Toshiba's WiFi issues and their lack of support - you are not alone

Question

For those of you out there having issues with WiFi on a Toshiba Laptop, you are definitely not alone.
Over the past couple years I've noticed an increasing number of different makes and models of toshiba notebooks and laptops having the same issue.
In the past year, 100% of the toshibas that have come into my workshop have had this issue, this is about 75% of the laptops I have serviced.
These models have all had different wifi hardware (Agere, Intel and Realtek)
The wifi switch is turned on, on the same computer some programs detect it as being switched on, others see it as switched off.
Irregardless, it won't connect to a router wirelessly even when it used to.
The answers from toshiba have been the usual unprofessional form reply of: it must be the router, try toggling the switch, have you updated bios?, update the drivers et al.
This is a software problem, and given the amount of people on this forum talking about the same issue, it is a big one.
Frequently I have come across the issue of the windows services for wireless communication being disabled by Toshiba's software and I believe this is a conflict between tosh's software and various others (zone alarm, windows et al)
In some cases the software seems to interfere and corrupt the drivers of the windows OS and interfere with their implementation and execution, which is worrying, the software should not be touching those areas at all.(otherwise what's the point of a layered OS)
I have occasionally managed to force it back into working (such as restarting the services manually), but such workarounds are not a "clean" way of doing things.
The most reliable way to fix this issue seems to be, backup your data & reformat back to manufacturer specs, then immediately uninstall toshiba's software and update the woefully old drivers (even the ones on the site are about a year out of date for the model I am working on now.) Unfortunately most of my clients are businesses which need a LOT of data kept in different places backed up and then a ton of specialist programs to be reinstalled, which is time-consuming and costly.
Message to TOSHIBA:
Please make a sticky in this forum for all the ACTUAL solutions, not one of the threads I looked at with your suggestions was a solved one.
If there is little-no support for your products in this regard, I will contact the ACCC, choice and Fair Trading associations with an open letter that I will ask all of the relevant customers to sign, and I will put out a country-wide call for people with the same issue to step forward.
I would also ask if you are having an issue where your wifi stopped working and it does not want to detect or work, please just post 'bump' under here so that way we can keep it reasonably clutter free.
I used to recommend Toshiba and Asus for laptops, now the list is down to one.
Regards from Australia (the aus site sent me here for the forums)
Damien Holley

Answer 1

Wireless LAN has always been a bit tricky to get up and running, that's just how it is. Its not a problem specific to Toshiba, all manufacturers and even Desktop PC's have to deal with the same complications.
There can be multiple Wireless Managers installed, but only one can control the Wifi Card at any time.
Here is what I suggest you try (keeping things simple and easy):
1. Go to Control Panel -> Programs and Features, and uninstall the Wireless Managers/Clients
* If you have an Intel Wifi card, uninstall the Intel PROSet Utility (or it could be called Intel MyWifi).
* If you have a Realtek or Atheros Wifi Card, uninstall their Wireless Manager/Client. (don't uninstall the Driver itself, you need that).
* Uninstall ConfigFree
2. Now go to Control Panel ->Administrative Tools -> Services, and enable the built-in Microsoft Wifi Manager.
Scroll down to "WLAN AutoConfig" or "Wireless Zero Config" and ensure they are set to "Started" and Automatic"
Other things that can cause Wifi problems are:
* Firewall/Antivirus software. They can block unknown Wifi/Network connections.
* DHCP Dynamic IP Addressing. Using a Static IP Address can get a Wifi problem working.
* The Firmware on your Wireless Router (Access Point) may be outdated. Check the Manufacturers website for an updated Firmware.
* Surrounding Electrical devices can interfere, such as a Microwave, cordless phone, etc..