In response to that painful "(still installing 9.7 ...)".
You can also use these official and unofficial at the same time images
to install Debian. [1]
As a last resort you can disassemble laptop and physically remove Intel
WiFi NIC before installation and put it back after installation is
successful.
Depending on the model of laptop that procedure could be a matter of
unplugging battery and unscrewing a few screws to remove plastic cover.
But if you are not feeling comfortable doing that then skip this suggestion.
[1]
https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/