If you’re dual booting with Windows it can sometimes lock the Wi-Fi adapter and it won’t show up in Linux. Boot into Windows, disconnect from Wi-Fi then shut the PC down instead of restarting then reboot and see if that fixes it.

Can you get Internet access somehow? (Ethernet, Bluetooth, phone via USB) then try the driver manager gui https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/drivers.html

I bought a cheap-ass Asus laptop knowing that the installed wifi module was not supported by linux. So I bought a new wifi module that had linux support for like $20 and swapped it in.

This is the one I got, but I’m sure there are more like it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SH6GV5S

Do you know any of the following:

• what’s the WiFi card in it?
• what’s the laptop?
• what kernel version are you using?

For an easy GUI way to find these, you can go to the

bottom-left menu > administration > system reports

Then go to the System Information tab.

You should have the kernel i.e. 6.3.0-39-generic at the top

Scroll down, and under network you should have something like Device-1 Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 - that’ll be the WiFi card.

In case you didn’t know, the Kernel contains drivers for things like WiFi and other devices.

An older kernel tends to be more stable (the bugs have been fixed) - but it cannot contain the drivers for devices that didn’t exist at the time.

By default, Mint is likely using the kernel 5.15, from 2022. If your WiFi device is newer than 2022, it won’t work yet. However, you can install a newer kernel (mine, above is 6.3.0). I had to do this to get the WiFi working on my Thinkpad p14s. This is quite simple and safe to do, and completely reversible if there are problems.

There’s a chance if the WiFi card is particularly new or obscure, that it won’t work at all currently. We’re waiting on the company, or more likely a talented volunteer, to write the drivers.

In this case, you may need to buy a USB WiFi adapter, for example TP-Link USB Wifi. I had to do this with my Dad’s laptop recently. Within the next year, he probably won’t need it anymore, as the drivers for the internal one will likely exist.

Some distros do not include all supported device firmware in the base system. You have to determine your wifi adapeter and install the firmware for it. You may want to use usb tethering from your phone for that.

What does lspci say

Lspci should list all your pci devices, one of which will be your WiFi adapter. Confirm its make and if it requires a kernel module. I would bet it’s a broadcom

I’ve tried Mint multiple times and never got WiFi to work lol