AC 7260HMW on Dell laptop Win 7 Pro - What can I upgrade to with Max Performance

[Kashbg]

Hi,

Local Broadband supplier Virgin installed new router "Hub 5" and now my laptop can not see the router "Hub 5". The laptop's 7260HMW has 802.11 a/b/g only and cannot see the "ax" signal from the Hub 5.

Unable to turn off the "Hub 5"'s  "ax" as it always comes with the rest a/b/g/n as a combination with "ax".

So, need to upgrade the 7260HMW with the latest possible. 

Any advice on what can I replace it with?

 

[n_scott_pearson]

The 7260HMW card supports Wireless-A/B/G/N/AC, which should work fine with this router -- unless it is misconfigured to only support Wireless-AX. If you cannot change the router configuration to support Wireless-AC, you will need a card supporting Wireless-AX and WiFi 6.

Unfortunately, Intel no longer supports the old PCIe Half Mini Wireless (HMW) card format that your system has; they only support the Next-Generation Wireless formfactor (NGFF), also known as M.2. In order to get support for Wireless-AX, you will need to look to a third-party that embeds Intel's AX200 (WiFi 6) or AX210 (WiFi 6e) silicon into the 'HMW' formfactor. The good news is such cards do exist.

Here is an example, from NewEgg, one that I have actually purchased and it works well: https://www.newegg.com/fenvi-mpe-ax3000h-mini-pcie/p/0XM-00JK-00098. This is the equivalent of Intel's AX200 WiFi 6 Wireless-AX card - and utilizes the same, standard Intel drivers - but is in the Half Mini PCIe form factor. I also found a similar card through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/MPE-AX3000H-802-11ac-Wireless-Express-Network/dp/B091FJXQHH.

Now, if your goal is to also have support for WiFi 6e (i.e. you also want 6.0 GHz Wireless-AX), this too is available in the Half Mini PCIe form factor. Note that, in this case, I have not tried any of these cards myself as yet. Here is NewEgg link: https://www.newegg.com/fenvi-wi-fi6e-mpe-axe3000h-mini-pcie/p/0XM-00JK-000A9. I would not find this specific card on Amazon, but I did find one from another vendor: https://www.amazon.com/REKONG-6E-WiFi-MPE-AXE3000H-5400Mbps/dp/B09F3CLKLH.

Hope this helps,

...S

[Kashbg]

Thank you for your reply. Just to clarify as I might be misunderstanding.

Re: “The 7260HMW card supports Wireless-A/B/G/N/AC, which should work fine with this router -- unless it is misconfigured to only support Wireless-AX.”
I think the router is not misconfigured as all other computers at home, although not capable of AX, can still see it.
In the 7260HMW card wireless settings, for some reason, I can only select “a”, ”b”, “a/b”, “a/b/g”. Isn’t this strange? I have updated it with the latest driver, although dated 2017.
I wonder if it is possible that perhaps something in my Windows 7 Pro or BIOS needs to be tweaked so that I can be able to select and see in the card wireless setting all A/B/G/N/AC.

Thank you so much for your time and research and posting the links of the suggested cards. I hope those cards would work with Win 7 although it does not say on the website’s description.

I still keep thinking that there could be something I could tweak in the laptop to enable the A/B/G/AC setting. Even tried to plug in an external card, Alfa Network AWUS036NHA, which did not show the “N” setting.

Thanks for your help.  

[n_scott_pearson]

I am not aware of any limitations in Windows 7, but, then again, no one in their right mind is still running Windows 7 anymore, so I don't pay much attention to it. Seriously, upgrade to Windows 10. You can use your Windows 7 license key, so it isn't like it is going to cost you anything (other than you have to do a from-scratch install). Once you are there, you can run Windows 7 in a VM if you really want to have it available. There are also add-ons that get you back most of the taskbar and start menu features of Windows 7.

...S

[Kashbg]

"no one in their right mind is still running Windows 7 anymore" 

You are probably right, but I wouldn't know it since I am one of them.

Seriously, another good advise, which I intend to follow, although Win10 tech support told me it is no longer free to upgrade from Win7 with its key.

Thanks "n_scott_pearson"

[n_scott_pearson]

That's a true statement... but only if you are upgrading. If you do a from-scratch install, however, you can use any license key Win7 or higher. I do this all the time. Just be careful to keep track of your key usage; you should only be using a key on a single machine.

...S

[Kashbg]

Thanks n_scott_pearson,

I will try it this weekend.

Regards,

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Kashbg,  

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities. I am sorry to know that you are having issues with your Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.     

Due to this product being discontinued, Intel Customer Service no longer supports inquiries for it, but perhaps fellow community members have the knowledge to jump in and help. You may also find the Discontinued Products website helpful to address your request. Thank you for understanding.  

• Discontinued Products: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/discontinued-products.html 

Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel.  

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician