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Replace wifi card - compatibility
I own a Dell 3169 - the one with the Core M 6Y30 processor. I like this machine so I want to keep using it but I want to upgrade the WiFi to something that supports 5 GHz. I jumped the gun and ordered an Intel 9260 M.2 card but now I'm unsure if it's going to work (mainly BIOS compatibility.) Anyone know? If not are there any WiFi cards that will work and support 5 GHz? Thanks.
jphughan
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April 13th, 2018 08:00
To my knowledge, Dell has never had a BIOS-level "whitelist" to restrict systems to using certain WiFi cards. I just installed an Intel 9260 into my 2013-era XPS 15 and haven't had any issues whatsoever, so chances are it will work fine. I'm surprised Dell is still shipping systems that don't support 5 GHz though, wow. Then again, some Inspiron systems still come with only 10/100 Ethernet even though Gigabit has been standard on business laptops since about 2003.
goobliata
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April 13th, 2018 08:00
Thanks for the feedback. You've confirmed what I read elsewhere that Dell doesn't have a whitelist. So I'm hopeful it will work.
And yes, this is a low end laptop (11 inch 2-in-1) and they still to this day come without 5 GHz WiFi. I guess for most people it's not an issue, and it's not even a big issue for me, but I just replaced the HDD with an SSD so I figured I'd do the WiFi too even though I don't really need it any faster (might be nice though.)