wireless card upgrades

Can I upgrade my wireless cards to newer faster versions? I know in my 3168 it only has a 2.4gb . I was hoping to install a new card with 5g as well.

 

Is that 3168 a WiFi card or a notebook model?

If it's the card, it does have the 5GHz band.

If it's the notebook (Dell?) if you can get it apart, and it's not soldered, you should be able to upgrade it to the Intel AX200.

 

OK. It's the 11 inch dell 2 in 1.

 

Is it only certian cards that will work, or any card that fits the slot will work? I may swap my 13 5000s wireless card for something more up to date and faster.

 

I don't think Dell have a whitelist for theses devices unlike some older hp or lenovo laptop

 

Ok, so that means I can swap to a new better card. Also, my inspiron 11 3000 has a qualcom atheros 9565 card. is this upgradeable? This card has only 2.4ghz and I would hope to swap to a 5ghz card.

 

They did up to a few years ago. (about 2016 or was it 2014?)

 

Search on EBay to see what wifi cards will be compatible for your system. Go no less than Wireless AC (Wifi 5) since they have 5GHz support by default if possible.

But with your system you probably going be stuck with Wireless-N and if so make sure its a dual band card.

 

@kojack did you verify that 3168 isn't soldered to the motherboard? Check service manual or disassembly photos or videos to make sure.

 

@kojack forget a mere '5GHz' capable card.

Just buy the Intel AX200 if you can get into the computer and its upgradeable.

In other words, don't do a half a$$ed job.

 

Yes. But if there is a Qualcomm in there now can I use an Intel and it work?

 

@kojack these cards are typically interchangeable, unless they use cnvio interface like intel 9560 or ax201.

 

Sorry. The 3168 is my wife's laptop, The Qualcomm is in that. Can I remove the Qualcomm and install the Intel?

 

@kojack, yeah, you should be able to do that with no problems.

 

What matters is the pin layout of the card / slot. If it's a recent model it's going to be an B or M key module vs the older mini-pcie cards that are a bit larger.

MFG doesn't matter unless you're looking for certain advanced options that require an Atheros based chip for certain things.



If you have the far right then just grab an AX200/AX201 for $15 on amazon or ebay.

 

Thanks. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it won't be like the far right. Both laptops are 2018 models. Or maybe 2017s. Can't remember off hand. They are dell 3168 and 5368.

The 3168 is an 11 inch 2 in 1. The 5368 is my 13 inch 2 in 1.

 

Most laptops 2015+ use the far right NGFF. The older laptops can be a mix of either half mini / ngff. If you go into device manager and look at the network adapter it will give the model # and you just throw that into google images and you'll know.

 

perfect. I will check it all out! I hope I can use the new intel chip in both.

 

AX201 uses CNVio and won't work in devices that don't have CNVio (CNVio2, specifically) wired. Neither of OP's devices uses CNVio. Only AX200 will work.