topic Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi in Mobile and Desktop Processors

WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

ragas — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 23:30:19 GMT

Hi ,

I see my wifi is not working and these are the details of my wifi driver which are currently installed in my Dell laptop Windows 10.

Can you please help me to get the download link for connecting to the wifi driver, So that i can install and use.

Windows 10 Home,version 22h2

my driver is Driver : Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260

Interface name: Wi-Fi

Driver : Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260
Vendor : Intel Corporation
Provider : Intel
Date : 8/23/2015
Version : 18.20.0.9
INF file : oem84.inf
Type : Native Wi-Fi Driver
Radio types supported : 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n
FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes
802.11w Management Frame Protection supported : Yes
Hosted network supported : Yes
Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
Open None
Open WEP-40bit
Open WEP-104bit
Open WEP
WPA-Enterprise TKIP
WPA-Enterprise CCMP
WPA-Personal TKIP
WPA-Personal CCMP
WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
WPA2-Personal TKIP
WPA2-Personal CCMP
Open Vendor defined
Vendor defined Vendor defined
Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:
Open None
Open WEP-40bit
Open WEP-104bit
Open WEP
WPA2-Personal CCMP
Wireless Display Supported: Yes (Graphics Driver: Yes, Wi-Fi Driver: Yes)

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

n_scott_pearson — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 17:15:17 GMT

Use this link: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtacZBU04mo-j-tQ34BdSDv6y1BFsg?e=7gn50T to access my discontinued adapter driver archive. Subfolders provide the final driver packages supporting most of the Discontinued Wireless adapters.

Hope this helps,

...S

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

ragas — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 05:46:31 GMT

Thanks for the help I see now the wifi is working but have small query on the drivers, I have downloaded (WiFi 21.10.1 64 Win10) file and installed from the link but when I see the adapter settings it shows up be a different version from the one which you provided. Can you please help me with that.

my current wireless driver settings ...from cmd

Driver : Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260
Vendor : Intel Corporation
Provider : Intel
Date : 10/14/2013
Version : 16.6.0.8
INF file : oem140.inf
Type : Native Wi-Fi Driver
Radio types supported : 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n
FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes
802.11w Management Frame Protection supported : Yes
Hosted network supported : Yes
Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

n_scott_pearson — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 17:50:54 GMT

My initial reaction was that you were seeing the first entry in the list of available driver versions on your PC. To be sure, you need to display the driver version number that appears in Device Manager.

If you do not see driver version 18.33.17.1, then you are going to have to do a full-and-proper clean install. Here is a step-by-step process:

If you haven't already, download to your PC - but do not install just yet - the 21.10.1 Bluetooth and Wireless driver packages.
Most important! Disable Internet access. Unplug Ethernet cable and/or disable wireless. Keep disabled until told to re-enable. Note this Wireless disable *must* be of type that will persist (stay disabled) across reboots.
From the Apps & Features applet, check for instances of Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Intel Wireless Bluetooth. If none, skip to Step 6.
Uninstall each instance of Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and/or Intel Wireless Bluetooth that is present. When prompted, choose "Discard Settings".
Manually reboot your computer, keeping Internet access disabled throughout.
From the Device Manager applet, check the Network Adapters section for an entry for Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 and check the Bluetooth section for an entry for Intel Wireless Bluetooth that has an intel driver associated with it. If neither is the case, go forward to Step 10.
Right click on the entry for Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 and uninstall it, choosing (checkmark) Delete the driver software for this device.
Right click on the entry for Intel Wireless Bluetooth and open its properties. If it has an Intel driver associated with it, then uninstall it, choosing to (checkmark) Delete the driver software for this device.
Go back to Step 5.
Install the downloaded Bluetooth driver package (my rule: always install Bluetooth first).
Install the downloaded Wireless driver package.
Manually shutdown and reboot your computer.
Reenable Internet access. Restore Ethernet cable and/or reenable wireless.
Test.

Note that it sometimes takes multiple uninstalls (and reboots) to clean out the old installations, so don't give up on the process until you hit, say, 10 reboots.

Hope this helps,

...S

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

RAAK — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 03:53:40 GMT

Scott, thank you very much for the driver files.
1st I thought my N 7260 was bad and ready to order. My laptop sees my neighbors wifi, but my wifi.
Run troubleshooting and results no issue.
So decided to look for driver in Google and ended here.

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

RAAK — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 03:55:10 GMT

Ragas, thanks for your posting, I had same issue and now it fixed.

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

RAAK — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 03:58:07 GMT

Scott, thank you very much for excellent instructions.
I followed and fixed the issue in one rebooting.

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

Kelly5445 — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 19:07:00 GMT

I have been having this issue for a while. I did the update to Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless - N 7260 v18.33.17.1. It did not fix my issue. On a daily basis my computer will say there is no Wifi available. The only way to fix it is to shut down/restart the computer.

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

Kelly5445 — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 19:14:28 GMT

ANY help anyone can give me would be appreciated. It's frustrating to be using the internet and suddenly the computer no longer recognizes that the wifi is up and working

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

n_scott_pearson — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 23:46:50 GMT

Did you check whether the same driver was still in place when you weren't seeing WiFi?

This also sounds like a power management issue - that is, adapter not being reinitialized coming out of sleep. If you disable the device and then enable the device, it may come back then.

...S

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

Kelly5445 — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 10:26:55 GMT

Yes, it did it before and after I downloaded the driver. Can you please tell me how to disable the power management device?

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

n_scott_pearson — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 20:32:45 GMT

Support for disabling sleep is part of standard Windows configuration parameters. Go into Settings and then select System, then Power & Battery, and then Screen, Sleep, & Hibernate timeouts. In Plugged in section, set parameter Make my device sleep after to Never. Repeat for section On battery.

Note that, by disabling sleep, your system will consume more electricity than otherwise.

...S

Re: WIFI Driver Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260- unable to connect to Wi-Fi

AmazingGoose — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 22:23:39 GMT

Thanks for providing the archived drivers, the Wi-Fi seems to be connected normally now. Before removing the old Intel Proset software and drivers for the BT and Wi-Fi, the connection would only stay up for about a minute before disconnecting and either not showing any Wi-Fi SSIDs, or connecting for a few seconds before disconnecting.

I followed the jist of your clean driver install instructions, but in Safe Mode, to remove the software/drivers as much as possible, and the started normally and installed the BT then Wi-Fi driver software from a USB stick. So only two reboots really: one for Safe Mode, and then a normal reboot to get back to (not Safe Mode) regular Windows.