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Drivers for Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Card?

SSyno
Novice
31,565 Views

Just put a new system together and installed an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 in it. Used Windows 8 Pro. x64. I cannot find drivers for the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.

Anyone know where I can get drivers for this card? I purchased the card from Provantage.

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1 Solution
Jose_H_Intel1
Employee
19,545 Views

Hello Synomenon,

The drivers will be released soon; this is because the product has not been officially released yet.

View solution in original post

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183 Replies
JBurw
Beginner
2,212 Views

August 3rd, still no Win7 drivers. Sad.

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tvete
Valued Contributor II
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jlort1
Beginner
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I have tried 2 different AC 7260 cards in both my DellXPS 12s. No luck with Bluetooth. Dell is telling me this card isn't compatible with 3rd gen intel systems. I gave up and re installed the 6235.

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wface
Beginner
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Jerry32907 wrote:

I have tried 2 different AC 7260 cards in both my DellXPS 12s. No luck with Bluetooth. Dell is telling me this card isn't compatible with 3rd gen intel systems. I gave up and re installed the 6235.

So an Intel PCI wifi card isn't compatible with an Intel CPU and such. I find that to be highly unlikely. Far more likely is that Dell is full of crap. They haven't built a decent computer since the later 90's. Their quality control and hardware compatibility testing has been virtually nonexistent for well over 10 years. 9 out of 10 computers and laptops people ask me to fix are Dells. The problem(s), almost always, ends up being super cheap RAM being put into super cheap motherboards. More than once, I've seen solder points fall off the mobos Dell uses. They also have a fondness for horrifically bad PSU's.

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BFerc1
Beginner
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I updated two Sony laptops last week using the drivers found on the Sager site. 16.1.0.14 Win pro 7 64

One i5 & the other i3, both connect @ 866.7 to Netgear R6300v2 set @ 1300. transfer rates have peaked at 55Mb/second while copying from wired server to wireless PC desktop. Signal level is -25 @15 feet away from router. Both now have working Bluetooth too.

They even roam to second R6300v2 setup in AP mode on other side of house when moving into the other areas. The routers are set @ 149 & 157 Since beta testing the v2 last January I was looking for an AC solution and was very excited to see that intel was introducing this card.

I'm waiting for new drivers which I hope address the lost connections which happen on both Bluetooth & the 5g. Don't use 2.4 but expect it too is dropping as well.

I actually trash a 30 day old Vaio i7 trying to add 3rd ant for a 6300. $500 to replace cracked screen so it sits in the box waiting to be repaired..

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wface
Beginner
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Jerry32907 wrote:

I have tried 2 different AC 7260 cards in both my DellXPS 12s. No luck with Bluetooth. Dell is telling me this card isn't compatible with 3rd gen intel systems. I gave up and re installed the 6235.

Thought I'd mention that I found these in my kernel log. (I believe I've posted them before.)

Aug 5 13:01:51 warhammer kernel: Bluetooth: hci0 failed to open Intel firmware file: intel/ibt-hw-37.7.10-fw-1.80.2.3.d.bseq(-2)

Aug 5 13:01:51 warhammer kernel: Bluetooth: hci0 failed to open default Intel fw file: intel/ibt-hw-37.7.bseq

Taking an educated wild guess here. Those lines mean if I had the proper Bluetooth firmware file I'd be able to use BT.

I have an i7 (2nd gen). However, on a lark, I put my ac7260 into my wife's laptop. Her's is a 3rd gen i7 and yet I get the same lines in the kernel log. To me, this indicates that there is no hardware incompatibility with 3rd gen and ac7260. The issue would presumably be strictly software. Not that I care to fix it as I've no use for Bluetooth anyway.

There's no reason a Windows system would be any different. Let's say, for the sake of argument, I wake up one morning completely insane and decide to switch over all my hardware to Windows. I would not, all of a sudden, grow myself a hardware problem because of it.

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JBurw
Beginner
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I'm using these drivers (got mine from Sager site) on my Lenovo T510 with the 7260-AC.

I think I know why Intel hasn't released them to the general public yet. Not quite ready for prime time, it seems.

It works, but when the driver switches to the 5ghz range, it gets really choppy and unreliable, often losing ping completely. Seems like lots and lots of packet loss.

I suppose it could also be the antenna, or the card itself. But this laptop has a 5ghz antenna which functioned perfectly with my old dual band Advanced-N 6200 a/b/g/n NIC at both 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ. I've made sure the antennas are hooked up correctly (unless the terminals on the card are mislabeled).

So I either have a bad card, or (more likely), these drivers are at the moment, no good. Probably going to throw the old 6200 back into the laptop today.

Has anyone else had these issues with the 7260?

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PShu1
Beginner
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xnor: I have a T510 and 7260 running the win7 drivers that I d/l from the Sager website (thank you!). It has been up and stable for about two weeks now. My router is an ASUS RT-AC66R (ASUS/Merlin firmware, build 3.0.0.4.354.29).

The 7260 properties (device driver) are set:

Prefered Band 5.2Ghz

Wireless Mode 802.11a/g (i.e. no b)

all others are default.

BIOS is de-whitelisted 6MET91WW (1.51).

I have not noticed any obvious connection problems. The speed shown in the Properties for the wireless connection varies between 200 to about 500 mb/s. This does not surprise me, I am 15- 20 feet away through 3 walls, some cabinets and a hvac duct or two--in other words, lots of interference.

My laptop is the only 5Ghz connection to the router and none of my neighbors have 5Ghz routers--yet. My wife uses 2.4Ghz wireless-n; sometimes when she is on it seems that the latency is higher, but that may be due to internet connection sharing.

I've never pinged the router, so I just did: surprisingly, the latency ranged from 8ms to 500+ms! Typically, of four pings two were 5-10 ms or under and the other two were much higher and all over the place. No packet loss at all. If I let it ping continuously (217 packets), the latency was min1ms, max 891ms average 82ms. A quick perusal looked like 1/2 were 10ms and under and the other 1/2 were in the 100-200ms range. The router firmware has its issues which are well documented in other forums; I'll have to look this up when I get a chance.

RT-ac66R 2.4Ghz connection: 79 Packets, no losses, min 1ms, max 24ms (my wife is surfing at the same time), avg 2ms. Reconnected at 5Ghz: good latency (very low), no packet losses. Ping results are obviously affected by whatever else the router is doing...

Interestingly, the Bluetooth did not show up originally (see my previous posts above). What BIOS are you using and do you see the Bluetooth in the device manager (or bios, for that matter). Min 1ms, Max 257ms, Avg 5ms (i.e. most in the 1-10ms range with an occasional hiccup).

Edited to add 2.4Ghz data & deleted large file transfer rates.

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tvete
Valued Contributor II
2,212 Views

At last! A working driver for Windows 7 (16.1.1.3) from Intel Download Centre! Link: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=23045&lang=eng&OSVersion=Windows%207%20(64-bit)*&DownloadType=Software%20Applications Download Center

Even though the list says the drivers are for Centrino line up, it fully works with the Intel 7260 series!

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JBurw
Beginner
2,212 Views

Does it make 802.11AC connections or just N speeds?

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tvete
Valued Contributor II
2,212 Views

There are 3 kinds of Intel 7260s:

1. Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 with Integrated Bluetooth

2. Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 (Optional Integrated Bluetooth [ I have the WiFi only version])

3. Intel Wireless-N 7260 with Integrated Bluetooth (only 2.4 GHz adapter)

Someone with the Wireless-AC version has to test it, but it works better than the 16.1.0.14 on my Intel Dual Band Wireless-N version .

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PShu1
Beginner
2,212 Views

7260 with 16.1.1.13. drivers syncs at 500-867 Mb/s, depending on the distance from the router, and transfers small files at about 230-240 Mb/s.

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JBurw
Beginner
2,285 Views

Hrm. With the Sager drivers, I had a lot of trouble with 5ghz, lots of variability in packet RTT, and packet loss. At 2.4ghz it was better, but still not very reliable. It'd disconnect a lot, and the connection would just stop transferring packets until I did a disconnect/reconnect.

I threw the 6205N back into it after a few days of putting up with it. Maybe I'll give these 16.1.1.13 drivers a try.

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tvete
Valued Contributor II
2,285 Views

plainv70 wrote:

7260 with 16.1.1.13. drivers syncs at 500-867 Mb/s, depending on the distance from the router, and transfers small files at about 230-240 Mb/s.

I think it's a very good throughput for a 2 x 2 MIMO Wireless-AC . Is it higher than the Sager's or just the same?

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PShu1
Beginner
2,285 Views

To be more specific. The d/l rates I posted are from speedtest.net mini on my NAS and win7 explorer--and obviously dependent on the conditions/set up. All I can find about the former is https://support.speedtest.net/entries/20862782-How-does-the-test-itself-work-How-is-the-result-calculated- How does the test itself work? How is the result calculated? : Speedtest.net . I do not know if this pertains to the mini version or the online (paid) version. Speedtest.net mini is dependent on the browser cache and reports faster speeds as it is repeated.

Intel 16.1.1.13, all numbers are megabits/sec

Copying a 300MB file from my laptop (in the kitchen--two walls and some ductwork away from the router, ASUS RT-ac66r) to the NAS:

1) 5Ghz, sync 300-500 Mb/s; up to 240Mb/s (speedtest mini), 120-136 Mb/s (win 7)

2) 2.4Ghz, sync 144 Mb/s, 40-55 Mb/s (speedtest), about 48-56 Mb/s (win7).

Next to the router:

1) 5Ghz, sync 800+ Mb/s; 200 to 350Mb/s (speedtest mini), 200 Mb/s (win 7)

2) 2.4Ghz, sync 144 Mb/s, 70-80 Mb/s (speedtest), about 80 Mb/s.

Hardwired to the router, 1Ghz connection, CAT5e cable to router & NAS.

350-550 Mb/s Speedtest, 600 Mb/s (win7)

Xn0r: I don't seem to have any stability problems or packet loss. How are you measuring this, what is your physical set-up? Latency is generally good, l.t. 1-2ms with a few pings over 100 infrequently--I guess that has a.lot to do with what else the router is doing wirelessly.

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tvete
Valued Contributor II
2,285 Views

 

Awesome results . I'd say I've reached my router's limit so I'll probably get a faster dual band N router in the future, but I don't want to retire my current router since it has proven itself to have rock stable connection even with literally 30 routers/access points in range according to inssider. I haven't even power cycled the router for years. The only time I did was when I upgraded the firmware. I still never had a connection drop since my 7260 N upgrade .
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PShu1
Beginner
2,285 Views

Even though the list says the drivers are for Centrino line up, it fully works with the Intel 7260 series!

Theveterans: thanks for the link. As noted, Intel does not state that this is for the 7260, but an examination of the INF file shows the 7260 is there--and, of course, it works.

Suggest waiting for a deal on a newer AC router, one with a dual-core (or better?) processor.

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PShu1
Beginner
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Xn0r: I don't have any hard information to back this up, but I don't think there is a significant difference between the any of the v16.1 drivers when it comes to win7. I've tried the Sager and the v16.1.1.13 and both seem to be fine w/my T510. I think my router & firmware are the weak point. As time goes by, I hope that ASUS sorts it out--newer products from ASUS and the others will undoubtedly be better.

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BFerc1
Beginner
2,285 Views

Installed the New 16.1.1.3 drivers yesterday. Today after 4 hours all solid even Bluetooth. Took 3:50 to download from wired server to laptop a 7.71 GB (8,281,915,392 bytes) file.

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BBeye
Beginner
2,212 Views

I'm running this card on Windows 8 with the 16.1.0.14 driver installed. The card seems to be intermittently dropping my connection (connected to a g/n router at the moment). Has anybody else experienced this issue, is it a driver instability at the moment?

Thanks!

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jlort1
Beginner
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I was showing the connection of 866 to 400. R6300 router 7 feet away, signal would drop to two bars. I don't know if I got 4 bad cards or it's a POS in general.

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