Replacing intel dual band wireless-n 7260 with Intel 8265

[oscar-725]

Hi all,

   I have a Fujitsu Lifebook E754, with an Intel dual band wireless-n 7260 model 7260HMW AN.

The adapter has started to give me problems, usually it works but sometimes it just disappears from the list of available hardware (as if it was removed from the motherboard), and the only way to solve the problem is to shut down the computer, remove the ac adapter for a few seconds, and then plug it back in and reboot. It seems that in spite of the fact that I deactivated all the power saving options, sometimes the adapter sleeps and the OS is unable to wake it up.

The laptop is a bit old and does not officially support windows 11, and Intel also does not support the 7260 adapter under this OS, which is the one I'm using.

I'm thinking about replacing this adapter with something newer, like the Intel 8265 which is supported under windows 11 by intel. I found another topic about a user who did this, but he had a slightly different initial model (a wireless ac 7260).

Some questions:

- usually the 8265 has a different form factor (see attached pic of my 7260), but I managed to find a 8265 in a seemingly identical form factor, mostly in foreign sites. Is it due to different regional regulations?

- my 7260 is wireless N, but it is dual band. Will a wireless-ac adapter work with my existing two antennas?

- can you confirm that the two adapters are truly compatible?

The only adapter with a seemingly correct form factor I found on Amazon Italy is this one:

https://www.amazon.it/dp/B08SKC8L1G/?coliid=I1PEHLDF1KR588&colid=2PK07AIK7BG4N&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I understand that it might be the case that fujitsu locked the bios to recognize only OEM-approved adapters. It is going to be a trial and error approach, but I'd like to know if I can at least hope for it to work. I'm open to suggestions about other dual band compatible adapters (not necessarily wireless-ac), provided that they are supported in win11.

[Jean_Intel]

Hello oscar-725,

Thank you for posting on the Intel️® communities.  

The wireless integration may not work due to hardware or software compatibility problems or dependencies. Regarding your questions about regional regulations and compatibility, you should contact your system manufacturer, as they are the ones that will answer your questions. OEMs perform some customizations to meet the country-specific legal regulations and this customization that may create an incompatibility problem. They may also have validated steps to upgrade the wireless adapter. For more information, you can also visit our following article:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005687/wireless.html

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[oscar-725]

Ok guys, I did try to replace my OEM Intel 7260 with an aftermarket 8265 in the same form factor. There were many reasons why it might not have worked but... it works! now I have wifi ac and bluetooth 4.2. I did test all 3 main modes (wifi n, wifi ac and bluetooth 4) and they work like a charm.

I'm reporting my experience here in case other people with the same laptop (fujitsu lifebook e754) need to do the same thing.