Is there a Windows 11 Driver for an Intel Wireless N 7260 Adapter ?

[Engineshop]

Hi,

   I recently purchased an older IBM Thinkpad that has the Wireless n 7260  Wifi card in it and it is running Windows 11.  The card is model number 7260 HMW BN    I am having problems with connecting to the internet with the Arris modem/router at my house.  It connects with the router but does not have internet ?  The laptop works fine at my business with a Verizon router. 

I am not sure if it is a problem with the driver or something else.  The present driver is version 17.0.0.34  and windows says that it is up to date.

I have attached a picture of the adapter label.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

[n_scott_pearson]

The final Wireless and Bluetooth drivers for this adapter are included in the 21.10.1 Release packages. The Wireless driver is the *only* one that includes the fix for interoperation with WiFi6 routers.

The bad news is that, because Intel has discontinued this adapter, support for driver download is gone. The good news is that I saw this coming and backed up all of the driver packages for the discontinued adapters. I have these files in a share and you can download from there. You can access this share from here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtacZBU04mo-j-tQ34BdSDv6y1BFsg. There you will find subfolders  that provide the last driver packages for the various adapters. These are Windows 10 drivers; hopefully they will install on Windows 11.

Hope this helps,

...S

[Engineshop]

Scott,

  Thank you.  I guess its worth a try.  Do I just download that file to my computer and then use it to update the driver ?

[n_scott_pearson · Accepted solution]

You can try it and see how it goes - though, not knowing what you currently have installed, I can't be positive.

If it doesn't work, I would try a clean install. Here is my process for doing this:

1. If you haven't already, download to your PC - but do not install just yet - the 21.10.1 Bluetooth and Wireless driver packages.
2. 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.
3. From the Apps & Features applet, check for instances of Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Intel Wireless Bluetooth. If none, skip to Step 6.
4. Uninstall each instance of Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and/or Intel Wireless Bluetooth that is present. When prompted, choose "Discard Settings".
5. Manually reboot your computer, keeping Internet access disabled throughout.
6. From the Device Manager applet, check the Network Adapters section for an entry for Intel 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 12.
7. Right click on the entry for Intel Wireless-N 7260 and uninstall it, choosing (checkmark) Delete the driver software for this device.
8. Repeat step 7 until the option to Delete the driver software for this device is greyed out.
9. 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.
10. Repeat step 9 until the option to Delete the driver software for this device is not offered (greyed out).
11. Go back to Step 5.
12. Install the downloaded Bluetooth driver package (my rule: always install Bluetooth first).
13. Install the downloaded Wireless driver package.
14. Manually shutdown and reboot your computer.
15. Reenable Internet access. Restore Ethernet cable and/or reenable wireless.
16. Test.

Note: It sometimes takes multiple uninstall (and reboot) cycles to clean out the old installations, so don't give up on the process. If you get to, say, 10 cycles, stop there and attempt the installation of the latest drivers.

Hope this helps,

...S

[Engineshop]

Should I download all of them or only the two associated with Win10 ?  WIFI 21.10.1 64 WIN10EXE and BT 21.10.1 64 WIN10EXE 

Also, do I just double click on them to run or go through the adapter section where it says to update driver ?

[n_scott_pearson]

Yes, all you need are those two files. Run by doubleclick.
...S

[Engineshop]

Scott,

  Looks like that did the trick !!!   I cant thank you enough !  It was driving me insane

Bill

[n_scott_pearson]

You're welcome. Enjoy!

...S

[RichardSchoen]

Oddly enough I had this same issue this morning while repurposing an old Dell laptop with an AC 7260. 

Thanks for the fix.  I thought maybe the Wifi was defective on the old unit.