Does the MSI H97 gaming 3 have a network card?

[Finn-Ashley]

As the title says, can I connect to the Internet without buying anything else? It's just that I'm confused as to whether the "Killer E2205 Gigabit LAN controller" is a network card. If it is, I downloaded all the drivers off of my MSI mobo drivers disk and still aren't able to see any networks. Any help appreciated.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Yes it does have a network card -- as you rightly guessed it's the "E2205 Gigabit LAN controller".

But this is only for connecting to a modem or router with an ethernet cable , it's not a WiFi card so it can't possibly see any wireless networks.

Very few desktop motherboards come with built-in WiFi. If you need it to have WiFi you'll have to install a wireless network card in one of the expansion slots or buy an external plug-in (USB) WiFi dongle.

 

[Finn-Ashley]

Yes it does have a network card -- as you rightly guessed it's the "E2205 Gigabit LAN controller".

But this is only for a connecting to a modem or router with an ethernet cable , it's not a WiFi card so it can't possibly see any wireless networks.

Very few desktop motherboards come with built-in WiFi. If you need it to have WiFi you'll have to install a wireless network card in one of the expansion slots or buy an external plug-in (USB) WiFi dongle.

Okay - thanks a lot for the help, it's quite confusing about what is actually going on.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

What do you find confusing in relation to the above?

 

[Finn-Ashley]

What do you find confusing in relation to the above?

I wasn't sure whether the E2205 was a NIC (that would allow me to connect to WiFi)

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Ah, I see. No it's not a wireless NIC, just a standard NIC for a wired connection. Same applies to the vast majority of motherboards since the manufacturer assumes most consumers won't be using WiFi on a fixed-location desktop PC since it (the PC) will normally be situated in close proximity to the router where an ethernet cable will provide a faster and more reliable connection.

If that's not possible in your case you can easily add WiFi capability as I mentioned in my earlier post.