Nowadays, wifi connection in the devices is what everyone needs right after buying and installing them. Whenever anyone buys a new device, they want it to support wifi. If you are not a tech-savvy person, it’s natural to ask “How do you know if your motherboard supports wifi?”
Before answering that, let’s mention why the word “motherboard” is coming. Well, a desktop or laptop or PC’s motherboard is the main board that contains other fundamental parts. They’re e.g. RAM, basic input and output system, expansion slots, etc.
Motherboards of some desktops generally support wifi while almost all the laptops have in-built wifi or support wifi. As not all the motherboards support wifi, you can ensure yours by following some easy steps.
How do you know if your motherboard supports wifi? – Deep Discussion
If you just think in a normal sense, you will know that most motherboards only support built-in ethernet. Still, it’s always better to check whether there can be an exception or not. Just go with the following methods and review the steps.
First Method
This is the most used and also the easiest way to check whether your motherboard supports wifi or not. It’s nothing but checking the given information within your computer. All you need to know is where you can see the information.
Step 1: Find device manager
- There is an icon on your desktop or PC which is called the “start” icon. Right-click on that.
- A window will open and you need to find “Device Manager” from there.
- You can also search on the “menu bar” by writing device manager.
- From the device manager, then select “Network Adapters”
Step 2: Find a wireless network
- You will see a couple of devices are listed in “network adapters”. Find out whether their “wifi”, “wireless network” etc. are mentioned or not.
- You may find other kinds of devices names except these. Most probably, it means your PC is using a regular ethernet instead of a Wireless network.
- In contrast, If you see the “wifi” or “wireless network” etc. phrases mentioned on the list of the network adapters, then your motherboard supports wifi and also has built-in wifi.
- Generally, if your motherboard indeed comes with wifi, your PC will automatically install the necessary drivers.
Second Method
This second method is also easier and it’s about looking at the back IO panel of your motherboard. The IO panel generally is located at the back of the motherboard. It can let you know about the wifi supportiveness of your motherboard. Let’s look at the following steps respectively.
Step 1: Find out the IO panel
- Check the back of the motherboard.
- Find out the IO panel. It’s also called the Input-Output panel which is a removable metal plate. This IO panel is protecting the important computer parts from the outside.
Step 2: Look for the antennae connectors
- When you open the IO panel, you will see the fundamental parts of the PC. It includes USB ports, different audio ports.
- You will also see VGA or DVI or HDMI and DP etc. Among them look for the antennae connectors.
- If there are no antennae, then it’s clear cut that your motherboard doesn’t support a wireless connection or network.
- But, in some rare cases, the motherboard still can support wifi without an antenna. But, you had better don’t use that wireless network.
Third Method
The above-mentioned methods are all how you can find out your motherboard’s supportiveness of wireless network or wifi. But, as an extension, one more method can be mentioned. The method works by checking the description manual of your device’s motherboard. Here’s the elaborated method on this.
- Find out the description manual given with the motherboard.
- Look thoroughly in the description and find out any word or phrase which is related to wireless connectivity.
- If you find one, then be sure that your motherboard will support wifi. That means you can connect your device with the wifi network.
Fourth Method
You can also look for information about the model of your motherboard on the web. You can try this method at the very first to save you some time.
- This is quite easy. First, know the model of your motherboard.
- Go to your web browser through your phone or any other device which has access to the internet.
- Type the model number into the search bar. You will come across so much information about the model of your motherboard. Along with this, whether it supports wifi or not will also be displayed.
Frequently Asked Question
Here are some common questions along with the answers on if the motherboard supports wifi.
What motherboards support WiFi?
Not all motherboards support wifi. But, there are a few types that come with supportiveness. They are MSI MPG gaming motherboard, Asus ROG strix B550-F gaming motherboard, Gigabyte Z390 AORUS elite motherboard, etc. They will also ensure high performance.
How do I know if my PC build has WiFi?
To know whether your PC build has wifi or not, just click “start” and then go to the control panel. From there you need to open “network and internet”, “network and sharing center” and finally to the “adapter settings”. There you will see all the listed connections and look for the wireless connection.
Does my motherboard have built-in WiFi?
If your motherboard is of mid-range quality, then most probably it will only have built-in ethernet. Sometimes, the ethernet can be of better quality to provide you with more performance. When you buy the best and latest quality of motherboards, they will come with built-in wifi.
Check this video below for more details:
Conclusion
Generally, if your device is mid-range and cost-friendly, then most probably the motherboard won’t support wifi. You can be assured of that even without checking. However, if you still wonder about the motherboard’s support of wifi, then you can perform the above steps.
After checking, you may see that your motherboard doesn’t support wifi or doesn’t have any built-in wifi card. Then, you can buy and plug a PCIe wifi adapter into your desktop and bring a wireless connection to your device. So now, I think you’re clear about the question – “How do you know if your motherboard supports wifi?“.
In brief, it doesn’t matter whether your motherboard supports wifi or not. As you can easily recognize and solve that, it’s not a major problem. You should perform the steps carefully to receive the precise output.
