[SOLVED] Is my WiFi card truly dead, or is there a fix?

[nmgtoms]

I have a soldered-on WiFi card on my laptop. Not too long into owning my laptop, it started dying randomly and then it got to a point where it would die shortly after startup. This happens in both Linux and Windows, so I know it's hardware-related. It appears, after extensive research on my end, that it's not receiving enough power and just loses power and dies. I have been able to get it to stay on for an extended period of time, but unfortunately that did not last. It even came on by itself at one point as I was using my computer, before quickly dying again. Is this something that could be fixed by replacing bad capacitors on the motherboard, or is it likely that the fault is inside the card itself?

The laptop is an Asus Q563FD (really, the board is an Asus UX562FD, and the chassis is a Asus Q563FD (Asus is weird with version numbers)), and the card is an Intel Wireless-AC 9560.

 

[Deleted member 362816]

They die, Pretty common over time. Just put a slimline USB wifi adapter in and call it a day.

 

[gggplaya]

Is this your laptop?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNYNxvd7M7I



Too bad it only has 1 SSD slot. If it had 2 slots, you could probably get an M.2 wifi adapter to slot into the second slot.

 

[nmgtoms]

Is this your laptop?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNYNxvd7M7I



Too bad it only has 1 SSD slot. If it had 2 slots, you could probably get an M.2 wifi adapter to slot into the second slot.

No, that is not my laptop. Mine is a UX563FD, not a UX562.

 

[nmgtoms]

They die, Pretty common over time. Just put a slimline USB wifi adapter in and call it a day.

My issue is, it was pulling double-duty for both WiFi and Bluetooth, and now I have both USB-A ports used with those adapters. Is it really common for them to die like this? It was only a handful of months in that it died.

 

[Deleted member 362816]

My issue is, it was pulling double-duty for both WiFi and Bluetooth, and now I have both USB-A ports used with those adapters. Is it really common for them to die like this? It was only a handful of months in that it died.

If it was only a handful of months before it died then that is less then 5 months old which mean that laptop is under warranty contact ASUS.

 

[gggplaya]

Asus has a minimum 12 month warranty. They are good about service, just give them a call. But yes, I've seen wifi adapters die because they're made so cheaply these days. Warranty starts at the date of purchase, so have your receipt handy. If you bought it at some place like Best buy, you can sometimes go to the store and they can look up and print your receipt.

 

[nmgtoms]

Asus has a minimum 12 month warranty. They are good about service, just give them a call. But yes, I've seen wifi adapters die because they're made so cheaply these days. Warranty starts at the date of purchase, so have your receipt handy. If you bought it at some place like Best buy, you can sometimes go to the store and they can look up and print your receipt.

Sorry I forgot to mention this, but this happened over a year ago, I just now decided to look back into it. My laptop is no longer under warranty. Really, my question here was if there was anything I could personally do to fix it.

 

[gggplaya]

If you know someone with a hot air rework station, you could try to reflow the components around and near it.

Otherwise, you'll need to diagnose the components at fault through board level investigation.

 

[nmgtoms]

If you know someone with a hot air rework station, you could try to reflow the components around and near it.

Otherwise, you'll need to diagnose the components at fault through board level investigation.

Makes sense, I think I was also wondering if anyone perhaps had issues with that card, or my board specifically, and had figured out likely causes.

 

[bill001g]

That is a extremely popular wifi module used in a huge number of devices. Even quality manufactures like intel get bad boards from time to time. In the constant chase to make laptops thinner they like to use these non replaceable cards. But wifi card failure are still very rare so they feel it is risk worth taking.

The only thing that tends to fixable by your average consumer is if the antenna leds have become loose or damaged. Taking apart laptops is still not some that most people would consider simple. If the chip actually disappears from the device manager it is not a simple antenna issue. Antenna issues tend to be bad performance and low signal levels.

 

[gggplaya]

I would still call Asus up, I thought my Asus monitor only had a 1 year warranty, but when I called them up they said it was a 3 year warranty. They sent me a shipping label and I had it back within 2 weeks. It was super easy and a phone call to check the warranty never hurt anyone.

According to their warranty page, notebook warranties vary from 12 to 36 months depending on the model. You really need to call them to check: https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/681/

 

[nmgtoms]

I would still call Asus up, I thought my Asus monitor only had a 1 year warranty, but when I called them up they said it was a 3 year warranty. They sent me a shipping label and I had it back within 2 weeks. It was super easy and a phone call to check the warranty never hurt anyone.

According to their warranty page, notebook warranties vary from 12 to 36 months depending on the model. You really need to call them to check: https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/681/

I contacted them via chat support and gave them my serial number. They informed me I am, indeed, out-of-warranty.

 

[nmgtoms]

That is a extremely popular wifi module used in a huge number of devices. Even quality manufactures like intel get bad boards from time to time. In the constant chase to make laptops thinner they like to use these non replaceable cards. But wifi card failure are still very rare so they feel it is risk worth taking.

The only thing that tends to fixable by your average consumer is if the antenna leds have become loose or damaged. Taking apart laptops is still not some that most people would consider simple. If the chip actually disappears from the device manager it is not a simple antenna issue. Antenna issues tend to be bad performance and low signal levels.

Yeah, I understand it's not simple. I was really wondering if there was a known hardware fix for this issue. That does not appear to be the case.

 

[bill001g]

Actually repairing electronic stuff is close to impossible. Wifi models are even more difficult because they many times have rf shielding soldered over the actual parts. Even the company that manufactures the laptop does not mess with the parts on the wifi, they just buy the unit completed from intel and solder it on their board.

In theory at least you could buy a replacement module and unsolder the old one. All kinds of special equipment needed would not make this a cost effective solution.

 

[nmgtoms]

Actually repairing electronic stuff is close to impossible. Wifi models are even more difficult because they many times have rf shielding soldered over the actual parts. Even the company that manufactures the laptop does not mess with the parts on the wifi, they just buy the unit completed from intel and solder it on their board.

In theory at least you could buy a replacement module and unsolder the old one. All kinds of special equipment needed would not make this a cost effective solution.

Thanks for the info! That's good to know for in the future.