Dell Studio XPS 1647 wifi upgrade Intel 7260 AC

Hi,

There was another thread about upgrading a Dell Studio XPS 1647 with the Intel AC 7260 wi-fi card, but I can't post on that so I'm starting a new thread.

In that post it mentions it should be possible to get the Intel AC 7260 wi-fi card to work with the Dell Studio XPS 1647 (though this was not confirmed by the OP), but I have not been able to get it to work.

Bluetooth drivers installed automatically when I installed the Intel AC 7260 wi-fi card, but my bluetooth devices are not detected.

The Network drivers were not installed automatically when I installed the Intel AC 7260.

A)
I tried to download the following drivers from an internet search from Dell's website:

1.)
M3800_Communications_Driver_299C6_WN32_17.13.2_A01

2.)
Network_Driver_17DXG_WN_16.1.3.1_A02

3.)
Network_Driver_7WYY1_WN_17.0.0.34_A06

4.)
9333_Network_Driver_HRMXV_WN_16.8.0.6_A02

however, when I try to install the drivers, the following error appears:

"Installation blocked: This software package cannot be installed on your system"

B)
I downloaded SDI (Snappy Driver Installer) and downloaded one of the driver packs.
It was able to install an Intel 7260 AC driver which now appears in Device Manager under Network Adaptors.
I also see Wireless Network connection 'enabled' under Network Connections, but when I double-click on the icon, it shows IPv4 and IPv6 status is "Not Connected". I clicked on the "Diagnose" button, and Windows' diagnostic tool reported that there could be an issue with the driver.

C)
I also tried to find the driver from Intel's website, but it looks like they are no longer providing drivers for Windows 7 for the 7260 AC.

Has anyone been able to get the Intel 7260 AC card to work with a Dell Studio XPS 1647?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am using BIOS v.11 BTW.

Thanks!

 

I find using OEM driver packages to be annoying.

Usually if the card fits it can be made to work. If there's some sort of whitelisting going on in the BIOS for the card it could be more complicated than it needs to be. If it's an OS restriction then upgrading could solve the issue.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/downloads/W0009020 - this might work.

Google Intel 7260 AC windows 7 and sift through the results.

 

Hi,

Is there a way to know if the card is whitelisted in the BIOS?

I don't want to upgrade my OS. There are drivers available for Windows 7 as mentioned in my post, so it is not an inherent OS issue. I was able find some drivers for Windows 7, but they don't seem to work.

I tried the Sony driver you linked, but it wouldn't install as it is only for Sony Vaio computers.

Anyone had luck with this driver on Dell XPS Studio?

Thanks!

 

I had a couple of Dell's over the years using that card w/o issue. However I was using more recent OS than W7.

When testing some different VPN options I ran into issues where the install package as checking which version of linux I was using and edited them to allow my version as they were looking for older versions. I got the package to install but, the VPN service wouldn't authenticate and bring up the tunnel. So, there are ways to get these to work. If you extract the files from the .exe and go into device manager and select the .inf file for the card it should pick up the proper info and enable the card to work.