WiFi Card for XPS 15 9570

[rzaiser]

Hello all,

 

I'm new to this forum and I hope I chose the right segment for this thread.

 

Which wireless card would you recommend for installing into the Dell XPS 9570 per 2019? Some other forum posts I read on google (i.e. on reddit) recommended the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 9260 which I could order on Amazon for about EUR 30.

 

My question is whether this is the best WiFi card for this laptop per 2019 or if you guys could recommend anything else. I really want to switch out the Killer 1535 as it is so frustrating with the constant bugs. I'm in touch with Dell Support regarding this issue for over two weeks now, reinstalling drivers, BIOS updates etc. did not fix my constant connection issues or slow network.

 

In example, last night while testing over speedtest.net I got a Up/Down Speed of about 9.83/0.9 Mbps with a ping of 75 on my 5G UPC router (advertised with 100Mbps Download and 10Mbps Upload). On my phone, connected to the same network, running speedtest.net I got a ping of about 11 and 75.2/8.7 Mbps speeds. I simply cannot understand how a WiFi card in a phone can be better than in a EUR 3000 laptop. But apparently I'm not the only user with this issue. Many posts and videos resulted in simply switching out the card, as all users got frustrated with Dell Support not being able to fix the issue themselves.

 

Hope you guys can recommend a good card, as my troubleshooting time and energy are wasted in my opinion. (I tried anything from Power Options to switching Advanced Settings in the Device Manager, reinstalling Killer drivers and software etc., none of this has ever worked for me and since the problem does not seem to be my router or ISP, because all my other devices in my home have excellent speeds [even a 5 year old Asus Laptop], it must be the card itself, which by the way was just replaced a couple of days ago by a Dell Technician [but he just replaced the old 1535 card with a new 1535 card...])

 

Thanks a lot in advance. If you need me to provide more details to certain aspects, please let me know.

 

Kind regards,

Richard

[5x5]

Do you have a USB 3.0 device connected to the laptop by chance? USB 3.0 causes major interference for WiFi connections and basically cripples them.

[rzaiser]

1 minute ago, 5x5 said:

Do you have a USB 3.0 device connected to the laptop by chance? USB 3.0 causes major interference for WiFi connections and basically cripples them.

5x5 thanks for the quick reply.

 

Now that you mention it, last night I had a Razer Mamba 2012 (not sure if this thing is capable of USB 3.0) connected to one of the two USB ports of the laptop. Could this be the issue? If so, this is really stupid in my opinion, as last night I intended to play a game online. If I'm not able to use this machine to game once in a while over WiFi, than it is really completely useless and not worth its price. But that USB 3.0 cause interference only with the Killer 1535 or is this a general problem, affecting all cards?

 

Why I ask I because my old Asus Laptop has better speeds than this one, but yes, indeed it does not have USB 3.0 => does this mean that if any laptop you buy on the market with only USB 3.0 and connect for example a Mouse/Keyboard to it, it cripples your WiFi connection?

 

Kind regards,

Richard 

[rzaiser]

5x5: Quick fact - i just restarted my router a couple of minutes ago, restarted my XPS15, disconnected the mouse (now no peripherals are connected) and my speed is still on 31,7/8,8 with a ping on 11 and on my phone tested simultaneously its 75.2/7.9 with a ping of 15... so the download speed on the phone (Huawei P10) is still better... how is this possible?

 

KR,

Richard

[5x5]

Yes, it's a design flaw with the USB 3.0 connector now being properly shielded in most cases. My laptop also does the same thing and I'm on Intel wireless. Try with no external devices plugged in. If that fixes it, you know what causes it. If it's still there, then reinstall your wireless drivers and after that consider upgrading the WiFi card.

[5x5]

Just now, rzaiser said:

5x5: Quick fact - i just restarted my router a couple of minutes ago, restarted my XPS15, disconnected the mouse (now no peripherals are connected) and my speed is still on 31,7/8,8 with a ping on 11 and on my phone tested simultaneously its 75.2/7.9 with a ping of 15... so the download speed on the phone (Huawei P10) is still better... how is this possible?

 

KR,

Richard

It's odd indeed, phones have MUCH smaller antennas than laptops so it should not behave as so.

[moriel5]

Not only that, While Killer cards are extremely good hardware (generally rebranded Qualcomm or now also Intel cards), their firmware and drivers make for very poor day to day usage, since they are generally modified to work better than anything else on very specific things (such as making sure that specific online games run smoothly), instead of actually taking care of the underlying prerequisites.

Your card is a rebranded Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174.

And 30€ is crazy expensive for an Intel 9260, I can get it at half the price from Fenvi (an official reseller of networking products from several different companies), including free shipping with a tracking number (on AliExpress), which has stores on both AliExpress and Amazon.

 

And the Intel AX200 is about the same price (marginally more expensive) from Fenvi, so you may as well get it and jump early on the WiFi 6 bandwagon.

[rzaiser]

12 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

It's odd indeed, phones have MUCH smaller antennas than laptops so it should not behave as so.

Exactly, this is what testing with no connected devices resulted...so I'm kinda clueless. But if this is a general issue with poor shielding, than maybe upgrading the card is not worth the trouble? But if I order it on Amazon I can simply return it within two weeks of purchase, so that should be enough of a testing period to see it brings any improvements. Thanks again for the suggestions though. 

1 minute ago, moriel5 said:

Not only that, While Killer cards are extremely good hardware (generally rebranded Qualcomm or now also Intel cards), their firmware and drivers make for very poor day to day usage, since they are generally modified to work better than anything else on very specific things (such as making sure that games run smoothly), instead of actually taking care of the underlying prerequisites.

Your card is a rebranded Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174.

And 30€ is crazy expensive for an Intel 9260, I can get it at half the price from Fenvi (an official reseller of networking products from several different companies), including free shipping with a tracking number (on AliExpress), which has stores on both AliExpress and Amazon.

 

And the Intel AX200 is about the same price (marginally more expensive) from Fenvi, so you may as well get it and jump early on the WiFi 6 bandwagon.

Exactly, I know they are just rebranded, but the software and/or drivers bring this extremely poor result. Allright, I will try and look up some better options for the 9260 or even consider the AX200. I can assume you have used the AX200 in an XPS or read reviews about it or something? It should work fine with no problems, right?

Thank you anyway for your time and responde!

 

KR,

Richard

[rzaiser]

8 minutes ago, moriel5 said:

Not only that, While Killer cards are extremely good hardware (generally rebranded Qualcomm or now also Intel cards), their firmware and drivers make for very poor day to day usage, since they are generally modified to work better than anything else on very specific things (such as making sure that specific online games run smoothly), instead of actually taking care of the underlying prerequisites.

Your card is a rebranded Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174.

And 30€ is crazy expensive for an Intel 9260, I can get it at half the price from Fenvi (an official reseller of networking products from several different companies), including free shipping with a tracking number (on AliExpress), which has stores on both AliExpress and Amazon.

 

And the Intel AX200 is about the same price (marginally more expensive) from Fenvi, so you may as well get it and jump early on the WiFi 6 bandwagon.

This is the one you meant, right? But whats with the "Attached with screw & pressure antenna plate"? Does this even work/fit inside the Dell XPS15 9570?

https://geizhals.at/intel-wi-fi-6-ax200-mit-vpro-ax200-ngwg-a2029920.html

 

Thanks a lot!

 

KR,

Richard

Edited July 28, 2019 by rzaiser
concretization of the response

[moriel5]

13 minutes ago, rzaiser said:

Exactly, this is what testing with no connected devices resulted...so I'm kinda clueless. But if this is a general issue with poor shielding, than maybe upgrading the card is not worth the trouble? But if I order it on Amazon I can simply return it within two weeks of purchase, so that should be enough of a testing period to see it brings any improvements. Thanks again for the suggestions though. 

Exactly, I know they are just rebranded, but the software and/or drivers bring this extremely poor result. Allright, I will try and look up some better options for the 9260 or even consider the AX200. I can assume you have used the AX200 in an XPS or read reviews about it or something? It should work fine with no problems, right?

Thank you anyway for your time and responde!

 

KR,

Richard

Not yet, however I had been buying Intel cards from Fenvi for quite some time, so I can assure you  it will be fine (almost every single computer in my house uses the Intel 9260, including desktops, except for the old laptops, which use mPCIe so one uses the 7260, and my desktop, which I am waiting for the budget to upgrade it from the 7260).

I also use Fenvi's FV102 M.2 to PCIe adapter for the desktops.

 

That's the card, however I think this link may be cheaper.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Dual-band-2-4Gbps-Intel-Wi-Fi-6-AX200NGW-802-11ax-ac-MU-MIMO-2x2-Wifi/33010022210.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.76dc5bcbStiZja&algo_pvid=e3db60f7-ce96-40dd-9dbc-c0a09dac5849&algo_expid=e3db60f7-ce96-40dd-9dbc-c0a09dac5849-6&btsid=c2db4272-c819-4a8f-849a-8852834b202d&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_5,searchweb201603_53

 

Oddly enough, I could not find the AX200 on their Amazon store, only on their AliExpress store (I had it bookmarked).

Since I do not live in europe, I changed it according to your link.

 

And yes, it will fit. This is a common standard across almost all laptops, the XPS series are not amongst the rarities that can only fit the 1216 variants of the cards (and the mechanism itself is still the same).

[rzaiser]

7 minutes ago, moriel5 said:

Not yet, however I had been buying Intel cards from Fenvi for quite some time, so I can assure you  it will be fine (almost every single computer in my house uses the Intel 9260, including desktops, except for the old laptops, which use mPCIe so one uses the 7260, and my desktop, which I am waiting for the budget to upgrade it from the 7260).

I also use Fenvi's FV102 M.2 to PCIe adapter for the desktops.

 

That's the card, however I think this link may be cheaper.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Dual-band-2-4Gbps-Intel-Wi-Fi-6-AX200NGW-802-11ax-ac-MU-MIMO-2x2-Wifi/33010022210.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.76dc5bcbStiZja&algo_pvid=e3db60f7-ce96-40dd-9dbc-c0a09dac5849&algo_expid=e3db60f7-ce96-40dd-9dbc-c0a09dac5849-6&btsid=c2db4272-c819-4a8f-849a-8852834b202d&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_5,searchweb201603_53

 

Oddly enough, I could not find the AX200 on their Amazon store, only on their AliExpress store (I had it bookmarked).

Since I do not live in europe, I changed it according to your link.

 

And yes, it will fit. This is a common standard across almost all laptops, the XPS series are not amongst the rarities that can only fit the 1216 variants of the cards (and the mechanism itself is still the same).

Thank you very much, I will have a look around and maybe order it directly from AliExpress, thanks for the hint!

 

But one thing I just found on reddit still keeps a question mark up: There, a user asks the following: It's unclear whether CNVi is supported on 9570 which is required by module. Does anyone have any concrete information or references about it? My search did not produce any clear results.

 

Now, CNVi is new to me and I did not find any straight answer if the card is compatible with the XPS15 9570 or not. If you could just tell me, that it is, my question should be solved, as I will look around for a new card and see if that fixes the issues. If not, I will simply return it and put in my old Killer one and thats is it. I'm currently discussing a refund with Dell anyway and sending the laptop back (I have some couple of other issues with the display and sound as well) and maybe I will go for a completely new machine. But if Dell does not accept the refund, I will be stuck with it, so I'm looking for options to at least make it work properly.

 

Thank you so much moriel5 and 5x5 for responding to my questions.

 

KR,

Richard

 

 

 

[moriel5]

2 minutes ago, rzaiser said:

Thank you very much, I will have a look around and maybe order it directly from AliExpress, thanks for the hint!

 

But one thing I just found on reddit still keeps a question mark up: There, a user asks the following: It's unclear whether CNVi is supported on 9570 which is required by module. Does anyone have any concrete information or references about it? My search did not produce any clear results.

 

Now, CNVi is new to me and I did not find any straight answer if the card is compatible with the XPS15 9570 or not. If you could just tell me, that it is, my question should be solved, as I will look around for a new card and see if that fixes the issues. If not, I will simply return it and put in my old Killer one and thats is it. I'm currently discussing a refund with Dell anyway and sending the laptop back (I have some couple of other issues with the display and sound as well) and maybe I will go for a completely new machine. But if Dell does not accept the refund, I will be stuck with it, so I'm looking for options to at least make it work properly.

 

Thank you so much moriel5 and 5x5 for responding to my questions.

 

KR,

Richard

 

 

 

CNVi is a new protocol that Intel uses, that requires the CPU to support it.

The Intel 9560, 9461, and 9462 use it, the 9260 does not.

The AX201 uses it, the AX200 does not.

 

I had recommended the AX200 and not the AX201 because the AX200 is guaranteed to work on your laptop.

No problem. If dell accepts the refund, I recommend checking every single detail before buying a new laptop (you can even go with the same model, there are different configurations, and you can get a plain old Qualcomm or Intel card with the same laptop). Other companies, mainly on the lower end, you might face the horror that is Realtek (their audio is alright, their networking hardware is alright, but their networking drivers are horribly incompetent (completely different story from Killer, which has competent drivers, but that are not suitable for most tasks)).

 

By the way, what are your issues? Dell's audio driver solution unfortunately utilizes Waves MaxxAudio, so I recommend utilizing the unofficial Realtek UAD drivers (the drivers themselves are official, the installer is not), and the monitor perhaps may require proper calibration.

[Alex Atkin UK]

41 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

It's odd indeed, phones have MUCH smaller antennas than laptops so it should not behave as so.

I get much better speeds on my S10 than both my laptops, including the one with the AX200 in it.  (although I don't have a WiFi 6 AP)

 

I also get better speeds in Linux than Windows 10, although still slower than the S10.

I'm assuming the reason is that the Android drivers are just better optimised.

[rzaiser]

2 minutes ago, moriel5 said:

CNVi is a new protocol that Intel uses, that requires the CPU to support it.

The Intel 9560, 9461, and 9462 use it, the 9260 does not.

The AX201 uses it, the AX200 does not.

 

I had recommended the AX200 and not the AX201 because the AX200 is guaranteed to work on your laptop.

Perfect, moriel5, thank you very much for all the help and suggestions. I marked your answer as the solution to this topic and will try that out.

 

After a period of testing the new card I will report back with some results, so future users who read this post can have a comparison of what the changes look like.

 

Have a nice day!

 

Kind regards,

Richard

[rzaiser]

1 minute ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I get much better speeds on my S10 than both my laptops, including the one with the AX200 in it.  (although I don't have a WiFi 6 AP)

 

I also get better speeds in Linux than Windows 10, although still slower than the S10.

I'm assuming the reason is that the Android drivers are just better optimised.

Yes, now that you mention it, maybe that is the reason why. Still, my older devices including my desktop (over WiFi) have better speeds than a 3000 EUR laptop from Dell, so that is really painful to endure... hopefully I'm eligible for a refund and send this thing back. Overall it is a really fine machine, but these minor problems make it unusable for my intentions.

[moriel5]

6 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I get much better speeds on my S10 than both my laptops, including the one with the AX200 in it.  (although I don't have a WiFi 6 AP)

 

I also get better speeds in Linux than Windows 10, although still slower than the S10.

I'm assuming the reason is that the Android drivers are just better optimised.

Nay, ask any developer, Android drivers are built extremely inefficiently.

It could be due to the compatibility with the router (what is the chipset the router is based upon?).

Intel WiFi is better on Linux than on Windows in any case.

 

By the way, I know how to theoretically get a WiFi 6 enabled router (2 x 2x2 MultiMIMO, with BT 5.0) for ~80$.

There are unbranded Mediatek MT7621-based routers without WiFi, but with 2 M.2 slots that you can put Intel AX200s in.

[rzaiser]

9 minutes ago, moriel5 said:

By the way, what are your issues? Dell's audio driver solution unfortunately utilizes Waves MaxxAudio, so I recommend utilizing the unofficial Realtek UAD drivers (the drivers themselves are official, the installer is not), and the monitor perhaps may require proper calibration.

This is a topic for another thread, but to answer it quickly: Sound crackles, even with unofficial drivers and the display is grossly oversaturated on the red colors. "Proper calibration" needs to be done by Dell and not me...at least so that the colors don't burn your eyes. Anything beyond that can be done by the client imo, but the basic stuff should be done by Dell...

[moriel5]

2 minutes ago, rzaiser said:

This is a topic for another thread, but to answer it quickly: Sound crackles, even with unofficial drivers and the display is grossly oversaturated on the red colors. "Proper calibration" needs to be done by Dell and not me...at least so that the colors don't burn your eyes. Anything beyond that can be done by the client imo, but the basic stuff should be done by Dell...

I agree in that case.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Just now, moriel5 said:

Nay, ask any developer, Android drivers are built extremely inefficiently.

It could be due to the compatibility with the router (what is the chipset the router is based upon?).

Intel WiFi is better on Linux than on Windows in any case.

It does seem to get less retries on an iperf3 test, which does rather suggest its just more compatible.

Router has an Atheros QCA4019 running OpenWRT, so its likely not quite as optimal as the stock firmware either as Ath10K is never as optimal as the closed source drivers.

[Alex Atkin UK]

59 minutes ago, rzaiser said:

5x5 thanks for the quick reply.

 

Now that you mention it, last night I had a Razer Mamba 2012 (not sure if this thing is capable of USB 3.0) connected to one of the two USB ports of the laptop. Could this be the issue? If so, this is really stupid in my opinion, as last night I intended to play a game online. If I'm not able to use this machine to game once in a while over WiFi, than it is really completely useless and not worth its price. But that USB 3.0 cause interference only with the Killer 1535 or is this a general problem, affecting all cards?

 

Why I ask I because my old Asus Laptop has better speeds than this one, but yes, indeed it does not have USB 3.0 => does this mean that if any laptop you buy on the market with only USB 3.0 and connect for example a Mouse/Keyboard to it, it cripples your WiFi connection?

 

Kind regards,

Richard 

Neither a mouse or keyboard is likely to use USB 3.0 so shouldn't be an issue.  I also believe this is mostly an issue for dongles that sit near the USB port so can be largely fixed using short USB 3.0 extension cables to move the device away from the port.

[moriel5]

4 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

It does seem to get less retries on an iperf3 test, which does rather suggest its just more compatible.

Router has an Atheros QCA4019 running OpenWRT, so its likely not quite as optimal as the stock firmware either as Ath10K is never as optimal as the closed source drivers.

Possibly, however Qualcomm in general has a very good record, so I wouldn't be so quick to assume that it is not as optimal.

Qualcomm themselves contribute to the drivers (I hadn't posted anything in the mailing lists yet, since Yahoo doesn't have an option to send plain text emails, perhaps I'll be able to do so via K-9 on my phone).

It is possible that it is not as optimal, since ath10k is newer, however it is just as likely that it is optimal (however you are missing on things such as mesh and the like), and Samsung had simply worked together with Qualcomm for better compatibility.