Mini PCIE WiFi Recommendations

I currently have three computers using the Intel 7260HMW IEEE WiFi card (Asus N550JK, Desktop with Asus Maximus VI Impact, and a Desktop with Generic Mini PCIE to PCIE adapter) and all are experiencing the same problems. Constant connection dropouts requiring the card to be reset. Sometimes it'll tell you the connection was dropped but most times it acts like everything is fine but I can't even get any web pages to load. After searching for a solution I've found that a lot of people are having the same problem with this card and Intel hasn't done anything about it in the last year and half so I'm not expecting a fix anytime soon. Usually a quick release/renew will fix the issue but is quite annoying and I've decided to replace the cards with something else. So I guess I'm looking for reviews/recommendations for Half Height Mini PCIE preferably Dual Band AC with BT (although I may be convinced to switch back to N) WiFi cards. What do you use or have you used that you recommend to replace these buggy cards?

 

What routers are they connected to when this happens? How old is the firmware on those routers? What tweaks have you made to the Windows system and the routers default settings for networks?

The cards are excellent in my experience***. Your issues point to problems other than the card (hardware) itself.


*** This assumes a clean Windows 8.1x64Pro install with the latest Intel drivers for the Intel 7260 card. Further, the router's firmware usually needs to be as close to it's defaults as possible and also kept up to date for the latest wl driver, security and other fixes.

Wifi is a two way street. Thinking that only one side is the issue is ignoring reality, even if a different card seems to 'fix' the issues you're having now.

 

First of all make sure that you are using a new driver - Intel managed to fix most of the issues with new drivers, secondly disable U-APSD in advanced driver settings.

Another thing is that Intel 7260 works better at 5GHz band - assuming you gave a dual band router, try using 5GHz (if the distance from the router permits this).

Last but not least - your other choices of 802.11ac cards with BT are pretty much limited to Killer 1525. Although this card seems to have some BT issues of its own.

 

I'm currently using a Linksys WRT1900AC router with the latest firmware. The only changes I've made are to the security passwords and user name. The drivers for the adapters were downloaded from Intel's website and they don't list anything newer atm. One of the desktops is running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. The other is running Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. The laptop is running Windows 8.1 64 bit and had the same issue when connected to the N network at school.

 

Linksys? Okay. I prefer Asus routers with RMerlin firmware by a long shot.

Win7 was okay in 2008, but Win8.1 far surpasses it 'under the hood'.

You might try changing any beamforming options you have in the WRT1900AC router and seeing if you find an improvement. You might also try resetting the router to defaults and setting it up again. Do not use a backup file. You can also try using a new ssid and make sure that the passwords and the username (username? do you mean ssid?) don't contain anything other than alphanumeric characters. Also, I'm assuming you're using WPA2 AES, correct?

On the client side, uninstall all wifi software from each computer and then physically remove the wifi card. Make sure you have downloaded the latest software from Intel - both the Wifi Software and the Bluetooth software.

Now, without being connected (wired) to the internet, install the card again (btw, you might try switching the antenna leads here, if there is leeway with the wires to experiment) and without being connected to the internet, install the software, Wifi software first.

I recommend the "Wireless_17.14.0_e164.exe" file for Wifi and the Windows 8.1 64bit computer.

Also, the "WP-BT_17.1.1411.01_e164.exe" file for Bluetooth and the same O/S.

What may also help is shutting down the system and removing the card and any power or batteries for at least an hour. Make sure you're grounded, install the card, connect the power/battery and power up the system again. You may find your issues are gone.

For the issues with the school connection; forget the ssid you have stored on your notebook and then connect again.


NOTE: when removing any component make sure to fully remove power and batteries FIRST.


Good luck.