Not too long ago I installed Mint onto a laptop that turned out to have a network card by Broadcom, which doesn’t have Linux support, so that didn’t work. I’m going to upgrade my currently Windows PC to Mint at the end of Win10 support in October, and I want to be sure I don’t have any hardware that is incompatible with Linux. Which manufacturers are obstinate like that?
Not all laptops have replaceable wireless cards. If you have a thinner machine they probably soldered it on. But I can’t find any rhyme or reason to what manufacturers do and don’t solder.
Even thicker laptops…I have an HP Envy (that I hate and I want another Lenovo 14")…wifi card is bios locked. I can only replace with another Intel AC card.
Interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a laptop where it was soldered.