For some reason, laptop manufacturers do not indicate which Wi-Fi adapter is installed in this or that laptop model. And this information would definitely not be superfluous. Especially when the manufacturer's website contains several different drivers for the Wi-Fi adapter (for different manufacturers of wireless modules). And how the user can determine which driver to download is not clear. Perhaps there are laptops that indicate the manufacturer and model of the Wi-Fi module, but in most cases such information is not there. As in the specifications of the laptop.
In this article, I will show in detail how to find out the manufacturer and model of the Wi-Fi module that is installed in a laptop. And when you already have information on the manufacturer and model, you can download the driver. It is possible that the drivers are already installed on your laptop, Wi-Fi is working, and you need this information for other purposes. For example, in order to replace the Wi-Fi module with another.
The easiest way to find out this information (provided that the drivers are installed and everything is working) is to go to the device manager and see the name of the wireless adapter. To quickly open Device Manager, I usually use the Win + R keyboard shortcut and the devmgmt.msc command. We call the "Run" window with a key combination, copy the command and click Ok. Then go to the "Network adapters" tab and look for our Wi-Fi adapter there. Its name usually contains the words WLAN, or Wireless.
As you can see, my laptop has an Intel (R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 Wi-Fi module. Now we know the manufacturer and model of the device. But since usually the main goal is to determine the adapter for finding and installing drivers, this method does not suit us.
How to determine the manufacturer and model of a Wi-Fi module on a laptop?
If you are looking for a Wi-Fi driver, then the first thing I recommend you look at the drivers on the laptop manufacturer's website. Your laptop has a specific model. It should definitely be indicated on the bottom of the laptop. Go to the manufacturer's website, specify the laptop model in the website search and see the results. There should be a page for your device with the ability to download all the drivers. Perhaps there will be one driver for the WLAN adapter (for one manufacturer). Download and install it.
I wrote about this in the following articles:
- How to install drivers on a Wi-Fi adapter in Windows 7
- Driver for Wi-Fi and LAN for laptop Acer
- How to download Wi-Fi driver for Lenovo laptop
- How to install Wi-Fi adapter driver on ASUS laptop
If this information is not useful to you, or does not suit you, then see the article further.
HWVendorDetection
Sometimes we just need to find out the manufacturer of the Wi-Fi module that is installed in the laptop. This can be done using the HWVendorDetection program. I have already written about it more than once in my articles. The only drawback is that it cannot identify the manufacturer of the Wireless LAN on all laptops. But you can try.
Download HWVendorDetection from this link and run it. And if you are lucky, the manufacturer of the wireless module installed in your laptop will be indicated in the program opposite "Wireless LAN".
If this method did not work, then move on.
Determined by equipment ID
In the device manager (how to open it, I wrote at the beginning of the article) there should be a tab "Other devices" and there should be our Wi-Fi module. It can be called differently. But usually it is something like "802.11 n WLAN", "Network controller" (but it can also be a network card), etc. Open its properties.
On the "Details" tab, select "Equipment ID" in the list and copy the first line.
Then we go to the site https://devid.info/
Paste the copied code into the search bar. Next, you need to shorten the code (remove a piece from the end). Initially I had "PCI VEN_8086 & DEV_08B3 & SUBSYS_00708086 & REV_83". Remove the code from the end, leaving only "PCI VEN_8086 & DEV_08B3 &". Click on the search button.
We see that the site has detected our Wi-Fi module. This is Intel (R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160.
Moreover, we can immediately download the driver from this site. I wrote more about this in the article How to download a driver for "network controller" and "USB2.0 WLAN".
But it's better to download it from the laptop manufacturer's website. We already know the manufacturer of the Wi-Fi module. In my case, this is Intel.
Other methods
And a few more solutions that may help you somehow:
- Look at the information that is indicated on the stickers on the bottom of the laptop. Perhaps the manufacturer indicated the model of the Wi-Fi adapter there. Be guided by WLAN and Wireless.
- As a last resort, you can disassemble the laptop and see all the information directly on the Wi-Fi module itself.
But there is no guarantee that even the module itself will contain the necessary information. For example, in my case, on the module that was installed in the laptop, only the serial number and MAC address were indicated.
But there is no guarantee that even the module itself will contain the necessary information. For example, in my case, on the module that was installed in the laptop, only the serial number and MAC address were indicated.If none of the solutions helped you find out which Wi-Fi is installed in the laptop, then the module may be broken, or not connected (it is not there at all). In this case, you may be wondering how to replace the built-in Wi-Fi module.
You can also describe your case in detail in the comments, and I will try to suggest something. And it is advisable to immediately attach a screenshot from the device manager with the "Network adapters" and "Other devices" tabs open.
