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Since the one driver supports both the 7260 and 3160 product families and you don't see this problem with the 7260, I would conclude that it's the card that is the problem, not the driver.
If you are going to continue using these older laptops, you might want to invest in newer cards...
Before anything else, a warning: Since you are using older laptops, I must warn you that some manufacturers implement Inclusion/Exclusion lists in their BIOS that will prevent you from upgrading yourself. If this is the case, you can only purchase upgrades through the laptop manufacturer – and usually on an outrageous cost-plus basis.
There are several cards that you could use if Wireless-AC and WiFi 5 capabilities are considered good enough. Since the cards cost roughly the same, however, I recommend upgrading to the latest Wireless-AX and WiFi 6/6e capabilities. To upgrade to the latest Wireless-AX and WiFi 6 support, you need an AX200 module. For Wireless-AX and WiFi 6e (which supports the 6GHz band), you need an AX210 module.
An important question: Do you have a NGW card or do you have a HMW card? That is, does your card look like this:
Or does it look like this:
If you have a NGW card, you can purchase a replacement card manufactured by Intel for ~US$20. Here are examples:
- AX200NGW: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V9N9XVJ
- AX210NGW: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4T696W5
If, on the other hand, you have a HMW card, there is a small problem: Intel does not manufacture cards in this older formfactor any longer. All is not lost, however; there are 3rd-party companies that take the Intel silicon and mount it onto the older formfactor cards. These cards utilize the exact same drivers as the NGW cards from Intel, downloaded (yourself) from the Intel Download Center, so nothing sketchy here. These cards are slightly more expensive than the Intel NGW cards, however: ~US$30 (due to smaller sales volumes, I think). Here are examples:
- MPE-AX3000H (AX200): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091FJXQHH
- MPE-AXE3000H (AX210): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F3CLKLH
These HMW cards are examples only; the ones that I actually purchased and tested are from a company named Fenvi, who doesn't seem to offer card-level products through Amazon (I purchased mine through NewEgg).
Hope this helps,
...S
