By default, all versions of Windows Server 2022/2016/2016/2012R2 disable support for wireless WiFi networks. If you connect a Wi-Fi network adapter (USB or PCI) to a Windows Server host, you simply won't be able to enable it in the control panel. In this short note, I will show you how to enable Wi-Fi support in Windows Server.
Connect a physical Wi-Fi adapter to the Windows Server host and install the drivers. Make sure that the adapter appears in Device Manager ( devmgmt.msc ) in the Network Adapters section.
Open an administrator PowerShell console and make sure the Wireless LAN Service component is not installed.
Get-WindowsFeature *Wireless*
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Wireless-Networking
Or install the Wireless LAN Service component using Server Manager (Add Roles and Features -> Features).
After the installation of the component is complete, you need to restart the host:
shutdown –f –r –t 0After rebooting, Windows will show the Wireless LAN Service (WLAN AutoConfig), but it is disabled by default. To enable a Windows service and set it to start automatically, run:
Set-Service WlanSvc –startuptype automatic –passthru
Start-Service WlanSvc –PassThru
Now go to the Network and Sharing Center in the Control Panel ( ncpa.cp l) and enable the Wi-Fi adapter manually (Right Click -> Enabled).
Now you can connect to a Wi-Fi network (the Wi-Fi signal strength of available access points can be obtained using PowerShell) or even make an access point based on your Windows Server.
This guide has been tested on Windows Server 2019. In Server Core 2022, the Wireless-Networking role has been removed, so you won't be able to set up a Wi-Fi network on Server Core.