[jrclauer]

I have looked through the forums and not found anything helpful, I am open to any advice.

About 5 days ago now, my PB lost all WiFi and Bluetooth Connectivity for no foreseeable reason. It was not right after an OS update or anything.

It is just constantly "Searching for Networks" in WiFi, and Bluetooth won't even turn on. I've only found a few other instances of this, and no one has posted a decent response other than contacting customer service, which apparently I am no longer eligible for since it has been more than 90 days. (I bought mine on launch day).

I have done multiple resets, and even a security-wipe, which has now left my playbook completely useless because I can't get past the "WiFi" setup portion of the wizard. To further concern me, when going through the wizard, it will not show any MAC ID for the unit, which is leading me to believe that the wifi just completely crapped out.

I am now left with a useless unit....I did buy an extended warranty with BB, which I normally never do, but I think my only option left is to take it into them.

PS. When I try to connect it to the computer, it just says to complete the setup process, and then reconnect it.

I am open to any plausible solutions. At this point, I'm severely pissed that 91 days after purchase, the unit has crapped out. I certainly spent enough money for it.

Please help.

[grindcorefan]

im in the same situation. i live in asia and bought the 64gb pb in america on released date. theres no support here in asia and its going to be hassle if i send back the pb in the US.

wifi and bluetooth are not working after i did the security wipe out.. wifi start working and bluetooth cannot be turn on. i cannot used the bridge anymore, every time il turn the bluetooth to on it will stay on for only 2mins and it will disconnect or will not toggle to on and wifi will not work as well. im just hoping its not hardware issue and can be fix by os update soon.

[ErnieH]

Looks like the PB has a fairly widespread hardware problem with the WiFi/Bluetooth CHIP. There are several reports of failures here on Crackberry. When I called PB support for mine, I hardly got the description out before the service person was issuing an RMA for return/repair.

It's a real pain to have to return it to RIM, especially for you grindcorefan, but I think that's what you'll end up doing.

[jdmimax]

ive had the same issue twice before now, so far ive had to ship back 3 playbooks already. seems to me that its a hardware issue..... the only way to fix this issue is to send it back.... goodluck

[kill_9]

I've only found a few other instances of this, and no one has posted a decent response other than contacting customer service, which apparently I am no longer eligible for since it has been more than 90 days. (I bought mine on launch day).

I received notification that BlackBerry PlayBook support has been extended to 'indefinite period of time' as the tablets are released worldwide. You can contact BlackBerry PlayBook support beyond the original 90-day limit.

[kbz1960]

My wifi wouldn't work this morning when I turned it on. Did a hard reset and it's still working so far. I guess if it happens again it will be a call to RIM. Tomorrow I'll have it for 7 days, not sure if getting an exchange from Staples would get me any better since it seems like it's starting to be hardware manufacturing defect.

[ealvnv]

Had the same issue...
Here's how things started and ended...

Installed Android Player and then decided I don't want to use it uninstalled it and boom no wifi no bluetooth...

Connected the PB to computer to back it up... Did a security wipe and.... No it wasn't fixed...

After wiping and wiping it and wiping it several times I did noticed something everytime I connected it to my computer, DM reads OS version 1.0 bundle 0, so figured that might the issue tried to update and said no update available... With the PB still connected did a hard reset on it (power+vol up+vol down) and waited for it to completely boot, tried to update again via DM and to my surprise it said an update was available, I did let it update and issue fixed..

Side Note: also found that my home wifi network was set as a "work network" so changed it to "home networ", and to connect is use the WPS option instead of password.

To the OP, reboot the PB while connected to the pc and when the message pops up on DM hit update instead of retry that should do a factory OS install

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[koobyalp]

I had the same problem like JRCLAUER. It looks like we have a Twin-Playbook here ;-). After i had installed firmware .2650 and .2670 at some point my bluetooth didn"t work anymore and my WiFi was all messed up (BUT WiFi seems active).

After searching the forums and a bit of trail and error i noticed that after using/switching Bluetooth on, WiFi gets messed up. SO HANDS OFF BLUETOOTH WHEN YOU HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM.

For my work around you need a PC (not a Mac) with the newest BB Desktop software installed. Before trying this you should set energy settings in windows to a maximum (so USB port won"t be shut off power).

1. Start-up Desktop software

2. Attache your Playbook to the PC using the USB cable

3. while on USB perform a hard reset (hold down volume - and power button down untill playbook shuts itself down

4. power up the Playbook

5. for a limited time you'll see a pop-up box on your PC with some text and you have 3 choices. Something like "try again..", "update" and another choice (dont know what it is anymore)

6. choose "update". This will download firmware over the web and installs it on your Playbook. This takes some time, but don't interrupt!

7. after installing, the Playbook restarts automatically. On the screen of your PC you"ll see a message that the connection failed or something like that. Ignore it! Just disconnect the USB Cable at this point.

8. Now your Playbook will do a factory start-up, so choose your country and language and select a working WiFi

9. if i'm correct now the Playbook will go online to update the new firmware (1.0.7.2670). In my case it was a download of only 29Mb!

10. VERY IMPORTANT: DON'T INSTALL BLACKBERRY BRIDGE. THIS WILL MESS UP WiFi. So when you get this choice during installation, just swipe to the next screen. I guess because of starting up Bluetooth!

After following the setup to the end you should have a working Playbook with Wifi without Blackberry Bridge! BUT........

WiFi gets messed up again when i use:
- Bluetooth
- Camera

Shutting your playbook off and restarting it will do the trick (holding down the power button for a few seconds and choose Restart).

I hope this will be solved with new firmware.

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After a while i was able to activate Bluetooth, but not for long. It seems to me it's not a hardware related issue.

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aug 28th
Because i needed bluetooth badly, i contacted Blackberry Support. It seemed hardware defect after all. Within 3 days i had a new Playbook.

[kbz1960]

Humm, when my wifi wasn't working I just did a hard reset. Been using wifi and bluetooth since with no problems. Or maybe my clicking, scrolling problem at times is related to this.

[koobyalp]

Humm, when my wifi wasn't working I just did a hard reset. Been using wifi and bluetooth since with no problems. Or maybe my clicking, scrolling problem at times is related to this.

I don't think you had the same problem. My Playbook and that of jrclauer would not work after a reset. Reinstalling the Playbook (security wipe) didn't do the trick for me. I had to perform a complete new installation of the firmware over the web. Bluetooth is still not working, but i can go on the web now using WiFi. I hope RIM will update the firmware soon so i can use Blackberry Bridge again. It looks to me this is software related, not a hardware problem