Windows 10: "Can't Connect To This Network" - Desktop WiFi Woes

This problem has been plaguing me for about a month now. My home's wireless network works just fine - my laptop has no problems connecting to it, neither does my phone, the TV, the Amazon Firestick, my dad's PC out in the garage, my mom's laptop, and until about 6 weeks ago, my own personal Desktop.


I don't know what it was, but an update sometime in the last 6 weeks completely broke my desktop's ability to connect to the home's router. It did not break the desktop's ability to use the internet entirely - I'm using my smartphone's hotspot/tethering option to piggyback off of Verizon's internet. It'll do in a pinch but I need to fix my computer so it can connect to my router again. What used to work up till this week was using the system restore feature to simply roll back any updates, and then staving off the automatic update. However, after PG&E's last power shutdown, this option stopped working.


So, when I try to connect to my home's router, there is a long delay where it says "Checking Network Requirements" before it displays the message "Can't Connect To This Network." I have tried every option I can think of - uninstalling the drivers, forgetting the network, system restore, reinstalling Windows, you name it. Nothing works, or at least doesn't work for long. Reinstalling Windows works until whatever update broke my WiFi gets downloaded, leaving me at square one. I'm at my wit's end. I don't know what to do and it's driving me crazy. What frustrates me the most is twofold: 1 that no other device including my laptop which also uses Windows 10 has this problem, and 2 that completely starting over from scratch works, until the update comes in, so I know it's a software problem, not a hardware problem.


Can anyone help me? My desktop's WiFi adapter is IntelR Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168. I have my drivers completely up to date still doesn't help.

:)

 

Can´t connect to my Wifi network

Hi everyone,

I can´t connect to my Wifi from my desktop with Window 10. I had an ethernet cable before and it worked perfectly but now I can´t connect my computer to the router through the cable anymore.

For some reason it detects my wifi network but when i try to connect it says i cant connect.

I followed a few tutorials online of how to fix it and still didn´t work.

any help please???

thanks in advance

Ramon

 

How to connect to an existing wifi network?

As you suggested, I tried disabling the ethernet adapter and that caused wi-fi to connect, so the desktop wifi does work. Also, I accessed the router and changed the wireless network name (to wfCHS). Thanks!

However many problems are still unresolved:

My laptop behaves just as I want it to. Assuming the router has wifi turned on and the laptop has an ethernet connection, connection to the internet is by ethernet (no private network name), and the wi-fi connection is to my private network "wfCHS", but with no connection to the internet. (If I disconnect the ethernet cable, then wfCHS becomes connected to the internet and stays that way even if I reconnect the cable.) A directory listing shows both laptop and desktop under "Network". Great!

Things are rather different with the desktop. With Ethernet disabled, the desktop shows a wi-fi connection to the internet. Under Settings > Status it's called "wfCHS" but under Network Connections it's called wfCHS2. If I then re-enable the ethernet connection, the wifi connection stays enabled for a minute or two, then disconnects. Further, the ethernet connection is given the name wfCHS2 under both Status and Network Connections.

Why does the desktop give an (unwanted) name to the ethernet connection while the laptop doesn't?

Why does the desktop disconnect its wi-fi connection a minute or so after the ethernet connection is enabled, while the laptop doesn't?

Why does the desktop give two different names to the wifi connection, depending on whether it's viewed under Status or Network Connections, while the laptop doesn't?

Why does the laptop show the desktop under Network, while the desktop shows only itself?

Things are so convoluted that I'd be happy to start over. I've had the desktop "forget" the wi-fi connection as you suggested, then re-established it, but this hasn't helped. Can the ethernet connection also be "forgotten"?

Really appreciate the help you've given so far!

 

"Can't connect to this network."


I just bought a wifi card for my windows 10 desktop (a tp-link archer t8e) and cannot connect to my network.

I have the wifi icon on the tray, I can get a list of available networks but after entering the wpa key for my network it just shows the message "Can't connect to this network."

Network diagnosis just suggested connecting to a wifi network (why didn't I think of that...), does anyone here have any clue as to what the problem could be?

UPDATE: Just noticed that the wifi adapter is being disabled briefly just after I enter the network password, no idea what's going on.