Wireless-AC 9260 compatibility with Archer C8 v1

[WYing]

I recently installed a new Intel Wireless-AC 9260 card in my Dell XPS 9570 laptop (Windows 10 April 2018 Update), installed the latest Intel drivers and then connected to the Archer C8 access point on the 5 GHz band which is set to 802.11 a/n/ac/mixed. Unfortunately the link speed as shown in the Network and Sharing Center was only 54 Mbps. My previous client wifi card - Killer 1535 - shows link speed of 866 Mbps. I tried a number of different configuration changes to the Archer C8 wireless settings but could not increase the link speed. I have since reverted to the Killer card to avoid slow network speeds but was wondering whether there is a specific client or AP configuration setting that needs to be changed to make the Intel card work properly with the Archer C8 or if there is an inherent incompatibility. Thanks for any assistance.

[AlHill]

Did you check with Dell on compatibility?

Also, read these documents:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005846/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Why Doesn't My Laptop Recognize My New Intel® Wireless Adapter?

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005687/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Regulatory Information Regarding Wireless Hardware Installation or...

Doc

[WYing]

I did not check with Dell re: compatibility of the 9260 card, but there are many folks on Reddit who have reported very good results in terms of swapping the Killer card with the Intel 9260. The swap itself was easy and the card was fully recognized by Windows so any hardware incompatibility, even though still a remote possibility, seems to be off the table. Hence my question in this community. I will read those documents to see if I've missed anything obvious.

[AlHill]

Well, from the second document you missed this:

Before you install the device in a system, you must contact the manufacturer to determine if the product is approved for use in a specific system and country. You are required to follow the manufacturer's post-approval requirements.

Doc

[idata]

Hello wendellying,

As Al Hill mentioned, it may be that your computer is not fully compatible with the Intel® Wireless-AC 9260. If the computer supports the adapter, make sure the antennas are properly connected and that you the network is using the 802.11ac with WPA2 security. From the adapter side you can try the following:- Download and install https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27849/Wireless-Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-and-Drivers-for-Windows-10?product=99445 Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows® 10 version 20.60.0.- Apply the https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000024678/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Recommended Settings for 802.11ac Connectivity.If the issue persists after this, please contact the https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/OEMs.html Computer Manufacturer for support and additional recommendations.Regards,Jonathan B.

[ATell1 · Accepted solution]

It should work I have replaced my Dell Inspiron 7577's 8265 with a 9260AC, and an XPS 13 9350 to an 8265ac before.

If its at 54Mbps link rate that usually is because WMM is disabled on the router or WEP is used for security authentication and for wireless ac/n WMM needs to be enabled to get higher link rates and WPA2 protocal has to be used, but if it worked previously at max link rate it usuall means that option is enabled. Also go to the 9260ac adapter settings in Windows to ensure wireless modes are set to ac for n/ac option.

If everything checks out in the adapter settings then its a router issue. Granted the internals are similar to the Netgear R7000 and Asus AC68U hardware wise, sometimes glitchy firmware can result in weird issues like this. Last thing you can try is set the router from mixed mode to ac only or ac/n only.

Just an FYI if you want a router with properly working MU-MIMO and HT160 you need to by a Qualcomm QCA9984 WiFi chipset based router like the Netgear R7800 or Synology RT2600AC, these work well with the 9260ac in terms of utilizing its feature set.

[WYing]

Thanks, really appreciate the troubleshooting steps.

I am pretty sure that the card is compatible with the Dell XPS 9570, there are just too many people who have successfully installed it; I just re-installed the 9260 card and set the adapter settings to ac mode and now it connects at 866 Mbps! I am aware that I would need to have a different router to having MU-MIMO / HT 160 but am satisfied that it now works as it should with my current router.