I don't have direct experience with the Inspiron 3721, but I've upgraded WiFi cards in a wide range of Dell systems over several years and have never encountered a whitelist issue. I do know that Lenovo does that, and in some cases their WiFi cards even swap pins around so that non-Lenovo cards won't work in Lenovo systems and Lenovo cards won't work in non-Lenovo systems, but you shouldn't have that problem.
In terms of an upgrade, if you're correct about the current card being a DW1705, then that's a dual antenna half-height mPCIe card. In that case, I personally think the best half-height mPCIe card available is the Intel 7260HMW. Newer WiFi cards switched over to M.2/NGFF format that wouldn't fit in your system, but the 7260 would still be a massive upgrade from what you have.
Look into a small usb wireless adapter instead. They are cheap, easily plugged in with no need to open the case. Search for usb wireless network adapter.
The problem with USB wireless adapters is that even if you're ok permanently giving up a USB port (and new systems don't have that many to begin with), if you buy a dongle that has the antennas built into it, the range and throughput are much worse because the tiny antennas that fit into a dongle can't perform nearly as well as the antennas that are wired into the laptop's display for the built-in WiFi card to use. And if you buy a USB adapter that comes with an external antenna array, that's better for performance, but obviously it's a lot less portable.
Swapping a WiFi card is very easy, especially given that the owner's manual or service manual available on support.dell.com shows step by step guides for removing and installing every component in the system.
Due to similar problems I did swapped my Broadcom 1704 for the Intel 7260HMW which worked well for most things but I now have the Intel 6230 installed and am using now for 5GHz the Intel
Recent Win 10 Pro Updates have stopped both Bluetooth & Miracast working with some devices and not others. This is true regardless of original Broadcom, the 7260 or the Intel 6230.
The 6230 is on a fibre internet (FTTP) connection with Windows Speed Test giving speeds of 55Mbps
jphughan
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February 15th, 2018 12:00
I don't have direct experience with the Inspiron 3721, but I've upgraded WiFi cards in a wide range of Dell systems over several years and have never encountered a whitelist issue. I do know that Lenovo does that, and in some cases their WiFi cards even swap pins around so that non-Lenovo cards won't work in Lenovo systems and Lenovo cards won't work in non-Lenovo systems, but you shouldn't have that problem.
In terms of an upgrade, if you're correct about the current card being a DW1705, then that's a dual antenna half-height mPCIe card. In that case, I personally think the best half-height mPCIe card available is the Intel 7260HMW. Newer WiFi cards switched over to M.2/NGFF format that wouldn't fit in your system, but the 7260 would still be a massive upgrade from what you have.
Mary G
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February 15th, 2018 13:00
Look into a small usb wireless adapter instead. They are cheap, easily plugged in with no need to open the case. Search for usb wireless network adapter.
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-600Mbps-USBNOVEL-Wireless-10-4-10-12-2/dp/B06XRG9QDV/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518730828&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=usb+wireless+network+adapter&psc=1
jphughan
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February 15th, 2018 15:00
The problem with USB wireless adapters is that even if you're ok permanently giving up a USB port (and new systems don't have that many to begin with), if you buy a dongle that has the antennas built into it, the range and throughput are much worse because the tiny antennas that fit into a dongle can't perform nearly as well as the antennas that are wired into the laptop's display for the built-in WiFi card to use. And if you buy a USB adapter that comes with an external antenna array, that's better for performance, but obviously it's a lot less portable.
Swapping a WiFi card is very easy, especially given that the owner's manual or service manual available on support.dell.com shows step by step guides for removing and installing every component in the system.
ironrebel
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February 20th, 2018 10:00
Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions! I did have a USB wireless adapter, but this person did not want extra parts to keep up with.
John B Murphy
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November 5th, 2018 14:00
Due to similar problems I did swapped my Broadcom 1704 for the Intel 7260HMW which worked well for most things but I now have the Intel 6230 installed and am using now for 5GHz the Intel
Recent Win 10 Pro Updates have stopped both Bluetooth & Miracast working with some devices and not others. This is true regardless of original Broadcom, the 7260 or the Intel 6230.
The 6230 is on a fibre internet (FTTP) connection with Windows Speed Test giving speeds of 55Mbps