/enabled

[mitaux8030]

Got an annoying problem with a TP-Link TL-WN7200ND USB wireless adaptor. It has been working fine for about a year up until now. I took apart the PC for cleaning out the dust filters, disconnecting everything first of course, then reconnected everything. I'm betting that I didn't reconnect all the USB devices, including the TP-Link USB wireless adaptor into the exact same USB ports as before... which shouldn't matter, right?
Well, perhaps it does matter. Ever since then, the wireless adaptor refuses to connect, unless I either physically disconnect & reconnect the adaptor by unplugging it's USB cable, or by disabling & re-enabling it in software.
I've tried swapping it to all available USB ports. I've tried updating the driver, and then rolling back one & two previous versions. I've gone into device manager and deleted the device, re-installed it - even deleting the driver and getting a fresh copy. I've tried tweaking advanced parameters (ie turning off all 'wake on LAN' and power management features) and nothing helps. Most current driver says its supplied by Ralink tech V3.0.7.0.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix the issue?

[tristen]

Is it a firewall/antivirus permissions problem?

See the posts at .

[jwoegerbauer]

It would help to know your operating system (I can easily guess it's Windows, but which version?), network card driver version and hardware IDs (which you can both find in the Device Manager), and you could also post the output of ipconfig /all

In Command Prompt enter

ipconfig /all > %temp%\ipconfig.txt
notepad /a %temp%\ipconfig.txt
del %temp%\ipconfig.txt

before and after disabling/enabling the adapter.

Without that, here are some general fixes :

1. Fully patch your computer including optional Windows Update
2. Install the latest driver for the network adapter, downloaded from the manufacturer
3. Disable IPv6
4. Reset TCP/IP stack : In Command Prompt enter

netsh int ip reset > %temp%\resetlog.txt

5. Reset winsock : In Command Prompt enter

netsh winsock reset > %temp%\winsock.txt

[jwoegerbauer]

Is it a firewall/antivirus permissions problem?

Concerning firewall: Typically you are running a firewall on both your router (hardware firewall) and your computer (software firewall). Disabling the firewall on a router can resolve conflicts caused when both the router's firewall and the operating system's firewall are turned on at the same time.

Access to the router's web interface will be required in order to disable the router firewall. To obtain the router's Default Gateway and IP Address you run in Command Prompt

ipconfig /all

and get the info needed



The default gateway and IP addresses will be located under the IP configuration information. The default gateway and IP address have been obtained.

Then in your browser simply insert 192.168.0.1 to access the router's web interface. Locate the firewall settings for your router.

[mitaux8030]

Thanks for the hints so far, but no luck yet.

OS is Windows7. Wireless router (hardware) firewall was, and is, off. DHCP disabled (I hate DHCP!) and I don't use wireless encryption, but do use a MAC filter... disabled that, and it made no difference anyway.
I've confirmed it's not a software firewall issue either. I don't run any 3rd party firewall, and just to be sure, I disabled all features of Windows built-in firewall and disabled Microsoft Security Essentials - no change.
Windows update manually applied: no change.
Downloaded the manufacturers driver (it appears as if my original driver was a Windows generic driver?) and deleted the network adaptor in Device Manager, and re-installed it, pointing Windows to the downloaded driver. No change.

When in the disconnected state, Device Manager shows the wireless adaptor is connected, working OK, and not disabled.
Doing a Windows7 diagnostic on the network issues prompts me to 'plug in the Ethernet cable' and 'enable Ethernet adaptor' (I have it disabled, since I don't use it) - and that it couldn't detect any wireless networks in range.
When I do convince it to connect after unplugging / reconnecting the USB cable, it does so almost immediately, and with excellent signal strength.

Here's the result of my ipconfig:
***NO CONNECTION CONDITION:***
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : **********
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11 USB Wireless LAN Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A0-F3-C1-1C-7D-9E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes



***WHEN CONNECTED:***
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : **********
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11 USB Wireless LAN Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A0-F3-C1-1C-7D-9E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.231.203.132
192.231.203.3
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{025C4170-06E9-49BD-9950-207019566F2C}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


Another very interesting thing I have found is that if I let the PC start up without the wireless adaptor connected, wait for the PC to boot up, then connect the wireless adaptor - it connects perfectly, first time, no problem. Hmmm.

[mitaux8030]

Have found some more interesting things:
1) During the delay in Win 7 starting up during a Windows update, the adaptor connected. Subsequent boot ups saw the WLAN adaptor fail to connect again. Combine this with the observation above that if I let the PC boot up with the adaptor disconnected, then plug it in, it connects 100%, my theory is that the WLAN adaptor is starting up too soon before the driver/software/config data has fully loaded?
2) If I go into advanced properties for the WLAN adaptor and turn radio to disable then enable - it connects. Guess that's the same as unplugging/plugging in.

So, does anyone know a way of delaying the power-on of a USB port, or giving priority for a driver to load... either may help fix this issue.