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February 13th, 2021 21:00
Dell Optiplex 3020 PCI-e WIFI
I have a Dell Optiplex 3020 MT and I'm trying to install a TP-LINK archer T6E wifi card in Windows 10. Motherboard is model 0vhwtr. I can't find any detailed specs on the mobo to determine what pci slots are there. Visual inspection indicates 1 PCI-e x16 and 3 PCI-e x16. I have tried the wifi card in all 4 slots and it is not detected by device manager or the driver installation cd. I've already updated BIOS to the latest release. I know for sure that the PCI-e x16 slot works because I normally run a 1080 TI in that slot. Even that doesn't work for the T6E. I have run out of fixes to try short of downgrading to Windows 8 or lighting the tower on fire in a rage. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Is there a reason that this mobo and PCI-e card won't work together? If it is impossible to make this mobo and wifi card work regardless of OS, what dual band wifi card can I use with this mobo? The 2.4 GHz spectrum is too crowded in my apartment building for good signal strength so I need 5GHz wifi for decent performance. Every 5GHz device I use in the same room as this system works great. Ethernet is not an option because router is 3 rooms away dictated by cable line and drilling holes in apartment walls is frowned upon by landlords.
redxps630
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February 14th, 2021 02:00
Can you test this WiFi PCIe card in another desktop pc to verify it works?
3020MT has three PCIex1 slot + one PCIex16 per tech guide.
If still no solution can consider a wireless usb dongle.
if I am not mistaken, signal of 5G channel of modem is said to be more susceptible to turning room corners and physical distance than 2.4G. I heard advice that using 5G in a different room or on a different floor can be problematic. Your router is 3 rooms away from your pc.
aburciv
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February 14th, 2021 07:00
So more poking around this morning and here's what I have so far.
1: The only other tower is an old Dell Inspiron 530 also running Windows 10 and the card lights green but isn't seen in Device Manager for it either but that machine has not been used for anything for at least 2 years and it didn't work amazingly well when I inherited it.
2: In Bios A20, the most up to date Bios for this mobo, I can see a device listed in the correct PCI slot that the card is inserted into but it shows up as VGA Compatible. This VGA Compatible device moves when I move the Archer T6E to a different PCI-e slot.
Looks like this mobo is classifying it as a video card even though it's not.
In terms of 5GHz vs 2.4GHz for this machine, a hard line would have to leave the living room, pass through the kitchen and go into the spare bedroom. Hard line taped along the ceiling is roughly 30 feet but direct distance from router to desktop is only 15' with 1 interior wall. There is a 5GHz laptop in the same room that I use for work that gets fantastic signal. In the 2.4GHz range there are 8 detectable choices so it's very crowded. When a lot of the neighbors are very active, my signal gets very laggy.
redxps630
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February 14th, 2021 08:00
Is it possible that the PCIe WiFi card needs manual driver install which you have not done, causing pc to mistaken it as another device. Windows 10 may not detect it natively and correctly and thus unable to automatically download appropriate driver.
Do you have the original installation dvd for this card, or are you able to find genuine manufacturer’s driver for it on line?
aburciv
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February 14th, 2021 08:00
I do have the original installation disk which fails to install the drivers. When it checks for the device, it says that it is not installed. The same holds true for the drivers downloaded directly from the manufacturer's website for Windows 10. I also tried the driver installation with Windows 7, 8 & 8.1 in compatibility mode.
However, a lack of Windows drivers wouldn't explain why BIOS would list the device as VGA Compatible in the PCI-e slot because Windows would not have become involved yet. If BIOS is defining the PCI-e card as a video card then it would fail to show up in Windows as a network card.
redxps630
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February 14th, 2021 08:00
If you got this as a new card you may consider return it. An unknown network card should still be recognized as a network card in my experience rather than video compatible device. It seems problem is not with your pc OS environment or hardware but the card itself. If you need to get on 5G quickly consider getting a wireless USB dongle than waiting to figure out what went wrong with this card.