Huh. For most of the past year, I've been using my phone/tablet for internet-type things at home, because my laptop was, for some reason, unable to stay connected with any consistency. I couldn't check my email, even, without a hardline connection. A few months back, I bought an ethernet cable and ran it through my bathroom to the router, and it has been working. Recently, I updated to Windows 8, because I saw no reason to keep putting it off. I kept the cord plugged in because I saw no reason not to do that.
Today, I had to unplug the cord in order to clean my bathroom properly, and lo and behold, my laptop can suddenly go online through wi-fi.
Of course, by now, after being plugged in constantly for months and months, the battery life on the thing probably lasts less than 20 minutes, but still. I can replace a battery,