Intel 7260AC or 3160AC in a single antenna notebook

I've got a HP ProBook 440 G1 with a rather meh Qualcomm QCA9565 wireless N card (1x1), and I'm considering getting an Intel Wireless AC card to replace it.

From what I've read, the HP ProBook 4x0 Gx series notebooks do not come with BIOS whitelists, so they can take any card.

I use an ASUS RT-AC68U router at home. I have two choices: the Intel 3160AC which is a 1x1 card, or the 7260AN which is a 2x2 card.

Would there be any use installing a 2x2 card, especially when my laptop shipped with only 1 antenna embedded in the display? Would I be able to connect on the 5GHz band? Which is the wiser purchase? Thanks!



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Here is an excerpt from the HP QuickSpecs document

Wireless LAN (WLAN)
Realtek 802.11 b/g/n (1x1)***
Atheros 802.11 b/g/n (1x1) with Bluetooth® v4.0 combo*** (I've got this, the QCA9565)
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (1x1) WiFi with Bluetooth 4.0 combo***, ****
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260AN 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) WiFi with Bluetooth 4.0 combo (Non vPro)
Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260AN 802.11 a/b/g/n (2x2) WiFi with Bluetooth 4.0 combo***

* WWAN is an optional feature sold separately or as an add on feature. WWAN connection requires wireless data service
contract, network support, and is not available in all areas. Contact service provider to determine the coverage area and
availability. Connection speeds will vary due to location, environment, network conditions, and other factors.
** 4G LTE not available on all products, in all regions and only available on products featuring Intel processors.
***Wireless access point and Internet service is required and is not included. Availability of public wireless access points
limited.
**** The specifications for the 802.11ac WLAN are draft specifications and are not final. If the final specifications differ from
the draft specifications, it may affect the ability of the notebook to communicate with other 802.11ac WLAN devices.

 

I would not recommend the 7260AC to even my worst enemy. That card is nothing but problems.

 

There will be no difference between the two as far as performance goes.
Honestly, I'd install a second antenna. Nothing works well with a single one.

 

I ordered from ebay a 7265AC because i lost faith in the 7260 : It's full of Hardware and software bugs...

The 7265 is way better however .

 

Your single stream wireless card is put in there to keep the notebooks stock price competitive with others in it's category.

It's not hard to add a second antenna.They can be purchased on ebay and amazon.

I don't recommend the AC-3160

The antennas are usually somewhere inside the top half of the notebook on the sides of the lcd.The bezel around the screen needs to be removed.

If you follow the black antenna wire that is attached to the QCA9565 it wiil lead you to where the antenna resides.A second antenna should not be placed close to the other one for best results.

On the 5ghz band the AC-7260 with the new 17.13.2.2 driver works well with my 2 AC-7260HMW wireless cards

http://images10.newegg.com/User-Manual/User_Manual_34-257-663.pdf

Page 82 = removing the bezel

Antennas = page 85

 

I'd rather not try to open the notebook as I'm rather bad with these kinds of upgrades haha. The notebook is very new and has a 3 year on site warranty which I do not wish to void either!

 

Even when one is a single band and the other is a dual band? Is this due to the single antenna I have in the system? Then it makes more economic sense to get the 3160 as it is $10 cheaper.

 

Neither is single band. Both are 802.11ac cards - ac standard is 5GHz standard. Also the name clears that out - Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160.
Intel 7260 is sort of a better card but with one antenna you are going to end up with the same max throughput regardless if you chose 3160 or 7260.

 

My bad, I should have said 1x1 and 2x2 respectively. So the wiser choice would be to go with the 3160AC?

 

How is 7265 way better? I still get ping spikes and frequent transfer speed dips. Never got that with the Killer 1525 AC.

 

I really can't confirm that, the PCIe Half Mini Card version works like a charm in my ThinkPad X300. It's the best WiFi card I ever had.

 

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I wouldn't say that is a wiser choice - there will be no noticeable difference between the two if both have only one antenna attached.

 

Right, Thanks! I've gone ahead and gotten the 3160.

 

Performance wise I also haven't experienced the AC-7265NGW to be better than the AC-7260NGW that was stock in an MSI GS60 but I'm not suffering the disconnects and Sleep Mode issues I had with the AC-7260NGW.

I do have pairing issues with a Bluetooth mouse more so with the AC-7265NGW than I had with the AC-7260NGW.

As HTWingNut said the Killer N1525 the best among the contenders.

 

Although I have to say that after I disabled u-APSD I haven't had any weird ping spikes yet. And file transfer speeds maintained about 48-55MB/sec (avg probably about 51), with little to no fluctuation with a 17GB file transfer. I don't think I've tested it thoroughly enough yet to be conclusive, but it's looking positive at least. Weird if that's the biggest contributor. Apparently it can have an adverse affect on battery life but it's easy enough to re-enable in the advanced adapter settings.