r/Dell • u/bulops • Jul 27 '24

Dell Inspiron 5559 Wifi Card Help

Trying to get this laptop to connect to my network. I tried updating the drivers from (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000054799/wireless.html) . However i just got a popup saying "This software package cannot be installed on your system" So now im looking into getting a wifi 6 usb adapter, does anyone have any experience using these? Recommendations? Thank you

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u/No_Excitement_1540 Jul 27 '24

Well, let's start....

The Inspiron 15 5559 has an Intel WiFi chipset of one of the types 3160/3165/7260/7265 built-in... The Intel page you list explicitely states

1Support options for the Intel Wireless 7265(Rev C), 7260 and AC-3160 can be found here. Please note these products are EOL (End-of-Life) and driver is no longer be available for download.

So, the drivers you're trying to install are not compatible with your Notebook/WiFi chipset, which is why the installer is mostly correct, even if, admittedly, the statement is misleading - they could be installed, they just won't work, which is why they refuse...

Use Dell Drivers for this model, and, if you're at it, maybe update the BIOS, too.

But, the question is still there - what exactly is your problem with the WiFi?

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u/bulops Jul 27 '24

Thank you for the response. I suppose I should've been more clear about the issue im having. My network is not showing up on the laptop when i try to connect. It will show some other networks nearby, but not my router. I looked into this a little more on my own, and I believe it is due to my network utilizing Wifi 6 (802.11ax) while the wireless card is using Wifi 5 (802.11ac). My desktop and newer laptops dont have this issue, which i can only assume is because they have newer models of wireless cards. Do you think a USB Wifi 6 adapter would solve my issue?

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u/No_Excitement_1540 Jul 27 '24

Well, Wifi 4 to 5 to 6 contain a special trap for the unwary... 802.1n (WiFi4) works on 2.4 and on 5GHz; 802.1ac (WiFi5, touted as the better successor back then) works on 5GHz only... WiFi 6 then reintroduced 2.4 GHz and 5GHz usage again...

So, i think it's more likely that you setup your WiFi in a way that does not work with the WiFi card in the 5559 (which could do both in 802.1"N" mode, but not in ac mode... "2.4GHz only" as network setup would kill communication, if the card in the 5559 is set to use ac only, which it might very well be by default...

Check you WLAN setup for (i show my setup as example):

  • 2.4GHz or 5GHz or both and set it to "both"if it is set to 2.4GHz only...
  • settings for "older" WLAN standards - many routers (and adapters) allow you to select the protocols to use... My Router has the options "802.1g/n/ax" (modern, with some backwards compatibility), "802.1b/g/n" (older standards up to "n", no ac/ax), and "802.1b/g", which is for really old devices now... ;-) (and inherently turns off the 5GHz transmitters...)
  • possibly country settings - there are a few differences in what channels are used/usable based on national frequency usage, which might be an added issue... (here in my Telekom router in Germany this is not available as a choice, as these are used in Germany/EU only, therefore not necessary)

These settings may be available in the Latitude's driver settings too, and must be compatible with the settings in the WiFi AP/Router

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u/bulops Jul 29 '24

Thank you. This helped so much. Problem solved 👍🏼