Vostro 1700 WLAN card upgrade to N or AC

If you ordered a mini network card you can replace it. See the directions in the manual-- https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_vostro_notebook/vostro-1700_owner%27s%20manual_en-us.pdf

If you don't have a mini card you cannot replace the card soldered on the motherboard. 

Building on Mary G's answer above, if you find that you do indeed currently have a WiFi card in that slot and can therefore upgrade it, the Vostro 1700 is quite an old system, and judging by the diagrams in the Owner's Manual linked above, it appears to use a full-height PCIe mini-card slot.  Newer systems (and WiFi cards) switched to half-height PCIe mini-card, and the newest systems use an even newer M.2 card.  I actually thought that the diagram showed an M.2 card since the proportions are similar, until I checked the specs and saw how old the system was!

So, in terms of options: To my knowledge, nobody ever made an 802.11ac card in full-height form factor.  However, there are several in the half-height form factor, and there are also adapter brackets that allow you to securely fasten a half-height card into an area meant for a full-height card, like this one.  So as long as you have enough slack in your WiFi antennas to allow them to reach reach a point halfway down the height of your current WiFi card, you should be good to go with that bracket.  As for the WiFi card itself, the best 802.11ac card made in half-height PCIe mini-card form factor in my opinion is the Intel Wireless-AC 7260HMW.  Just make sure you get the Wireless-AC version, not the Wireless-N 7260, which only supports 802.11n -- why Intel used the same model number for two very different cards is anyone's guess.  Also make sure you get the 7260HMW and not the 7260NGW, because the latter is the M.2 slot version, and although it looks like a better fit for your system proportionally, the connector style is completely different.  Good luck!

One other note: It appears that the Vostro 1700 has a separate Bluetooth card as well.  If your system has that installed, you may want to remove it when installing this new WiFi card, because the Intel 7260 includes both WiFi and Bluetooth on the same card, and it will support a much newer version of Bluetooth than whatever came with that system.

@S_DEBRUIJN 

I can do you one better- how about AX? Just saw your post.  I have successfully upgraded these systems through a little trial and error for the wireless. They now outrun the wired network. I'm about 30 feet from the router with no real obstructions for the test.

For Reference my Vostro 1700s have 6 GB  of 800 Mhz memory and Core 2 Duos T9500 processors under Windows 10 Pro with the A07 Bios.

I have a MIMO type router but it is limited to 80 Mhz bandwidth on the 5Ghz band,

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First there are the half-height minicards using the PCIe format. These will fit the slot but the Vostro 1700 requires a full height card. Not a problem as you can find a half height to full height adapter for PCIe slots on a certain large internet commercial retailer.

The big issue however is that the Vostro 1700's antennae wires are about 2 inches too short to even reach the terminals on the half-height cards. Dell's terminals are at the top of the card the 1/2 height are at  the base!

This was the biggest issue to overcome as it meant dismantling the LCD screen and cover and physically moving the antennae wires so the new card could be reached. I found it more convenient to simply buy a longer set of wires and mount them than remove the old black and white pair.

After you get a working set of antenna wires the rest is easy.

First download the drivers for the card you want to install. Disable the old card and uninstall the drivers. Now load the drivers for the new card and shut down to install the new one.

As far as 1/2 cards  cards are concerned:

1) The best most hassle free solution has to be to purchase the Atheros/Broadcom  QCA-9377. No modification to the PCIe pins were needed. Install it, hook up the antenna and go. You'll get wireless AC at about 220 Mb/sec on the download and bluetooth!

2) I have another Vostro 1700 using the AC solution  but with an Intel PCie AC-7260. However to get it to work I had to use scotch tape to mask pins 20 and I think 10.  Many youtube videos on this. I am getting 330 Mb/S download speeds and bluetooth capability.

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Now there is another solution I have tried and it works just fine for wireless but I have yet to get the bluetooth operational even trying the trick above.

Purchase an m.2 to PCie adaptor for the m.2 wireless cards below. The adapters are made so you can break them off if/where needed for mounting. I had to use the pin 20 mask trick on the adapter PCie terminal like I did with the AC-7260 above. You will also have to swap out antenna wires as these cards have the smaller antenna terminals.

Intel AX-200.  This is a wireless 6 card and can go to 160 Mhz bandwidth to annoy your neighbors-lol.  You need a router capable of AX protocol to use efficiently. I was able to get 570 Gb/s download with this card. On a faster system with 4th generation I-7 I was able to get 880 Mb/S with only 80 Mhz bandwidth on 5Ghz.

Intel 9260. Same issues AX-200. Best performance on the Vostro 1700- was 560 Mb/S.

Intel 9560.  This device only works with Vpro and I think 7th+ generation Intel processors.

So yes it can be done!  Don't let anyone tell you it can't since I have done it!  Now if someone can help me figure out the bluetooth issues using the M.2 that would be a big help.

Also found out you can use the wireless in other card slots too! I have 2 different cards in one Vostro 1700.

Vern

That should be 570 Mb/S  not Gb/S.... lol

@VirtualKahuna​ I don't know if you ever check here but if you are, maybe you can help.  I have been upgrading my Vostro 1700 and I am interested in swapping out the network card as you have described.  Rather than disassembling the laptop, do you think it would be possible for me to cut the black and white antenna wires at the bottom, strip the ends, and splice in about 2 inches to each wire to gain the extra length or are these some type of mini-coax wires rather than basic hook-up wire and splicing isn't possible?

Al