{SOLVED} Wifi wont activate - using HP 250 G3 notebook with Ralink RT3290 wifi

[sealgair]

As I suggested a few posts up get a new card, search e-bay for Dual Band HP 717381-001 INTEL WIRELESS N CARD 7260HMW AN 300Mpbs WLAN+BT 4.0. They are about US$10. You see how easy they are to change.

Thanks. Thing is I dont know if that will actually work considering a usb wifi dongle I tested that works with linux did not actually work on this laptop. Will cable link it to modem.

[sealgair]

Hi everyone, it is fixed!!

Solution: Reopened the laptop and completely removed the wifi card from the laptop and left it out as was advised earlier. It is working currently on the Qualcomm Atheros wifi usb dongle. Thanks everyone for their help to get this working. Much appreciated.

PS: If anybody else is having a similar problem with this same wifi card please follow guide as set out by sleeper12, Legion99 and Pierre above. Removing this wifi card unblocked for me whatever it was that was stopping the other wifi dongles from working.

Qualcomm Atheros AR9271 802.11n is what am using right now for wifi access.

[Legion99]

By removing the Realtek card you cleared the conflict between it and the dongle. It proves the Realtek card is the issue. I would definitely buy the one I first suggested to the OP a couple of days ago, Dual Band HP 717381-001 INTEL WIRELESS N CARD 7260HMW AN 300Mpbs WLAN+BT 4.0. Off ebay about US$10. Having removed the Realtek card you now know how easy it is to replace. In the meantime, until it turns up you do have wifi.

[sealgair]

Cheers Legion99! Much appreciated.

[JeremyB]

By removing the Realtek card you cleared the conflict between it and the dongle. It proves the Realtek card is the issue. I would definitely buy the one I first suggested to the OP a couple of days ago, Dual Band HP 717381-001 INTEL WIRELESS N CARD 7260HMW AN 300Mpbs WLAN+BT 4.0. Off ebay about US$10. Having removed the Realtek card you now know how easy it is to replace. In the meantime, until it turns up you do have wifi.

Removing the internal card fixed the hard block because the hard block signal goes through the wifi card. There is a youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzAKcmlaH1M on how to fix on the mini PCI(e) cards with a piece of tape to block the signal path
Here is a write up on how to block the rf kill signal on M2 cards https://thecomputerperson.wordpress.com ... -20-trick/

[sealgair]

Sorry about my very late update.

Have got the wifi to work on this laptop. As was suggested and guided above, I did remove the factory installed wifi card from inside the laptop altogether. Doing this, freed up whatever was blocking my external usb-wifi dongle from working properly.

Am currently running the laptop wifi using a Wireless N USB Adapter (TPE-N150USB) which was designed specifically for linux OS systems that a friend of mine had spare and laying around so bought it off him.

Thanks everyone for your time and help. (Happy New Year!)

Nick