Inspiron 16 7610 Upgrading Wifi Issue

I am attempting to replace an AX201 with an AX411 and seeing the same situation.  In my case I think I know why and it is related to the Hardware ID the card is showing.  I got mine online so perhaps you did also.  I have been discussing this with the seller but being stonewalled so far.  I have an AX211 coming hopefully the first week in July so I will know more then.  

One thing they say is to have the 22.140.0.x driver version or later.

I am getting messages that I have never seen before regarding the install of a Wi-Fi card so I have to believe something is happening, out of the ordinary.

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Ah! AX210 and 211 have different interfaces. Same goes for AX200 and AX201. What you should do first is find out the original card for the machine was and make sure you stick to that same interface. Now, the wildcard, black/white listing. 

Intel added to the confusion with the whole "Killer" series. They are simply a pretty name (and different naming style) otherwise for a AX201, AX211, AX411, etc. 

Humm. Yea, Ive attempted the latest Dell and Intel drivers.  I'm getting the exact same. I wonder if dell has blacklisted these 3rd party vendor cards somehow. About the hardware id. I have to double check that. That could play a role, BUT funny, the intel site CAN see the card, and the driver installs, BUT i end up back to where I started. I would bet you the 211 wont work for you either.

Ill reach out to them but im leery. I'm curious to see what the forum folks think.

Yea, this is looking like a whitelist issue. Support is referring to the manual and of course the manual makes no mention of the 211. BUT the 211 works on another Dell product I own and it also isnt mentioned in that manual. Either incompetence is in play or white/blacklisting with incompetence by dell tech seems to be in play.

In my case the interface of the AX201 is M.2: CNVio2. I'm attempting to upgrade to Killer 1675i aka AX211NGW. They both use the same interface. Now the AX200, and AX210 uses PCIe. Intermixing a say AX211 card into a AX210 system would likely cause issues.

I am just starting to understand how this stuff is working.  I already knew the CNVio cards depended on chipset components to work.  Keeping that in mind, by checking some of the Chipset diagrams, you can see if the chipset is Wi-Fi 6e compatible.  If it isn't the card may not work but my AX211 is not yet here for me to check.  Do you know what chipset the 7610 uses?

Some systems may have their systems wired to run both PCIe and CNVio versions of the Wi-Fi card.  Since PCIe cards are self-contained, if they will work in such a system, they will be able to use Wi-Fi 6e without regard to the Chipset capability. 

I noticed the Z690 chipsets were Wi-Fi 6e/7 capable.  Since I had not heard about Wi-Fi 7 I went to check.

This is an Intel site and should be safe.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/wireless/wi-fi-7.html 

Wow. the 2700 intel drivers are out and still no explanation from dell except for a link directing me to the OG specifications of my Inspiron 5502. I have tried everything imaginable and when they started stonewalling me, I began getting trade-in offers. But I just bought this laptop last year and expected to be able to upgrade it at least to 6e! It originally came with a 9560 NGW R, which I easily upgraded to Ax201 and when I went to drop in the AX211, wheather I do it manually or with the installer (as admin), it will either 'install with no problems', but not change anything or it will throw me the System Admin error, which is hilarious, as it's mine and only my computer.

From what I have found, it appears that the AX211 will only work with 12th gen Intel processors, not 10th or 11th gen, even if the slot in the motherboard supports CNVio2.

I purchased a generic Intel branded AX211 the first time I tried it in my 7610. I just ordered a Dell branded AX211 to try. That will confirm if I am right about it only supporting 12 gen Intel processors or not.

This is the best and logical responce yet. I wasn't able to confirm this, but seems the most logical. 

It might be more appropriate to say the 6e only works with some chipsets, like the one that comes with the 12th gen processors, Z690 for Desktops because it is a CNVio card and that chipset shows Wi-Fi 6e capability.

If you know your mobile chipset designation, then you can check the specs on that system or look at the chipset diagram to see if it is mentioned.

And, make sure you are checking the Intel Killer site for drivers.  They may all be the same as far versions but there are (x/w) and (i/s) versions.  The i/s is the CNVio version.

I don't totally disagree with this assessment however, my AX210 card worked on my 8th or 9th gen Intel Chipset without issue. When I put that into this computer, it saw the card but not 6e. But here is where it gets dicey and now im wondering if i had the latest Intel drivers. 6e didn't work on Windows with that card, but worked without a hitch with Ubuntu. Now that made me curious.