discussion Upgrading wifi card in Dell Latitude 5400

[hfxmike]

Looking to upgrade my Intel ac wifi 5 to a MediaTek MT7921 (wifi 6).
Some old reddit posts say that the card didn't work well, but maybe there are new drivers?
Just came across this issue, so I guess it won't work?
Intel® Wireless-AC 9560: This is NOT a standard Wi-Fi card. It is a CNVi card (or Companion RF module). It offloads much of the Wi-Fi processing to the Intel CPU/PCH. A slot designed for a CNVi card has a proprietary electrical interface and will not work with standard PCIe cards.

So I guess I need to get an AX200....or would the BE200 (wifi 7) work? I'm using Bell Gigahub with wifi 6, but maybe it's worth future-proofing?

Thanks

 

[djbrad]

Unless you do a lot of files transfers and need the bandwith, the Intel ax200 should be fine and is well supported.

 

[sswilson]

Looking to upgrade my Intel ac wifi 5 to a MediaTek MT7921 (wifi 6).
Some old reddit posts say that the card didn't work well, but maybe there are new drivers?
Just came across this issue, so I guess it won't work?
Intel® Wireless-AC 9560: This is NOT a standard Wi-Fi card. It is a CNVi card (or Companion RF module). It offloads much of the Wi-Fi processing to the Intel CPU/PCH. A slot designed for a CNVi card has a proprietary electrical interface and will not work with standard PCIe cards.

So I guess I need to get an AX200....or would the BE200 (wifi 7) work? I'm using Bell Gigahub with wifi 6, but maybe it's worth future-proofing?

Thanks

Either would work. AX200's can be bought for dirt cheap through aliexpress.

 

[anabioz]

I buy these:

Intel AX210 IEEE 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.2 Tri Band Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter for Notebook : Amazon.ca: Electronics

Intel AX210 IEEE 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.2 Tri Band Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter for Notebook : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

 

[sswilson]

So I guess I need to get an AX200....or would the BE200 (wifi 7) work? I'm using Bell Gigahub with wifi 6, but maybe it's worth future-proofing?

Thanks

You probably already know, but just in case you don't, the Gigahub is 6E which includes the third band (6 Ghz). You should probably be looking for at least an AX210.

I buy these:

Intel AX210 IEEE 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.2 Tri Band Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter for Notebook : Amazon.ca: Electronics

Intel AX210 IEEE 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.2 Tri Band Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter for Notebook : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

Good call.... I skipped over the AX200 reference without thinking that it was only wifi 6 as opposed to 6E.

 

[hfxmike]

Thanks all for the info (and link!). The only question left is....Does the Latitude 5400 's antennas support 6ghz reception?

 

[sswilson]

Thanks all for the info (and link!). The only question left is....Does the Latitude 5400 's antennas support 6ghz reception?

I'm sure they'll "support" it (you'll get a 6 Ghz signal through them), but they might not get the greatest reception.

Worst case, if you're not getting great 6 Ghz reception you can just disable that band in your laptop's device settings. There's very little difference in price between the 200 and 210, so you might as well grab the more recent model.

The same would apply if you decided to go with a BE varient for Wifi 7.

 

[hfxmike]

So I picked up an AX210 card, but the screw on the existing wifi card is small, tight and completely stripped. I hadn't looked at it before. I've tried almost every technique to get it out. I don't have any extractor bits, dremel, or rary blade saw for my drill. I might be able to drill it out, but will probably destroy the screw hole (or worse!)

I think the head of the screw is too thin to cut a line in and then unscrew with a flathead. Any advice?

 

[sswilson]

Personally, I've always been able to find a screwdriver which was sufficiently "sharp" that I could apply enough pressure to get a grip, but if it's truly stripped, that might not do the trick.

If you absolutely can't get the screw out, the only thing that comes to mind as a possible solution is very extreme, and stands a chance of damaging your laptop.......

Is there enough room under the current wifi card that you could get a small needle nose jaw under it? Any chance you can break the cct board near the screw hole? You could also conceivably cut the pcb in front of the screw mount with a dremel. If you can cut through, the connector portion of the current card should spring up and you'd be able to work the piece remaining under the screw head out which would then allow you to get needle nose pliers on the outside circumference of the screw head.

Like I said though.... that's pretty bloody extreme, and not something you'd find in any tech manual.

 

[hfxmike]

Personally, I've always been able to find a screwdriver which was sufficiently "sharp" that I could apply enough pressure to get a grip, but if it's truly stripped, that might not do the trick.

If you absolutely can't get the screw out, the only thing that comes to mind as a possible solution is very extreme, and stands a chance of damaging your laptop.......

Is there enough room under the current wifi card that you could get a small needle nose jaw under it? Any chance you can break the cct board near the screw hole? You could also conceivably cut the pcb in front of the screw mount with a dremel. If you can cut through, the connector portion of the current card should spring up and you'd be able to work the piece remaining under the screw head out which would then allow you to get needle nose pliers on the outside circumference of the screw head.

Like I said though.... that's pretty bloody extreme, and not something you'd find in any tech manual.

Holy crap! I was thinking that using a small drill bit and drilling the head off it was bad. Lol. I'll keep at it. Would those screw extractor bits work?

I'm dubious about going from Wi-Fi 5 to 6e. My desktop has an ax211 and speed tests are about 500mb in the same room as my Bell Giga hub. The laptop gets 700.