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What is the best upgrade for an Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260, Model 7260NGW AN. From an Acer S-7 392? Thank you!!!

RHARR25
Beginner
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Bought Intel Wireless AC 9260

installs okay. but asks to be turned on.

There is no hardware way to turn it on.

 

Respectfully,

Royal 907-301-0008

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
13,270 Views

What do you mean it asks to be turned on?

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RHARR25
Beginner
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A most excellent question. AC 9260 installed, software installs no glitches. But the card will not turn on. in settings I am unable to turn it on. Not related to airplane mode which I can toggle on and off from the keyboard.

I saw a mention of AC 9260 being able to work if I were to clear tape pins 56 and 57. The writers description of the pins did not match the AC 9260 on either side. So that also did not work. I presume the AC 9260 NFGG has added a feature for a hardware switch to enable or disable that the Acer S-7 392 does not support. That's what I mean be "the card will not turn on" in settings.

 

Thank you for taking a peak. I know I shouldn't be trying to upgrade such an old notebook, but I still like it.

 

Respectfully,

 

Royal

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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There is absolutely nothing like that in/on this card or its drivers.

 

Wait a minute, something is not right here... This is a laptop with a 4th gen processor (i7-4500U/i5-4250U or something similar), right? If so, M.2 connectors did not exist back then; only the mini-PCIe (a.k.a. M.1) connectors existed. There is no version of the Dual Band Wireless-AC 9260 that comes in the M.2 configuration; it only came in the M.2 configuration. This means that the best possible solution for this laptop is the Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.HMW (here: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-7260-HMWG-R-Wireless-AC-Network-adapter/dp/B00MV3N7UO).

 

...S

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RHARR25
Beginner
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Acer Aspire S-7 392 is 7th gen Intel I-7.

 

I believe you are right that the 9260 just will not work.

 

I will order a Intel Wireless AC 7260NGW NGFF. Hope that will work.

 

The link goes to a mini-PCIe and that won't fit the Acer MB.

 

Thank you,

 

Royal

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RHARR25
Beginner
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Clearly I misspoke 4th Gen I-7

Sorry

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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Ok, now you are confusing me. Which is it? The link you provided is for the M.2 version, the Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.NGW, not the Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.HMW that my link pointed to.

 

  • If you have a 4th gen processor, then your laptop likely has a mini-PCIe (M.1) connector. In this case, the Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.HMW is the best Intel card available for M.1 connectors. It supports 867Mb/s and Bluetooth 4.0.

 

  • If you have a 7th gen processor, on the other hand, then your laptop will have a Type E M.2 connector. In this case, you want one of the following:

 

  1. The Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.NGW M.2 card supports 867Mb/s Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 4.0.
    1. The Dual Band Wireless-AC 9260 M.2 card supports 1733Mb/s Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 5.1
    2. The Intel WiFi 6 AX200 M.2 card supports 2400Mb/s Wireless-AX, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

 

...S

 

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RHARR25
Beginner
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For certain, and I am looking at it, the card is the Dual Band Wireless-H 7260.NGW NGFF. I am learning that the form is M.2 but I know it as NGFF.

That is what I'm replacing.

 

The Dual Band Wireless-AC 9260 M.2 card supports 1733Mb/s Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 5.1 that I bought and installed had the "turn on the wifi" error message. Alas I can't turn in on in settings whatsoever. It gets installed but never looks for a wifi network. Windows thinks its turned off via hardware. If the error message is even indicative of the issue.

 

So I'm dialing it back to try for the:

The Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260.NGW M.2 card supports 867Mb/s Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 4.0.

 

Which I have on order.

 

Best regards,

 

Royal

 

 

 

 

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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But this is essentially replacing the original card, not upgrading it. I am of the opinion that you got a bad 9260 card. You should return it for replacement.

...S

 

P.S. Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2.

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RHARR25
Beginner
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The replace would be Wireless N to Wireless AC.

 

I hadn't thought of that about the card being bad. Hmm. . . . .

 

Okay, I have a couple things to try.

 

Thank you,

 

Royal

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gds
Beginner
6,466 Views

I don't know if I ever found a good answer online for upgrading an Intel AC 7260NGW.  I have a HP ZBook G2 (2016 I think) which had the 7260NGW.  My wifi connection kept getting worse, at least when connecting to my Samsung phone (hotspot).  It would keep connecting and disconnecting, making it almost unusable.  Intel no longer supports the AC 7260 and so I could not update drivers.  I first accidentally bought the Intel AC 9260NGW - it didn't work.  Physically fits but I see it uses more pins on the connector.  Anyway, bought a AC 8265NGW and it works great.  Swapped them out, started the computer and it found the newer driver itself.  Must be because I tried an Intel driver update previously which I don't think covered the AC 7260NGW.

I haven't done and speed tests.  All I know is the AC 8265NGW fixed my HP Zbook G2 wifi problem.  Good fix for $13.

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