Thread: Wireless Adapters

Since I recently upgraded to Win 8.1 my old wireless adapter does not work (no drivers for 8.1), and thus I need a new one. Does anyone have an suggestions for something you know of or have experience with?

It's a horrifying issue with the firmware driver interaction with your router/access point on windows 8. I've been investigating this problem since around June. I've found temporary success with the Intel firmware package for the chip in my laptop but it only works with certain routers/access points. The root problem lies with the newest generation of Intel centrino comm chips that many current laptops and ultrabooks are being shipped with. The driver/firmware fails when communicating with a router causing the hardware to crash and disconnect.

It's terribly frustrating, the problem is widespread, and Intel/lenovi/Dell/HP/Microsoft aren't talking. Their lips are sealed and nobody is addressing it. I've got about a dozen other friends/colleagues in the same boat.

I've tried everything short of writing my own driver lol. After I graduate in may if I have time I want to try and fix it and see if I can't identify the underlying problem. I work in a wireless networks research lab doing embedded systems so I might as well try.

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Sorry I kind of missed the point of your question lol, no I don't really know of any good ones off hand. Maybe someone else here has good experience with different NICs and wireless cards

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when 8 first came out I had good luck forcing windows 7 drivers to install... Just do it like any other program. Go to properties, compatibility, and choose windows 7. Then run the driver install. Sometimes it will work... sometimes not. Can't hurt to try.

Okay, desktop or laptop.

Or more accurately: Do you need one of those half height cards that go into laptops; or for a desktop do you have a PCI or PCIe slot?


Regardless of which, I almost always stick to intel's chipsets when purchasing wireless cards. I try to get as near to the top of the range chip from them as possible, supporting the most number of antennas/features.

That would be this for a laptop: Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Plus Bluetooth*

And this for a desktop: Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 + Bluetooth for Desktop

find the cheapest place to get those and you will have no problems.

What I had to do on 8.1 was connect through a wired connection, and then run Windows Update, which found the driver. The USB Wireless adapter (Netgear) that I have only supported through Windows 7. Once I installed Windows 8, it no longer worked, nor did it have drivers on the web site. They just abandoned it.

Try the Windows Update and see if it can find working drivers for you.