Hey! I have spontaneous new behavior to report!
So, tonight, I was sitting at my local coffee shop and started having Wifi troubles.
I've been having them for some time now. In fact, the wifi sucks on this laptop. It's kind of unstable but I've learned workarounds and so hardly notice anymore.
Tonight, I used the Fn + F3 combo that should disable the wifi adapter. I do this because the "automatic network repair" fixes common problems by simply resetting the adapter and we're good to go.
Only this time, the bluetooth came on. Suddenly it's in the device manager and everything (generic bluetooth controller but whatever)
I can't see any devices, nor can I be seen, but I'm there! It's interesting.
What's more, I realized that the Fn + F3 button combo appears not to be a toggle but a cycler between the following modes (reproducible):
- Wifi off, Bluetooth off
- Wifi off, Bluetooth on
- Wifi on, Bluetooth off
- Wifi on, Bluetooth on
When Bluetooth is OFF, it is completely gone as it was before. Otherwise, it is on.
Regardless, I can't use it, but suddenly it's visible and accessible in the windows tools.
This new behavior leads me to believe that the shoddy wifi and missing bluetooth are interconnected issues and that my wifi adapter is shot (well, malfunctioning).
I'd hate to go to Acer about this but I might have to.
Thoughts on my conclusion?
Thanks!