Networking – Sony Vaio Network controller driver not found

If the wireless is suddenly missing from the device manager after a driver installation, then the only option possible is that you have installed the wrong driver.

I suggest to rollback Windows to a system restore point dating from before the change, if you still can.

We would also need to know the exact model numbers of the wired and wireless cards in order to verify the right drivers for them. If you don't know them, then you could use a free system information utility such as Everest Home or Belarc Advisor.

Two things come to mind:

Uninstall SmartWI

The VAIO SmartWI product, in my opinion, is not a solid product and may be introducing the unreliability. I prefer to let Windows itself manage the wired and wireless network connections. That includes WiFi and Bluetooth.

Disable Power Save Polling on the VAIO

Power Save Polling (PSP) is used to place a wireless radio into a powered down state for brief periods of time. If there are mismatches between the client and the WAP, intermittent access problems can be had.

Disable PSP and place the VAIO into Continuous Aware Mode:

1. Click the Start Menu and type "ncpa.cpl" (sans the quotes) into the search box and hit enter
2. Right-click on your wireless adapter and select "properties"
3. Click the button that says "Configure."
4. Go to the Advanced tab.
5. Select the Power Management property on the left side of the dialog box
   • Uncheck the option that says "Default / Auto" (or whatever verbiage is used to describe letting the driver determine power usage) and choose the option for "Highest / Maximum Performance" (or whatever verbiage is used to place the transceiver into an always-on state).
   • Some have said that if the slide is already at the highest setting for maximum performance, you shold move it down to the lowest setting, click "OK" and then go through the above steps again to move the slider to the highest setting.

Your other option is to tweak the PSP settings in the router itself, however that might be a bit advanced. If battery life isn't a big issue for your own devices on your home network, placing clients into a high performance setting will be fine.