WLAN and Bluetooth Card for Optiplex 9020 SFF

USB Bluetooth dongles are not expensive.

AC600 usb wifi adapters are also not expensive.

Both work plug and play without needing drivers with win8 and 10.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1143249-REG/edimax_technology_ew_7811uac_11ac_dualband_usb_adapter.html

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Receiver-Keyboards-Controllers-USB-BT400/dp/B00DJ83070/

Hi speedstep,

thank you for the quick reply and for the helpful advice: All good thoughts.

I consiidered external WLAN and BT adaptors, but would prefer an internal solution, which would better suit my purpose.

As such, I'd really apreciate anyone's thoughts / experiances with such cards in an Optiplex 9020 SFF ( or simular machine ).

Any advice gratefull recived - Thank you.

If your WLAN and BT come with drivers, you still may need to use them.  Even though I use external USB BT, I wanted to let you know that I still had to install the driver my BT came with in order for my BT headphones to work.

try Newegg.com

buy it and it will work if not (rare) exchange it,

nobody on earth (yet) tests all 10,000 3rd party PCI-express cards in every PC made not even this PC.

frankly any card will work, get the AC card, with BT.

any, for express slot. make sure it actual fits in the silly tiny SFF, painful box. (USE A RULER)

The case is 79mm low profile and only those fit, so in Newegg, on the left side click, low profile, and win.

here are the cards, no USB needed, period. the slot does it all, external antenna RULE.

the cards best come with 2 brackets sold as short card with  79mm and 129mm J-brackets.

buy with due, care that and it will fit and work if your SFF , can do this at all (fit wise)

the  SFF has only 2 slots, one is x16 blue for GPU and one is x1/X4 slot. 

your dell data sheet states and I quote.

1 half height    PCIe x161   half height PCIe x16 (wired x 4)

note that Newegg has a filter for USA< ship,  left side bottom,.  A BIG WIN THERE< no? no 2 month ship delays.

onch some card only fit (USB custom port) there makers mobo,  now that is painful for Bluetooth

ouch #2 some cards are missing the wifi mini card sold for $10 cheap, and  arrives dead, lacking that.

this seems a BINGO

fenvi FV-AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Dual Band AX3000 PCI Express Wireless Adapter, Up to 2400Mbps(5Ghz) + 574Mbps(2.4Ghz), Bluetooth 5.0, IEEE 802.11ax/ac, Intel AX200 Card, MU-MIMO, Windows 10*64bit, MU-MIMO

 bingo, no USB , entanglements. and with low profile bracket in the box.

lets do this the right way,

here is how to do dinky do, tiny SFF PCs, (the pain PC)

1. look in the case first to be sure nothing is in the way of the x4 slot, there. (or other cards , x16 in the way of that X4 slot, only LOOKING works, oK I even use a ruler, for length. (space, to rear, in mm is best)
2. then buy from suppler that ships fast and allows easy returns, oK,, not from 12,000 miles down under,
3. the card must be with 79mm brackets or kitted  with it. a.k.a, low profile.
4. buy the card  with external antenna and is  huge win there,  the PC is a faraday cage and blocks RF radio propagation. ok,, bingo that.
5. get AC wifi, not less. ever buy 1 band wifi , not in year 2020. ok? sure they are dirt cheap 1band, just don't
6. do not buy a card that only works in one brand PC.  some need internal USB port, oops., wrong card.
7. even worse is that ASUS card using only USB custom MOBO USB ports,  bad that is to the bone. dang.

here is your tiny crammed PC.  see that red line that is where the PCI-e wifi card fits

make sure you have room there, seem ok to me but use your own eyes and judgment.

the MT has 2 internal USB ports but not this SFF.

note I answered for

1: wifi and BT. both

2: for stated PCI-Express,.  no demand for USB devices stated by you.

3: fits. and has 79mm J-bracket in the kit.

4: does not need custom USB cables inside the PC. like in ASUS world.

if you want something else say so,,  but what bus you want to use is your call.

Hi Bradthetechnut,

many thanks for the good thoughts about the need for drivers - I'll certainly keep this in mind when I fit WLAN and BT to my 9020.

The 9020 SFF does NOT have a free  USB header on the Motherboard to connect the Bluetooth on a WiFi/Bluetooth PCI-E card.   

The 9020 MT  does have a free USB 2.0 header on the Motherboard to connect the Bluetooth on a WiFi/Bluetooth PCI-E card  which is what I   did on my 9020 MT.   

 The SFF only has one USB connector on the mother board which  is a 3.0 USB header for the front Panel.

You may be able to buy a "USB 3.0 Header Y splitter Cable  "  to plug in which will give you a free USB 3.0  then buy a 3.0 to 2.0 header  converter cable   since most Bluetooth cards use the USB 2.0

What would be better i, s to get a 3.0 USB Y  Splitter cable that has 2.0 and 3.0 on one end  -  thats assuming they even  make those type of cables

I also trying to do the same thing on my Dell 9020. There is a front panel connector that is nine pin usb that you will need to plug in a splitter cable that will allow you to hook up more 9 pin usb 2 the one port on the Optiplex. Then you can plug both in the same usb 2 port on the motherboard. It is low power so it will not change the function of your usb 2. You can find them on ebay for about 8 bucks

9pin USB Header Male 1 to 2 Female Extension Splitter Cable Connector Adapter