Best & Working Wireless Adapter for Dell XPS 13 (9350) 2015 model

UPDATE: Avoid the AX201. It uses a CRF module that means it’s only compatible with certain Intel platforms. The AX200 seems to be the same card but with broader compatibility, sort of like the Intel 9260 vs 9560. So I would go with either the 9260 or AX200, again assuming that your current WiFi card is actually the problem rather than your motherboard.

I have similar question: Will my xps 13 9333 work with Intel AX200NGW Wifi 6 card? Presently I have 8265NGW and it works pretty well but I am upgrading my routers now to Asus Zenwifi AX and I would like to speed up my connection.

Hi @jphughan ,

Thanks for the information you shared to me. Appreciated it very much. 

Im still not sure what is really goin on with my wifi. But i remember that time when I installed 8265 is that I didnt remove and drain the battery of my laptop, and the two wire connections (aux & main) was swapped the first time being installed then i took it out revert other way around (the correct wire config setting). Is that could be that the reason why it fails???? Im not sure.

Also other ways of getting wifi connections like Ethernet Cable, Wireless usb dongle, USB Phone tethering are working perfectly. So i think it is not a motherboard issue if im not mistaken. 
If it is a motherboard issue, do you maybe know some specifics on how to troubleshoot and fix this issue? PLEASE.

Thanks in advance. Im expecting for your reply.

@Hackkerszk  I don't think the Main and AUX antennas are actually different at a hardware level, but I've never swapped them on purpose, so I'm not sure.

I don't drain and remove laptop batteries when swapping WiFi cards either, so I don't think that's a problem either.

Just because you can get network connectivity through other ways does NOT necessarily mean that your motherboard is fine.  It could be an issue specifically with the M.2 slot that the built-in WiFi card is using.  All of the other methods you listed would connect to the system through the system's USB ports.  The fact that it's all "network traffic" doesn't mean that it all works the same way on your motherboard.  The motherboard doesn't treat network traffic in some special way, in fact the motherboard doesn't even know that it's network traffic.  It just sees USB traffic, PCIe traffic, etc.

@Hackkerszk  The M.2 slot is the slot on your motherboard that the WiFi card plugs into....  But if you're seeing it in Device Manager, then that is unlikely to be the issue.  I'm not sure what's going on in your case.  I just checked my wife's XPS 13 9350 and she has a Dell Wireless 1820A, which is based on a Broadcom chipset.  So I suppose it's possible there's some issue with this particular system and Intel WiFi cards, but that seems unlikely, especially if you've found confirmation from other XPS 13 9350 owners that the 8265 works in their systems.

If it shows up ok in Device Manager but you get an error trying to install or update drivers, then unless you can find a specific error code that might provide some additional information, I'm not sure what to suggest next.  Sorry!

@WojtekAX  If you have an 8265NGW, it means that system uses an M.2 slot for its WiFi card, which means I would expect the AX200 to work.  I haven't tested that specific combination, but I've upgraded WiFi cards in a lot of Dell laptop models, and as long as the card had the correct physical connector for the system and the laptop had at least as many antennas as the card expected to have connected, I've never had a problem.  I guess you could play it safe by buying from a seller that would make returns easy just in case it doesn't work out, though.  Additionally, I believe the AX200 requires Windows 10, so make sure you're running that.

@jphughan 
Thanks for reaching me. What do you mean about M.2 Slot? Where is that specifically? 
Also my 8265 Card is being detected in the Device Manager and said “the device is working properly”. 
So i dont understand why the system is able to detect the hardware details but it  doesnt work at all. 
Also when I try to update the driver using Dell Update software, it is able to download but can update it, says installation fail.

Also I tried it with manual installation update, but the intel proset says “installation blocked”. Is there any reason for this?

Thanks.

Maybe i will try to open and inspect my Card adapter again ang check the copper connections for M.2.

For the second attempt to fix, i will order another adapter card (the one that you mentioned) and see if this will work. I will keep this post updated once i get the card and installed. If there is anybody out there who had the same issue, please feel to comment your fix attempts and troubleshooting methods so that we can share experiences. Thank you guys in advance.

I installed the Intel AX200 card in my 9350 to replace the 8260 that was there.  When I removed the antennas from the 8260 one of the copper connectors came away from the 8260 card and was lodged in the antenna connector.  I had to carefully pull out all the parts, as it partially disintegrated, before attempting to plug it into the new card.  It works fine and connects at 1.2Gbps to my Meraki MR55 instead of the ~800Mbps that the 8260 did.  Be very careful with those antenna connectors, I am an IT technician but was surprised how easily the 8260 card disintegrated in a 4 year old laptop!

Thanks for your help. After upgrade I reach 250/300 at 1000/300 fiber connection with Asus Zenwifi AX router. I am very happy with the upgrade.