- About a month after I fixed my “SIM PIN2” error on the LTE card installed inside my new laptop, I started experiencing the following error when attempting to connect:
“Can’t connect to this network. Enter an apn and try again.”
If you have this problem or are generally looking how to override a Windows 10 default driver, I may be able to help.
I eventually determined that there was a Windows 10 update titled “2018-01 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 (KB4056892)” that had overwritten the Sierra Wireless drivers I had to apply in my “SIM PIN2” post to correct equally bad Microsoft drivers from a base Windows 10 install. But every time I tried to apply the Sierra Wireless drivers again, or even a newer version I found on the laptop manufacturer’s support site, Windows wouldn’t allow it, claiming that the driver update is “not better than the software you currently have installed.” Why doesn’t Windows 10 let me make that determination?
The laptop manufacturer’s Tier 2 support finally helped. The key to tricking Windows 10 into conformance appears to be:
- Uninstall device from Device Manager (Device Manager -> Find device in question -> right click on it and select “Uninstall Device”).
- Uninstall device drivers from Windows 10 (Add or Remove Programs -> Find device driver in question -> select “Uninstall”). There may be multiples.
- Reboot Windows 10 (this was the key step I was missing).
- Install new device drivers.
For my scenario, I deleted the “Sierra Wireless EM7455” device under “Modems,” rebooted, and then installed the Sierra Wireless device drivers provided by my laptop manufacturer. This solved the LTE APN error by removing a few generic device drivers that Microsoft tried to force upon me rather than allow me to use the vendor’s drivers instead. Given how many unanswered forum thread posts there are on my exact APN error message, I hope the above will work for others too.
Tyler
What devices did you uninstall from device manager? The individual cellular modem drivers?
Scott Bideau
Just updated the post to now include a screenshot of exactly what I uninstalled for LTE card and resulting APN error.
Tyler
Thank you!
Scott Bideau
Did that fix your problem?
nick
Uninstall, reinstall worked for me….
Verizon had to activate sim on hotspot, then transfer to laptop
john
How do you install new device drivers?
Taylor
This resolved my APN connectivity issue porting a data line over to Verizon fromT-Mobile on my Lenovo X1 Gen 3 tablet, the driver reinstalled itself without rebooting with no internet connection, and access to the network was shortly thereafter accomplished with no issues.
Now if only there was as simple of a way to figure out why the touch screen digitizer stopped working after the last big Windows update in March 2021, wherein the pen works but the finger touch is not recognized. All drivers were reverted and an over the top installation of the OS was performed by a local tech firm to no avail,
But at least, thanks in part to your how-to, the device is able to connect to the internet and do work. Thank you for sharing!