How to find out the wifi adapter

The bottom right corner of the desktop is another place where you can get the information of interest. The same goes for the Task Manager. It will help you figure out how to find out what wifi adapters are on your laptop.

How to find out what driver you need for Wi-Fi on your laptop: all options

This morning, another email came to me asking, "How do I find out what wifi adapter is on my laptop?" After that I immediately decided to write this article, as the problem remains quite acute and relevant. The manufacturers do not write the exact name of the module. Even if you go to the official website of the laptop manufacturer and look there you are likely to find nothing.

Therefore the only way – is software or through the system to get the cherished name. In particular, this is needed to install the necessary drivers. Of course, the drivers should be installed automatically the first time you connect to the Internet. But what to do if you have installed old or crooked "drivers" from the Microsoft servers, which prevent the module from working. That is why in this case there are two ways to find out which driver is needed.

The first is the most obvious. You just need to go to the official website of the laptop manufacturer and download the driver from there. This is why I wrote a separate article, and you can read it here. Do not pay attention to the fact that it is written for "seven", see the chapter on the laptop brand and general instructions, they are suitable for all versions of Windows.

The second way is to find drivers by name or by device ID. I will talk about this below. Probably the easiest way is to look at the name in the device manager, if the module drivers are installed:

This will be your module name. If you don't find it there, you can try using the HWVendorDetection program. It works great with a lot of laptops, but it needs to be downloaded additionally.

Drivers are not installed

1. Put the full name into the line and search. If it doesn't help and searching won't give any result, you may try to remove part of ID so that in the beginning would be only VEN and DEV part of code and in the end would be & sign. Simply speaking, delete everything after the second & sign.
2. Then you will see the name and you will be able to download the actual drivers.

Drivers not installed.

1. Put the full name in the line and search. If this won't help and search won't give any results, you may try to remove part of ID, so only VEN and DEV part of code would be in the beginning and the & sign would be at the end. Simply speaking, delete everything after the second & sign.
2. Then you will see the name and download the actual drivers.

Another way to know the model of the adapter

Another very effective way is to physically look at the module. To do this, you will need to turn off the laptop and remove the back cover. There are a lot of bolts, so be careful not to lose too many. After that you will need to find the wireless adapter and look at the name on the label. The module can be distinguished quite simply. It usually has the label itself on it brightly, and it also has the antennas connected to it with two wires.

What to do if there is no Wi-Fi adapter (or it does not work and the computer cannot see it)

Option 1: In my opinion, the easiest way out is to buy external Wi-Fi adapter (it can be useful as a back-up adapter // or for diagnostics, when you have a suspicion of the current adapter malfunctioning).

It can be plugged into the most common USB port, and modern Windows 10/11 will install the driver to it without your involvement. 📌 You can buy external mini Wi-Fi adapters from Russian and Chinese online stores.

More information about connecting and configuring the external adapter: https://ocomp.info/ adapter-wi-fi .html

Variant 2: instead of Wi-Fi you can connect your computer to the network via Ethernet cable or simply make your phone an access point (i.e. share the Internet from your phone). The last option, in my opinion, is the most universal: suitable for home and travel!

Option 3: contact a service center for service laptops / PC. They surely can replace your old broken adapter with a new one (or offer an alternative that suits your needs).

The problem with the connection

Here you need to immediately understand, and what exactly is wrong. To solve the exact problem with the Wi-Fi connection we have a separate article here. It covers just about all the basic cases where wireless networking fails.

There are times when wi-fi works, but there is no internet, and you see "No internet access" on the connection. The connection may also have a yellow triangle on top. And there is a separate article on this problem. So welcome to it.

Using third-party apps

To find out if your laptop has Wi-Fi, you can download the program AIDA64. Its free version will be enough. The main advantage of this program: it shows the presence of the module even if there are no drivers for it.

The only variant when there will be no information about Wi-Fi (even if the adapter is installed) is a technical malfunction of the wireless module (or of the mPCI-Express connector itself).

After installing and launching the program, open the "Network" item in the left column and select "PCI/PnP Network".

In the main application window, the list of all installed physical network adapters will appear. The abbreviation Wireless or WAN will be present in the name of the necessary module. If there is no such module, then there is no Wi-Fi (or it is physically disabled).

It is worth mentioning that some computers and laptops have a physical Wi-Fi switch. This is either a separate slider or a key combination like Fn + F2 . Turn on Wi-Fi and check again in AIDA64 to see if the necessary devices are present.

All the details about the AIDA64 program are described in the following video:

To summarize, there are several options on how to find out about the presence or absence of Wi-Fi on your computer or laptop. The best method is to use the program AIDA64, with which you can get maximum information about all the technical aspects of the device. It will not be superfluous to look at the instruction manual – this information is also necessarily specified there.

How to determine the manufacturer and model of the Wi-Fi module on your laptop?

If you're looking for a Wi-Fi driver, the first thing I recommend you do is look at the drivers on your laptop manufacturer's website. Your laptop has a specific model. It should definitely be listed on the bottom of the laptop. Go to the manufacturer's website, search the website for your laptop model and look at the results. There should be a page of your device with the ability to download all the drivers. It is possible that the driver for the WLAN adapter will be one (for one manufacturer). Download and install it.

If this information is not helpful or does not work for you then please read on.

HWVendorDetection

Sometimes it is sufficient to find out the manufacturer of the Wi-Fi module in your laptop. This can be done with the HWVendorDetection program. I have already written about it several times in my articles. The only drawback is that it cannot detect the manufacturer of the Wireless LAN in all laptops. But it is possible to try.

Download HWVendorDetection from this link and run it. And if you are lucky, the program will show in front of "Wireless LAN" the manufacturer of the wireless module that is installed in your laptop.

Checking with the command line

Another option to find out if there is a Wi-Fi adapter on your laptop is to check the OS for wireless network support. This will require:

After that, the technical information about wireless connection diagnostics will be displayed. If there will be a line like "Support hosted networks yes", it indicates the presence of a wireless adapter.

However, there is a tricky thing about having a wireless adapter, but it does not have a compatible driver package installed. It will not work properly, and the operating system will not "see" the module.

Device Manager

Any version of Windows has a "Device Manager", a small utility where you can see a list of all installed devices and drivers for them. You can also use it to find out if there are any wireless modules installed in the system.

Similarly, you can run the utility from the "Control Panel".

In the list that appears, namely in the "Network adapters", you must find the device, the name of which contains the words "Wireless", "WLAN". This is how the Wi-Fi modules are identified.

If there are no such, you should also pay attention to the presence of "Unknown devices" (which are also marked with a yellow exclamation mark). They also indicate that there are adapters that are not recognized by the system due to the lack of a driver.

How can I identify the manufacturer and model of the Wi-Fi module on my laptop?

If you are looking for a driver for Wi-Fi, the first thing I recommend you to look at the drivers on the laptop manufacturer's website. Your laptop has a specific model. It should definitely be listed on the bottom of the laptop. Go to the manufacturer's website, search the website for your laptop model and see the results. There should be a page of your device with an option to download all drivers. Probably there will be one driver for WLAN adapter (for one manufacturer). Download and install it.

• How to Install Drivers for Wi-Fi Adapter in Windows 7
• Wi-Fi and LAN driver for your Acer laptop
• How to download the Wi-Fi driver for Lenovo laptops
• How to install Wi-Fi adapter driver for ASUS notebook

If this information was not useful to you, or does not fit, then see the article next.

HWVendorDetection

Sometimes it is enough to find out the manufacturer of the Wi-Fi module, which is installed in the laptop. This can be done with the HWVendorDetection program. I have already written about it several times in my articles. The only drawback is that it cannot detect the manufacturer of the Wireless LAN in all laptops. But it is possible to try it.

Download HWVendorDetection from this link and start it. And if you are lucky, then in the program opposite 'Wireless LAN' you will see the manufacturer of the wireless module, which is installed in your laptop.

The 3 easiest ways to find out what network card is on your PC

Hello friends, today's topic is a common one – I will tell you how to find out what network card is installed in your computer. You will need it if after reinstalling the operating system the Internet stopped working, or, for example, if you need drivers for this card. So, are you ready?

A network card (card) is a device that allows you to access the Internet. How does it work? The cable of the provider, which the master wired into the apartment, plug into this card and get access to the Net.

In addition, there are wireless devices, which we are used to calling adapters. Such cards allow you to use the Internet "over the air" without the use of unnecessary wires.

To find the model of the device, you do not need to download any application. To do this, just use the built-in Windows tools.

How to search?

So, you need to find out what network card is in your PC. There are several ways to determine the model of the network adapter on your computer or laptop. I will describe all of them, and you choose for yourself the most appropriate one.

System utility

The easiest way to see the network card on a Windows 7/10 PC is to go into "Device Manager". Here's a complete guide using the "Ten" example:

• Go to the "Control Panel" section of "Device Manager" (even easier – type the utility name in the search bar for Windows files, programs and applications),
• Find the "Network Adapters" section and double-click on it,
• Here you will see the card model that is installed in the PC.

I see that there is a Realtek Ethernet card in which the ISP cable or patch-cord is connected, if the Internet access is organized through a router. There is also a Qualcomm wireless adapter for connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

Text interface

Yes, yes, the command line, unloved by many people. But you can also find out the model of the network adapter, so please love it. Here are the instructions:

The list that opens will display all the adapters installed in your computer or laptop.

Run dialog box

Another way to find out your network adapter on your laptop or computer:

• Open "Run" with the Win + R key combination,
• Type the command msinfo32 and click OK,
• A "System Information" window opens, where we want the "Components" section,
• Go to the "Network" tab and select "Adapter".

Here you will find all the information about the installed network cards and adapters.

That's it. Nothing complicated. There are also third-party applications, but I will not describe them. The ways I have described are enough. See you soon!

Using the Windows directory to get information

Using programs with directories makes it much easier to find the necessary information. And here there are several solutions, each user chooses for themselves the most suitable option.

• DriverPack Solution is the most common package that helps to determine the technologies used. The main advantage is a wide database compared to what standard Windows tools can offer. When you use the program, the appropriate software version is automatically installed. The same goes for updating all applications to the latest version.
• Running checks on specialized sites online. Such driver-packs are associated with some risks for the software owner and the computer. The user should understand that any specialized programs can slip a malicious file.

Additional ways to solve the problem

If an error occurs during the installation of the correct driver, it is usually sufficient to restart the computer to fix it. Or you can download another driver that is suitable for the device.

Please note! In some cases it is required to first extract all the files from the driver archive and only at the next step proceed to installation. Then it will be left to select the adapter itself with the right mouse button, go to the function of updating the software to the latest version.

The built-in Wi-Fi adapter in a laptop pays attention to every buyer. Thanks to such devices, the work on the web is greatly simplified. This is the name given to the special module, which can originally be built into the computer or purchased separately. Determining the model of the network card may be necessary not only when purchasing new equipment, but also when reinstalling the system, the occurrence of other problems related to the network. The computer itself and access to the Internet are enough to get accurate information.

Podgornov Ilya Vladimirovich All articles on our site are audited by a technical consultant. If you still have questions, you can always ask them on his page.

How to enable and configure Wi-Fi on Windows 10: installation. Turn on adapter Wi–Fi on laptop You can use the buttons on the side or the front of the . If the wireless network is off, the Wi–Fi icon will be the Wi Fi icon will be a red cross on the icon. Then you will need to turn it on according to the instructions from the paragraph "What to do if there is no driver on the taskbar.

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