Is there something we can do besides taking this Gateway laptop back for a refund ?

Why wouldn’t you take it back? Ridiculous!

I have had my Gateway laptop with windows Vista for 4 years and I love it!
They are very decent computers.
Either return it and/or have Gateway repair it, or call in geek to see what can be done.
Keeping it as a doorstop just because you don’t want the hassle of going through the process of replacing it or fixing it is just silly!

Windows 8:

The Fn key isn’t the hotkey – it’s the windows key.

Push Windows + w

search “connect” click on “connect to internet” and turn off “airplane mode”

Done.

If that doesn’t work, return the damn thing. Don’t trust anything that fails out of the box.

Probably a stupid question, but bear with me, I work in customer service.

Define “cleaning the keyboard”. A new computer doesn’t need much cleaning. Was there anything wet involved? And is that why you don’t want to return it?

@Sarah90 And I suggested calling in a computer geek if you don’t want to return it. Obvious solution.

Yikes – -

Here’s the Gateway page:

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I turn my notebook’s wireless on and off?

A: Most Gateway® notebooks have a designated multi-function button or function key to turn your wireless on and off. This information is located in your notebook’s user guide.

The user guides for the Gateway® branded notebooks are installed on your hard drive. To access your user’s guide, from the Start menu, point to All Programs, and then click Gateway Documentation.

User guides are also located on the Gateway® Web site. To download or view a copy of the user’s guide from Gateway.com, select your notebook type from our Notebook User Guides support page.

Another source of reference for networking your computer is the Gateway Notebook Networking Guide.

Quick reference:

Gateway® M675 – Multi-function button (last on right)
Gateway® 200ARC – Multi-function button (last on right)
Gateway® M505 – Multi-function button (first on top)
Gateway® M500 – Multi-function button (first on top)
The Gateway® M275 notebook uses the system keys FN+F7
Most other notebooks use FN+F2

Also – I’ve recently gone toe-to-toe with Gateway customer service. I found them to be poorly educated on their product and unhelpful. They basically told me to return my product to the store.

So, unless you’ve already managed to do something to void your warranty (like clean the keyboard with a wet washcloth), your choices are either to send it in for service, or exchange it at the store for a refund or replacement.

A possible third option would be to purchase an external USB wi-fi adapter. They can be had for about $50 – $70 at any computer supply store like BestBuy or CompUSA.

@Seek_Kolinahr
We might have to…. the reason we rather not; is because the store is 90 miles away plus we got it during the Black Friday sale. There were only a handful and they were discounted $200.

@Tropical_Willie
Really Dude ! Thnx for nothing !
We don’t need advice on how to turn on the Wi-Fi adapter,do I need to draw you a picture ?
Regardless,I’m ignoring you and reported you so present your case to Fluther’s staff.

You have already tried all the things I would recommend (reboot/restore/reinstall), but I wonder, only because you haven’t explicitly stated it: was the wifi actually working on this laptop previously? Are you absolutely certain that it is not a network problem? Is Windows the only network connection manager that you have installed? Sometimes, where Windows can’t find a way, Netgear or Intel Proset can.

I know how frustrating this can be, as I’ve been there many times before.

@glacial
Yes the Wi-Fi worked at the beginning then one day even though available Wi-Fi networks were visible, she was not able to connect to any of them,it appeared as if the adapter’s driver had been deleted. We reset it to factory condition and it worked fine for a few days until she accidentally disabled it.

Even without wireless working you should still be able to get onto the Internet if you have a router in the vicinity, and a patch cord. Most wireless routers that I’m familiar with still have outlets for patch cords so that a wired connection can still be made (which is generally required for initial setup of the router in any case).

If the computer doesn’t have ethernet wire capability then that’s a problem, but don’t most notebook / laptop computers still have an ethernet port?

I had this same issue with a recently purchased Gateway laptop for a customer. It’s a bug, not the laptop. If windows is loaded the fn+f3 key combination will put the laptop in “airplane mode.” The only way I could get it to work was to reboot and do the fn+f3 key combination before windows starts to boot. So restart your machine and do fn+f3 ONCE when you first see the gateway splash screen. Wifi will be back on when windows boots. It’s a sloppy workaround but it did the job. I had not tried Seek_Kolinahr’s method, but will recommend my customer try that. I don’t have the laptop here or I would test it myself.

Did some further research and this same problem has been resolved on Acer laptops with a BIOS update. FYI: Acer, Gateway, and emachine are the same company. Again, I cannot verify this until I have the laptop back in the shop later this month.

@Seek_Kolinahr & @toaderxxix
Thanxx to both of you.

I completely forgot about this question & even though it has been over a month.
The problem was resolved. Toaderxxix was 100% right,it was a bug.
We flashed the BIOs and it cleared right up.

My son had the same thing happen. I plugged the computer directly into modem to get Internet and downloaded the new bios software 2.11 and it fixed the problem. Thanks.

How did you resolve your issue. I’m having the same issue.

I need help all of you

@Ginay Please read the thread. The OP, just two posts above yours, mentioned that the issue was resolved when she flashed the BIOS.

@Ginay do u still need help?