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My wife has a laptop for her work-from-home job and the wireless card has failed. Her work "does not support wireless" so they won't fix it and she is very unhappy being corded. I can not open the box to replace the card as I do not own the computer. I also do not have Admin access to install a driver.

Is it possible to use any usb to wifi (N preferably) dongle and have it "just work" plug and play in Windows 7? What "Product Specifications" would indicate native compatibility?

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  • Nope, you need drivers and admin rights. Would using ethernet be an option?
    – Journeyman Geek
    Jun 18, 2014 at 16:34
  • @JourneymanGeek Yes, I think I can use ethernet as it is working that way now. Jun 18, 2014 at 17:04

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You need a driver to use any hardware that's not there now, and even for an automatic install you probably need admin rights.

You might be able to use an ethernet wifi bridge (google) if you absolutely need wireless access - this can be a dedicated device or a computer of some sort set up appropriately. For the latter option, you may need bridge tools in linux or just bridging connections in windows on a second system you have admin rights on.

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  • Ah brilliant! I'm going to try it. Jun 18, 2014 at 17:12
  • I bought a dedicated wireless-n bridge worked, my wife thanks you! Jun 20, 2014 at 22:04

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