This post is more than 5 years old
12 Posts
0
55325
May 11th, 2015 17:00
Inspiron Intel Wireless N 7260 with POOR performance
The laptop was purchased 8/2014. I am having issues with my WIFI connection and had our cable service provider out today. They isolated the issue to the laptop. They proved this by running speed tests on various devices. This laptop was the only device that produced such slow download speeds <6 Mbps while the other devices are running anywhere from 50 Mbps to as high as 90 Mbps. If I connect this laptop via Ethernet it runs in the 90 Mbps range.
The WIFI on this device is an Intel Wireless N 7260 and the driver version is 16.6.0.8 runs at 2.4GHz only.
Does anyone know if this is defective (it passed all the tests) or is this something that needs to be upgraded already? Is there an upgraded
DELL-Todd S
3 Apprentice
•
1.8K Posts
1
May 14th, 2015 12:00
Hi,
You don't "need" a new wifi card, and in fact I don't know that it would improve your speeds. So many things factor into speeds. Interference is a big one, and the 5.0 ghz range doesn't have nearly the amount of other electronics that use that frequency so it may work out better for you. Really hard to tell. Depending on the cost, and the return policy of where you buy it ( :emotion-5: ) you may want to try one.
Todd
DELL-Todd S
3 Apprentice
•
1.8K Posts
0
May 15th, 2015 10:00
You know what you might want to do, go to the Dell Spare Parts page, insert your service tag, and it will show you which parts we deem compatible with your system. Search for the wireless cards and find ones that are dual band. That way we would have drivers and have tested the drivers to (hopefully) make sure they don't cause blue screens on that model.
If you don't find any that are dual band, or that you don't like, do a google search for dual band pcie mini-cards. I would recommend sticking with Intel so you don't have to really do much in the way of software / driver downloads. Their ProSet software might not even need to be upgraded.
Todd
DELL-Todd S
3 Apprentice
•
1.8K Posts
1
May 13th, 2015 13:00
Hi,
Which model system are you using? And I assume you're using either Windows 8.0 or 8.1. Let me know if that isn't correct.
I pulled up the support pages for the Intel N7260 and I see that they have a newer driver, 17.16.0, for that card. Have you tried that yet? There are some threads on the Intel Boards regarding slow speeds when some customers upgraded to their 16.x versions of the drivers, so maybe going to the 17.x version will help you out.
Check out the newer driver I linked above and see if that helps. If not, let us know the brand, model, and Windows version of what you're using and I'll see if I can find some other information to help you.
Todd
jjdeadhead
12 Posts
0
May 13th, 2015 17:00
Hi Todd, thanks for taking the time to reply. Yes you are assuming correctly I am on 8.1.
When I did a diagnostic on the driver, Windows said it was up to date so I believed it. However YOU are correct and I got the new driver, applied it and yes I have seen the performance improve to 55Mbps. That said it is still not at the download speeds my Internet provider says I should be getting (105Mbps).
So if there is something else I can do I would appreciate any help. I have a Dell Inspiron 5537 with Windows 8.1. Also I use an ARRIS / Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem and a Trendnet AC1750 TEW-812DRU Dual Band Wireless Router. It has pointed out to me that the card in this PC can not recognize the 5 GHz speed only the 2.4GHz. Do I need a new WIFI card?
jjdeadhead
12 Posts
0
May 14th, 2015 16:00
Todd, many thanks for all your help. You have been the most helpful person that I've had assist me. So if I can ask one FINAL question; if I decided to upgrade just for the heck of it, does this company (the same one I've bought my last 3 computers from) sell such a card and do you happen to know it's model number??? :emotion-15:
Again thank you so very much!!!!!!!!!!!!
jjdeadhead
12 Posts
0
May 15th, 2015 16:00
Great, again thank you for your expert help!