Updgrade to Intel Wireless AC9560

[JeanV]

I want to upgrade my wifi card on my laptop which is the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 to the Intel Wireless AC9560. I just want to know if its compactible with my Dell XPS 8500 running with Windows 10 Professional. If not give me suggestions upgrading my wifi card for better speeds?

Thank you for your help.

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[n_scott_pearson]

Your system has a socket (form factor) for Wireless cards that is based upon the Half-Mini Wireless (HMW) specification. The more-modern systems have a socket for Wireless cards that is based upon the Next-Generation Wireless (NGW) specification. The AC9560 only comes in the NGW form factor, so you simply cannot plug it into your system.

The last card that Intel produced that supported the HMW formfactor was the AC7265 (7265HMW part id). This card also comes in the NGW formfactor (7265NGW part id), so you have to be very careful which you purchase. I suggest that you not get either; read on.

Intel's latest cards - which support Wireless-AX, WiFi 6 (or better) and Bluetooth (BT) 5.2 (or better) - only come in the NGW formfactor. There are manufacturers, however, that produce HMW formfactor cards with the same Intel silicon components on them. Let's look at the possibilities:

• The AX200 card from Intel supports NGW sockets, Wireless-AX, WiFi 6 and BT 5.2. An equivalent HMW card that utilizes the AX200 silicon is the MPE-AX3000H.
• The AX210 card from Intel supports NGW sockets, Wireless-AX, WiFi 6e (which adds support for the 6GHz band) and BT 5.3. An equivalent HMW card that utilizes the AX210 silicon is the MPE-AXE3000H.

Note the following:

• The examples that I have linked here were all chosen semi-randomly and should not be misconstrued to be an endorsement on my part. I have never purchased or used any of these products and thus cannot comment on their quality. I have read reviews , for example, where the OP complained that the connectors came right off the card - but the company in question is not one that I used for my examples (hence why I said 'semi-randomly').
• The ones that I actually purchased and tested and will recommend were from a company named Fenvi. I found these cards to be good quality and have not had any issues using them in both new and old systems. Now, Fenvi doesn't seem to offer these particular cards for sale through Amazon. I purchased mine through NewEgg. Here are the NewEgg links: MPE-AX3000H and MPE-AXE3000H 

Hope this helps,

...S

[JeanV]

Sorry for my delay in responding.

I'm moving and my computer wasn't available.

I ordered the new card suggested by n_scott_pearson and I will received it soon.

I will make the change next week. Do I only have to change the card and Windows 10 take care of the rest or I have to download the driver before making the change?

Thank you for your cooperation, which is very useful to me.

[n_scott_pearson · Accepted solution]

Some of these third-party cards ship with an older version of the Intel drivers. I haven't seen any that precluded using the latest versions instead, however. Others just say download the latest drivers directly from the Intel site (here and here).

Just a reminder, if you have a working setup with an older card and you want to replace this older card with a newer one, you should do the following:

1. Download - but do not install just yet - the latest Wireless and Bluetooth drivers. Use links above.
2. Disable internet access. That is, unplug any ethernet cable and/or disable wireless.
3. Uninstall all existing Wireless and Bluetooth driver versions.
4. Shutdown.
5. Replace the cards.
6. Boot up.
7. Install the latest driver packages you downloaded earlier.
8. Reboot.
9. Enable internet access.
10. Test.

Hope this helps,

...S

[JeanV]

Thank you n_scott_pearson!