WiFi upgrades for XPS l502x

I've got an XPS 15 thats a couple years old and everything is in good shape but I recently upgraded to a dual band N600 router and I wanted to get the most out of it. My laptop has a Centrino n1000 and the status is always showing 72Mbps while my dad has an n6200 in his lenovo that shows 180Mbps. What would be the best upgrade for the XPS 15? There are N6200's on ebay for $8 new but I've seen mixed reviews with a lot of these cards. All help is much appreciated.

 

I've never had an issue with Intel WLAN cards, and I've owned them since their inception. I prefer Intel cards because of the driver support. 6200 is a pretty good value, 6300 if you want 3x3. Dell does not whitelist WLAN cards so you won't run into that issue.

 

If you're running at least Windows 7 (fully updated, of course) I would be considering the Intel 7260AC card instead - sure, over 3x the cost of ebay (but to me; ebay is not an option 'ever').

See:
Intel Wireless-AC 7260 Dual-Band WiFi + Bluetooth Mini PCI-E Adapter at Memory Express


(Yeah, out of stock - just wanted to give you the correct product info as their are 7260 cards that are not 'AC' class).



What I have found with these cards and Windows x64, 8 and 8.1, is that the connection is obviously faster, with less lag loading pages and stronger/faster connections all while staying cooler and using less power (seen as less heat) than the old (misc.) wireless cards they replaced. And; when paired with an AC class router - phenomenal performance vs. 'N' class routers.


This is even when Intel 6235 wireless cards were replaced in a system: obviously better performance for less than the cost of the 6235 bought about a year ago.


The only caveat in your case is the Intel drivers... I don't know for sure if they are working with anything below Windows 8 yet...


Buy with a 100% return policy and at least try it in your system - it has put any other wireless card to shame, ime.


The best part: when the notebook is ready to be sold: AC class routers will be everywhere and you'll want to keep the 7260 for your next system (make sure you keep the old one too...).


See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...e-internal-wifi-adapter-asus-n550jv-db71.html


The above thread may have a little more info for you to peruse.


Good luck.

 

I'm leaning more towards the N6200 just because that is known to work($8 never opened on ebay). I'm a little concerned about the N7260 and compatibility with the XPS because something else I saw said it only works with W8 at the moment which I don't care for. I appreciate the information though

 

Fair enough,

Hope it performs as you hope for!

 

Quick question, should I uninstall the WiFi drivers before putting the new one in or are they fairly universal?

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You don't really have to. But I would uninstall any Wifi software (like Dell/Intel stuff) before installing a new WLAN card in. Sometimes they can interfere with Windows trying to decided whether it should manage the WLAN card.

 

Download the new driver for the new card first...

AND YES, yes yes! Uninstall the old wireless software (from Programs and Features in Control Panel) and also uninstall and delete the device driver just before you shut down the computer and pull the old card out.

Install the new wireless card and proceed to install the driver you downloaded.


How important is un-installing the drivers completely?

I upgraded a system without uninstalling the drivers and had to fight to get the new card working (yeah; I should have installed the old card and uninstalled properly, I know...) which I eventually did (and I thought successfully too). However, shortly afterwards I needed to do a clean install on that same system and with the proper driver installed, the same wireless card was almost twice as fast as when done 'wrong'.

Now, you may not have the same experience, but why take a chance. Do the uninstall dance once and enjoy.

Cheers!

 

Cool, thanks! It's a silly question I know, I had to battle AMD drivers about a year ago because I didn't uninstall before upgrading the card and it was a hassle to say the least

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