Driver - Update Wired or Wireless Driver


Computers typically have a wired network adapter and a wireless network adapter. Wired technology doesn't change a lot so updating the wired driver is not as important as updating the wireless driver frequently.

It is recommended to update your Windows wireless driver at least twice a year and especially if you are experiencing issues with your wireless connection. Updating a driver is fairly easy it just takes some time. Follow the steps below to ensure proper installation.
 
Note: Intel wireless adapters are used on many computers and updated drivers are released frequently.
 
Set Intel wireless adapters advanced settings to the recommended options shown HERE. (Follow the same navigation listed below under this list.)
 
Follow these steps to update your network adapter driver.
 

Windows

  1. Check your current driver version.

    • In Windows search for Device Manager and open it.
      • For Windows 8: go to your desktop and click and hold the windows button (on their keyboard) followed by "X" on their keyboard. This will bring up a menu with Device Manager listed on it.

    • Find Network adapters and expand it

    • Find your wireless adapter (ex. Intel Centrino Wireless-N 100)

    • From here, select Update Driver Software... if the option is available. If that option isn't available or it fails, continue to the next steps.

      • Right click it and go to Properties

      • Click on the driver tab and you will see Driver Date and Driver Version

      • You can keep this window open to come back to later

  2. Search online for driver to download

    • Make sure to go to the manufacturer of the network adapter not the maker of the computer. (ex. if the computer is made by Dell but the wireless adapter is made by Intel, search Intel's website) 

      (For Intel: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect. If you type 'Intel driver' into Google there should be a link that says 'Intel Driver Update Utility'. On this site you should be able to download software that will check for all of the drivers automatically)

    • Go to support > downloads > drivers (almost every website/ manufacturer uses this support path)

    • Find the driver for your model of wireless network adapter and download it

  3. Uninstall the current driver - (Issues can sometimes arise by overlapping new drivers onto old drivers. When you download a driver it will be complete and will hold everything needed to install the driver from scratch.)

    • Uninstall your current driver. In the properties window (see step 1) under the driver tab, click uninstall to remove your current driver. (Make sure you have already downloaded the new driver because you won't be able to connect to the internet until you install the new one after this step!)

    • Right click on Network Adapters in Device Manager and select Scan for hardware changes. Windows will automatically recognize and install old drivers - If this does not work, just restart the computer.

  4. Update to the new driver

    • Find the file you just downloaded and run it. (If that doesn't work then return to device manager properties and under the driver tab update the driver by telling Windows where to look for the file you downloaded.)

 

Mac

Make sure all system updates are installed.

 

Other Devices

Make sure all system updates are installed.