I am a 20yr linux user. I got a new HP laptop recently and decided to try Debian. To my surprise Debian didn't recognise my network adapter and would not let me

I am a 20yr linux user. I got a new HP laptop recently and decided to try Debian. To my surprise Debian didn't recognise my network adapter and would not let me continue the installation. I wrongly assumed the installer would install, let me fix the adapter. I read around and used an installer which apparently had proprietary drivers. Same issue, couldn't install. At this stage I returned to Ubuntu.