Inspiron 3268 upgrade driver to 5 ghz

You probably have the Dell DW1707 which is 2.4 GHz only. https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=17012

You will need a new wifi card.  I don't know which one. 

Whether your system can connect at 5 GHz is probably determined more by what model Wi-Fi adapter it has. The specs online don't specify what adapter was installed at the factory (and we don't know for sure if that's the adapter you're using now). Assuming you're on Windows 10, you can click the Wi-Fi icon in the taskbar, then "Network & Internet Settings", then under "Advanced network settings", "Change adapter options". If the full model number isn't visible, you can double-click on it ("Wi-Fi") then on "Properties". If the adapter has 5 GHz capability, the current driver probably supports it.

Since the documentation is so sketchy, it's hard to know what Wi-Fi card(s) are compatible with your BIOS. Also 2.4GHz has around three times the range of 5GHz, and (in my opinion) internal Wi-Fi antennas aren't the greatest, so if you're any distance from your router, you might find your connection dropping down to 2.4GHz anyway. You could always pick up an external USB adapter, and if you upgrade your PC at some point you can take it with you.

Well I did all that like you said and all there was, was Bluetooth Network Connection 2, Ethernet, and Dell Wireless 1707 802.11b|g|n (2.4GHZ).

Nothing about 5 GHz

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@Bdhouse61 wrote:

Well I did all that like you said and all there was, was Bluetooth Network Connection 2, Ethernet, and Dell Wireless 1707 802.11b|g|n (2.4GHZ).

Nothing about 5 GHz

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That wifi card is 2.4GHz only. From the Dell drivers page there apparently was another board sold with the 3268 that had the dual-band capability but I can't find much information about it.

read this : https://www.dell.com/community/Networking-Internet-Bluetooth/5GHz-WiFi-adapter-replacement-for-Dell-Wireless-1707-w-Bluetooth/td-p/5174967

it's hard to know what Wi-Fi card(s) are compatible with your BIOS - what is BIOS??

I am only about 30 feet from my router, I knew the 2.4 GHz has a longer range but the signal is not as strong. I am also having problems with the computer loading pages real slow, if i have 3 websites open I have to wait for it to fully load before i can start scrolling, then it freezes up on occasion.

My speed on my desktop on the 2.4 GHz is appr 48mbps with internet speed of 100mbps, checked my phone on the 5GHz and it was 107mbps, another reason to try and connect to the 5.0GHz network for my desktop. 

I talked to my ISP and they recommended trying a Wifi adapter to connect to my 5 GHz network. 

I bought this one, downloaded and installed it but my computer still wouldn't locate or connect to my 5.0 network. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GE9QS0G/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

any thoughts?

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@Bdhouse61 wrote:

I am also having problems with the computer loading pages real slow, if i have 3 websites open I have to wait for it to fully load before i can start scrolling, then it freezes up on occasion.

My speed on my desktop on the 2.4 GHz is appr 48mbps with internet speed of 100mbps, checked my phone on the 5GHz and it was 107mbps, another reason to try and connect to the 5.0GHz network for my desktop. 

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Upgrading to SSD from mechanical hard drive will be a good step.

Upgrading from 4GB to 8GB of RAM will be good step.

Disable the DW1707 or your computer will probably default to it and not your new TP-Link USB wifi adapter.

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@Bdhouse61 wrote:

it's hard to know what Wi-Fi card(s) are compatible with your BIOS - what is BIOS??

Sorry, I probably should have just said "your motherboard." The BIOS is the programming on your motherboard that starts your computer up, sets up the devices, and finds and boots an operating system. Some motherboards restrict the wireless cards that can connect to them to certain models, a practice called whitelisting, which I have encountered on my own (non-Dell) systems. I have since read postings here that Dell has never implemented Wi-Fi whitelists, but I'm sure there are technical limits to which cards will work. USB offers lots more flexibility in vendors, antenna location, etc. and it's much easier to try different options without having to open the case every time.

I share your frustration with getting Wi-Fi to perform on Windows. It's confusing and difficult, and I have to admit that I'm not an expert myself in this area. It's really valuable to use a Wi-Fi analyzer program that shows the details of what networks your adapter can detect. I've used Acrylic Wi-Fi Home, but there are a handful of good free tools available.

To keep things simple, switch off your internal adapter from your taskbar or in Settings, so that the new one is the only one connecting to your router. (Long-term you can disable the internal adapter in Device Manager, possibly turn it off in your pre-boot menus, or adjust its priority in Windows to favor the 5GHz adapter.) Reportedly the best indicator of your connection speed in Windows 10 is the number you see when you view the connection via "Change adapter options" as above: double-click on the adapter/connection to see signal strength and speed under "Wi-Fi Status". Probably the best view of your actual transfer speed is via Task Manager's Performance tab.

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I am also having problems with the computer loading pages real slow, if i have 3 websites
open I have to wait for it to fully load before i can start scrolling, then it freezes up on occasion.

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Unfortunately this could be due to any number of things. On an 8-year-old system, rendering multiple pages simultaneously can be a heavy lift for your available CPU and memory. If you're low on memory and your system starts memory paging, you're now limited by the speed of your hard drive. Task Manager's Performance tab is your friend here.

I have gotten my Archer T9UH by TP Link Wifi adapter to connect by disabling my Dell Wifi......had to get my ISP involved by changing some settings on my router. 
Thanks for your comments. 

And don't forget you have to reconfigure your network settings so the new 5 GHz WiFi has permission to access the network.

that was done when talking to my ISP, I am now connected to my 5.0 GHz network. 

I thought it would improve my desktop performance with download speeds of 101.24mbps and upload speeds of 102.76, with speeds of appr 48mbps before connected to the 2.4 GHz netowrk.

I actually don't see much difference, waiting for pages to load before i can scroll no matter if it's only 1 page open or 3 pages open.

I am now thinking it's my desktop??

Is there anything I can do to speed that aspect up? Make sure you reply in amateur lingo, thanks

We don't know much yet about your system's configuration: CPU, memory, type of storage. (If you don't know those details, you can check Task Manager's Performance tab or the System Information app.) You also might want to have Task Manager's Performance tab open, load multiple websites, and see if any of the graphs max out during the delays. Clicking a thumbnail graph in the left column will give more detail. (Note that you may have to scroll the left column to see every resource.) In general, if you have only a hard drive, changing that to an SSD can make a world of difference. Adding memory can improve your performance, if you have a shortage. Upgrading the CPU may be a possibility, though it may not be something you want to tackle yourself.

By the way, I wouldn't be so sure your system is 8 years old; the Intel Gen 6 processors it supports came out in 2016.

@Bdhouse61  Your PC came with SmartByte software installed, and can cause speed issues.

Read this about SmartByte and follow the instructions for testing it. Or, IMO, just disable SmartByte so it won't load at boot, or uninstall it. You don't need it...