New Wi-Fi Card - have to restart to connect to network

HummuH1 · 8 Apr 2020 at 12:07

Hi guys, installed a new Wi-Fi card that uses Realtek drivers.

Installed as usual, removed old card, uninstalled drivers, installed new card, installed drivers.

I have an odd issue. Every time I cold boot the PC, the WiFi card won't connect to the automatic network. It can see the network but can't connect to it, even manually. Same issue with any other available network too. If I restart the PC, it connects straight away. No biggie, just a bit of a pain.

I've done the usual internet research and tried everything from power management to deleting old WiFi profiles, nothing helps.

I found an error against the device just after it was installed but reinstalling drivers has stopped that reoccuring.

This is what shows in device manager saying it needs "further installation":

And this is the error that seems to log every start-up in Event Viewer:

Any help appreciated.

Caged · 8 Apr 2020 at 12:51

Realtek are a chip vendor - what is the model of your Wi-Fi card, and did you get the drivers from the vendor site?

HummuH1 · 8 Apr 2020 at 13:24

Caged said:
Realtek are a chip vendor - what is the model of your Wi-Fi card, and did you get the drivers from the vendor site?

Thanks. It's an Addon AWP1750E card, this is the one:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/addon-wireless-11ac-dual-band-1750mbps-pci-e-adapter-awp1750e-nw-03c-ok.html

Installed drivers supplied with card via CD. When issue started, I let Windows update driver and it's now using a Realtek driver dated 2018.

Manufacturers website is mince, can't even find the model number listed.

WJA96 · 8 Apr 2020 at 14:27

Send it back. Pay a bit more and get something that works. You could spend a very long time trying to diagnose an issue for the sake of spending a few pounds more.

Caged · 8 Apr 2020 at 15:01

The card doesn't even appear on the vendors website. As above, return it. Maybe if OcUK get enough returns they will only stock products that are backed by the manufacturer.

HummuH1 · 17 Apr 2020 at 10:35

Caged said:
The card doesn't even appear on the vendors website. As above, return it. Maybe if OcUK get enough returns they will only stock products that are backed by the manufacturer.

Well, that wasn't needed. Problem is solved.

Just to update for anyone experiencing similar issues. What solved my issue was uninstalling the WiFi Network Card driver in Device manager, rebooting and letting Windows 10 install a driver on Start-up. Now connects on 1st boot rather than 2nd everytime.

The strange thing is, Windows installs the exact same driver that is provided with the card. To check I wasn't going mad, I uninstalled the WiFi card again and installed using the driver provided, same issue occurs. So, in short, if I manually install the driver the card needs two boots to work, if Windows automatically installs the same driver, it works exactly as it should. Odd.