How to Upgrade a Dell XPS 13 to WiFi 6 (802.11ax)

[@jdl3408]

You need 3x3 and wide channels (80 or even 160 MHz) for the really high performance ax, the ax200 chipset is 2x2 while your MBP may be 3x3 depending on the year and model. You also need a pure ax client environment (on a particular radio) to really see the full benefits of ax. If you have an non-ax clients, disconnect them from the access point you’re using for testing.

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah, I'm finding that most of the devices that actually do really well on ax (though I haven't tried them personally) have had their antenna configuration changed to support it better. I'd be _really_ interested in seeing how the WiFi 6 in the new Apple Silicon M1 Macs performs, since Apple seems to devote a lot more time to the wireless testing/certification on their laptops.

[@wesley00042]

I have a 9350 and four years later it's still my favorite laptop of all time.

[@A4orce84]

same here! Any major issues with yours?

[@wesley00042]

@@A4orce84 None at all. Even the battery is still good.

[@sven-0]

I got the 9350 too but i'd rather have a quad core 9360! Also i'd prefer 2k non-touch screen instead of the 3k glossy touch screen

[@A4orce84]

I still have mine! What about you @wesley00042?

[@oliviavalentine5294]

802.11AC= 1 Antenna is 433Mbps Macbooks uses 3 antenna = 433Mbps*3 = 1.3Gbps Windows laptops uses 2 antennas = 433Mbps*2 = 876Mbps 1.3Gbps and 876Mbps are the throughput of both TX/RX, so you gotta half that for expected iperf testing, These are real world, 1.3Gbps/2 = 650Mbps 876/2 = 433Mbps Macbook sometimes reach 900Mbps on wifi, so its within the range of 650Mbps-1.3Gbps due to wifi's half-duplex nature. Now, for Wifi 6, (Wifi 6) 802.11AX= 1 Antenna is 600Mbps Plugging in AX200 intel gives you 2 of it, 600Mbps*2 = 1.2Gbps Both I said up till now are running on 80Mhz. IF your client/server/router/ap supports 160mhz, it will double the throughput from 1.2Gbps to 2.4Gbps. =) TLDR, 802.11AC 80Mhz = 1 antenna = 433Mbps 802.11AC 160Mhz = 1 antenna = 876Mbps > also known as (Wave 2) 802.11AX 80Mhz = 1 antenna = 600Mbps 801.11AX 160Mhz = 1 antenna = 1.2Gbps Macbooks = 3 antenna Windows laptops = 2 antenna Side note, iphones and samsung has only 1 antenna wifi 6. Kinda ironic how many antenna they use for cellular.

[@applemachome]

Great explanation. I have a laptop with the ax200 and I can definitely saturate a gigabit connection from an access point with a 2x2. We finally have actual gigabit (+) wifi!

[@NewAgeDIY]

Hi Jeff, this review was very timely on your part. I’m working on my own wi-fi upgrade on my LettePanda Alpha. I’m need more speed, the built in Wi-Fi is limited.

[@JeffGeerling]

I'd say you have the need... the need for speed!

[@67fabs]

Very curious to see your next video as I was thinking to create a Wifi 6 access point based on the compute module and a Wifi 6 PCI card :)

[@ofekaloush]

It's better to download the compatible driver for the WIFI card you're gonna use before replacing the old one. Otherwise the new card may not be recognized (I just faced this issue and needed to connect to the internet using a cable).

[@mztahhan]

my wifi card failed because of driver update it:s a ax210 i requested a refund what should i do i need a upgrade

[@vinylmonster4907]

will not work on Dell XPS 15 9500 - killer wifi is a chip soddered to board. I Looked and looked and finally found it and it looks nothing like the eaily replaced cards everyone is showing on KZbin.

[@satysin630]

Is a real shame on the newer XPS 13 models the wifi chip is soldered to the board :(

[@gorudonu]

time for thinkpad upgrade then ;)

[@jjjacer]

@@gorudonu just have to reflash the bios with a hack to allow for replacing of the wifi card. most laptops have their built in wifi cards on a whitelist, anything not stock and the laptop wont boot unless you patch it (had to for my older thinkpad E525)

[@gorudonu]

@@jjjacer how would that help if card is soldered? ;)

[@wingedrhinotv]

I guess there's always System76, for the few lucky countries they ship to!

[@jjjacer]

​@@gorudonui was going off the comment time for thinkpad upgrade as if upgrading to a thinkpad (you didnt state brand new with built in wifi 6) would be an easy solution when there is still major hurdles that a lot of people dont want to bother with (hex editing your bios is something even techs are not always fond of doing) but yeah soldered on card is a pretty big killer for upgrading.

[@ninjaz5736]

Ooh I had a similar problem with the exact same model (year) of XPS-13 a while back, no TPM error, it would just keep starting up when I tried to shut it down! I think my solution may have involved nuking windows and going to Manjaro... honestly I've had no end of problems with the Killer WiFi, this looks like a decent improvement and more stable!

[@JeffGeerling]

Ha, maybe I should just nuke Windows too... the only issue is I still want to play Halo 3!

[@ninjaz5736]

Very true... old habits (and games) die hard!

[@nhkhai]

Hi Jeff, can I check with you, what is the wifi socket type for the Dell XPS 13 (9360) (A Key or E Key)? Does it support CNVIO/CNVIO2? Does it support the E-Key only Intel BE200 Wifi 7 card? Will there be any issues on Wifi 7 with using the existing internal antennas?

[@TYKUHN2]

The TPM is the Trusted Platform Module and is used for a wide variety of security and cryptography tasks. One such task is ensuring sensitive data is removed from RAM during shutdown. This *might* be why you're having a shutdown issue, but I wouldn't expect it to. Side note: Trusted Platform Module Module not detected.

[@NisSubieTechA]

I did this mod on 9350 model. The wifi worked fine on Ubuntu and win 10. Bluetooth worked good on Ubuntu too. My only issue was win 10 kept throwing a code 43 error in device manager for bluetooth. New and old drivers made no difference. If I reinstalled the drivers, bluetooth will work fine until a reboot and the error code 43 pops up again. I don't use windows that much so I just gave up trying to fix it.

[@izzieb]

Reading the description - uhoh! Thankfully it wasn't storage or something that might be sensitive to such a thing.

[@JeffGeerling]

Haha, that would've been more exciting!

[@izzieb]

​@@JeffGeerling Regarding the TPM error, it's a power management related issue. Usually it happens on AC power, but have you tried unplugging the battery and leaving it unplugged for a while?

[@JeffGeerling]

@@izzieb Yeah; I left it unplugged for a day, then turned it on and off a few times (it always rebooted immediately to that TPM screen again). I tried disconnecting the battery and CMOS battery, and leaving it for a few hours, then plugging back in. I tried doing that, then plugging in AC power and resetting... nothing has worked. It just always reboots even if I hard power off, and it always gets stuck on that TPM screen until I click continue. It was fine until some BIOS update a year or so ago.

[@izzieb]

@@JeffGeerling Ah, bummer - though I expected that you'd have tried it. Sounds like a bug in the BIOS - someone at Dell didn't do enough testing.

[@JeffGeerling]

@@izzieb Yeah and the fact that I see sooo many posts around the net about it means it's a pretty widespread problem :(

[@thegittubaba]

Ah nice :3 you're lucky your laptop's bios doesn't have whitelist for components. I had a lenovo laptop many years back, it had a whitelist and won't start if "unofficial" components were installed. I tried to mess with the bios chip with a eprom programmer, ended up bricking it :P

[@Crux161]

A lot of Lenovo laptops do that... fortunately there’s usually a fairly simple fix - even if you brick it. Most only require the eeprom programmer if you’ve already messed up or it’s I the x220 era.

[@noble_lime]

Well technically the laptop ist power on after shutting down and closing lid but when you lift the lid the laptop turns on so disable open lid to power on option in bios. Also you didn't put drivers and used crappy windows drivers. I have upgraded to wifi 6 router and replaced wifi 5 card in laptop to wifi 6 and it works like a charm

[@alerey4363]

Lucky you the replacement wifi card fits physically in the same spot as the old one and that your Dell bios hasnt it blacklisted; I built a Hackintosh on a Lenovo U410 5 years ago; when I tried to use the built-in intel wifi it was impossible, no drivers under hackintosh; then I got a used iMac wi-fi original card but it was 1cm longer than factory's, so I ended up dremel-ing the bottom case to allow for the difference (with higher rubber feet too); and then went into a nightmare finding,, downloading and flashing a Lenovo hacked bios without a hardware blacklist; all in all, it turned out to be a great hackintosh build for an i5 with 16gb and wifi under macos sierra in my trusty Lenovo

[@fyremoon]

Try the SuperIO trick with the TPM to see if it fixes the problem. Unplug the power cord and the battery and hold the power button down on the keyboard for a few minutes and then reconnect the battery and turn on without the power cord connected.

[@devdylan6152]

um, I worked for Dell pro support up until a few months ago, the reason your laptop keeps turning of and on again is actually more than likely 1 of 2 things. on the dell drivers page make sure you go to the chipsets or just browse all of the drivers for a "virtual button"(may include the word controller) from intel, some of the xps 13 have a firmware for the button assembly that is controlled by a intel chip because they included "human detection" featured so if you go to turn it off but the human presence sensor on it is detecting your presence if kicks it back on..... the other is a need to actually do a bios rollback. Honestly the BIOS on dell systems tend to be really.... less than ideal.... but thats just my opinion as someone who had to work with them all the time.

[@mshine5]

I google the TPM error (Trusted Platform Module) and the first solution was to fully power down and remove the battery power for approx 30 seconds. Then after that it will cold boot and find the module again.

[@JeffGeerling]

I've tried that (almond with also removing the CMOS battery!), and it still didn't help :(

[@madsfrederiktoft5808]

I don't own either a Dell or Mac, but got a gigabit fiber into my house. The desktop which runs an Ax 200 it gets a 600/500 via WiFi. My Asus laptop which got its WiFi replaced from 9650 to Ax 201 it gets 600/600. I have a WiFi 5 router.

[@hbcbz]

will the AX210NGW WiFi Card, Wi-Fi 6E 11AX Wireless Module Expand to 6GHz MU-MIMO Tri-Band Bluetooth 5.3 Internal also work that the difrance I click your link but out of stock you list the AX200HGW and the on in stock is AX210NGW is this just answer model? FYI Great Video

[@HamzaQayyum]

7:26 I have the exact same issue! Appeared after the recent BIOS update, and, for the life of me, I cannot fix it. Tried disconnecting the main battery and reconnecting, disconnecting the CMOS battery and reconnecting. No luck either way. I eventually had to downgrade the BIOS as that white screen on every boot was driving me crazy.

[@JeffGeerling]

Heh, I might try to downgrade the BIOS at some point. Right now I only reboot every week or two, so it's not a _huge_ annoyance. It's most annoying when I reboot, but walk away, and the next morning I see it's been powered up all night on that dumb TPM error screen!

[@jankkhvej]

Check if you have TPM module and it's connected firmly. It may come loose when you mess with internals :)

[@DaPanda19]

Secret raspberry pi video, nice lol

[@johngermain5146]

I have that same set of Radio Shack screwdrivers. I also have that E-Keyed wifi 6 m.2 module (not pcie) with it's solid heat sink that plugs directly into my EVGA X2999 motherboard. Needs a wifi 6 router though for the thing to have improved performance.

[@JeffGeerling]

Heh... just upgraded my router a couple nights ago after realizing I now have two WiFi 6 computers in the house! And yeah, those screwdrivers are tanks. Used them forever, only broke the smallest flat head driver one time when I was using it to pry something that wouldn't budge.

[@gilbertusac]

The problem with shutting down the BIOS exists since the 2015 model. Back then, I concluded is an engineering problem either on the Dell motherboard or by the c-states on the Intell CPU. When the 2017 model came out, I was surprised to see that the issue was still there. Not sure which model you have, but I never found a fix. BIOS updates never worked for me either.

[@zaneslacker8522]

Pretty cool.

[@michiel.niesen]

Try disconnecting the battery. Then press the on and off button. And then reconnect your battery. And boot your laptop. I had the same with my dell optiplex 7040 and after unplugging and re-plugging the power cable it could boot without a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) error.

[@beauregardslim1914]

I never wear a static strap. Except when handling radio modules. .

[@juanete69]

Hello. I would also like to upgrade my XPS 9560 USB and thunderbolt ports. What brand and model part should I buy? Will the computer recogize it automatically?

[@dorinxtg]

Jeff, small question: How did you do the overhead shot? did you use a C stand?

[@JeffGeerling]

I have a desk-clamp-mount arm. It was like $40 on Amazon, I think... though I don't remember the model. It's not quite as stable as I'd like but it works out okay as long as I don't bump the desk!

[@chinomalon]

Hi Jeff I have a Dell XPS 13 9370... will I be able to do the upgrade? I have read the wifi card in my model is solded and cannot be removed

[@daniieg]

I maybe have missed something, but you seem to be using 802.11ac instead of 802.11ax.

[@juanete69]

What about the sensitivity of the new wireless card? Any other faster model?

[@Manawyrm]

I'm sorry, but the AX Raspberry Pi idea won't work (yet), unfortunately. The EDUP adapter uses an Intel AX200 (one of the very few AX PCIe modules available on the market right now). These modules do not support "IR" mode or initiate radiation mode, which is required for access point operation. With a bit of firmware hacking, I was able to run these modules as an AC access point, but got very unstable connections and only ~400 MBit/s of throughput. As far as I'm aware, there's no good solution for AX APs yet, the ath11k and MediaTek drivers both are very alpha still and the modules are pretty much unavailable. I love WiFi 6, but it's still a bit too early.

[@nathanadhitya]

Hm, does it have to actually be an AP? What about Wi-Fi Direct or other peer-to-peer connections instead?

[@Manawyrm]

@@nathanadhitya The IBSS "adhoc" mode could work better, but that's not compatible with any traditional devices like phones or Windows laptops (for internet connections at least)

[@nathanadhitya]

@@Manawyrm oh, I thought Ad-Hoc can also be used to share the internet (even on windows.)? Nonetheless, his intent was to make a very fast wireless NAS. I suppose samba works with Ad-Hoc networks, so I guess his intent can be achieved ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@jonburgmann6246]

Double click adaptor card in device manager /advanced to select band antenna power & thruput

[@DigitalIP]

Well with a little search Have you tried shutting down the laptop and unplugging the AC cord for a few moments? (Possibly disconnecting the battery as well)? Seems to have fixed some peoples issue with that error code For others it meant replacing the board to resolve it. - High internet speeds can be CPU limited, you can try increasing the jumbo packet size. With that said, WIFI6 isnt anything special imo, it would really only be useful with a lot of WIFI devices connected to the router that actually use the AX band. My FIOS Router and Extender are WIFI6 Capable and the only real difference between the previous router and extender is the WIFI range is a bit better than before.

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah I know on the Pi itself, irq interrupts cause the limits until you use jumbo frames. I don't think the intel processor in the 9360 is the limiting factor in this case, but I should probably also test with a gig e adapter too.

[@DigitalIP]

Figured u already knew all that but meh. :)

[@dreamsviewer]

Dell doesn’t recognize camera after installing the wise tiger. Not sure of security issues here something is blocking tiger from functioning and not necessarily a bad thing given it doesn’t help much at all. So why is wise tiger in the market

[@jannoj9268]

Instead of going into system information you could have just gone into device manager

[@JeffGeerling]

True, true... and that's even how it was back in Windows XP days when I used to do this stuff more frequently!

[@LEO-xo9cz]

Hi I have a 6th gen i5 in my Dell optiplex 7040. Could I install the AX200 card? Somone said the AX200 is only compatible with gen10?

[@marcindziadowiec5983]

I have the same issue with my lenovo, i'm pretty sure that it's more issue of win10 than anything else. After they added shutting down which hibernate device instead of shutting it of the problems began, when i try to hibernate or shut down it is going buck up immadiently, but if you go to the cmd and do "shutdown -s -t 0" it is always shutting down correctly. I had also issue with desktop because of this stupid windows behaviour, in which "shutting down" (aka hibernation ...) windows 10 caused malfunction of my aim sc808 (sound card) and i needed to use cmd command to shut it down correctly.

[@Mrschinella]

You ve inverted the wire(aux and main) when switching the wifi card, plus you are running the generic driver from Windows, probably the latest from intel are a little faster and more stable. P. S. You can use intel dsa to get always the latest considering that the ax is pretty new.

[@jankkhvej]

Nope, antennas are okay, look closer to colour markings on old card.

[@Mrschinella]

@@jankkhvejthe black and white triangle place are inverted between the two card, so you have to switch the cable.

[@jankkhvej]

@@Mrschinella Read text markings on cards and compare :-)

[@Mrschinella]

@@jankkhvej you are right i didn't noticed that the main is white on the old card, so when upgrading it's important to reinstall main with main and aux with aux, ignoring the color scheme(that i wrongly supposed was standard)

[@KuntalGhosh]

Go to bios and turn off tpm (trusted platform module) & if the option is not there then u can try modifying the bios with ami bios editor and flash it with a 2$ AliExpress bios programmer! .. & this ax200 is available for like 12$ on AliExpress and i have one for more than a year now & its really good card , even tho i only use it for bluetooth 😂 . & Make sure u have that power on when lid open is turned off from bios.. (Its really annoying thing in my lenevo thankfully it can be turned off through bios)

[@wafdsjhnszfgdgjesawetr]

does it has 5ghz channels unlock in ap mode? i've tried two other intel m2 wifi adapters and both had all 5ghz channels blocked no matter what country i choose

[@TNTBOOM56]

I have a 9370, do you think that I could do the same with successful results?

[@JeffGeerling]

Yes, you should be able to do the same upgrade without issue.

[@andyhughes8051]

How does it work with linux? I'm interested in upgrading to the same chip but I'm running linux mint exclusively on my XPS.

[@JeffGeerling]

The AX200 seems to work okay with Linux, and is one of the better-supported cards. For my Raspberry Pi I had to patch the driver though-not sure on other computers. pipci.jeffgeerling.com/cards_network/edup-intel-ax200-wifi-6.html

[@SopanKotbagi]

shut off the laptop by holding the power button for long and also unplug the ac adapter you could also just unplug the battery directly then let it sit like that for 30 sec and connect the battery back if disconnected and turn on the laptop, the tpm error should be gone.

[@Aaronage1]

Are you tempted by M1 Macs? Strongest Arm ever 💪😁

[@JeffGeerling]

Very tempted, mostly for the fact they seem to run Final Cut Pro about 1000x better than even my i9 laptop!

[@anamericanman]

I bought a 9360 in 2018 and the Bluetooth has literally never worked, not once.

[@Ender_Wiggin]

Ha yes! Did I get to you will you try it on the raspberry pi PCIe adapter ?

[@Ender_Wiggin]

Amazing I look forward to the video !

[@reservoirchannel5576]

and antennas?

[@eseseis7251]

no skip. dont

[@arnovdmeer]

upgrade intel driver to at least 21.40.02

[@GrigLarson]

Wyse Tiger was a terrible flavor for a potato chip, IMHO. When I see these laptop repairs (and having done my own for random Dells over the years), I think about how many of these are done an hour in the factories, and that some factory worker with a hairnet can assemble and disassemble laptops with a speed I could only imagine. I am also fearing an invisible audience of those factory workers are jeering me from this imaginary audience. "BOO! You are so SLOW, Grig! No, no, the LEFT screw FIRST, then the right... gaaaaah! This guy, amirite?"

[@AshLordCurry]

Maan I need that for my school laptop, everything is slow in those.

[@jerylcook6698]

9:47 its still connected to 5g, and never connected to 6g....so the wife detected but did not connect to wifi6.....it didnt work....

[@JeffGeerling]

WiFi 6 only works on 2.4 and 5 GHz channels; WiFi 6E works on 6 GHz (in addition to the other two).

[@jerylcook6698]

is wifi6 working on the 6ghz with your xps 13 after this install?

[@vaibhav2831]

First comment

[@juliomarcelogutierrezflore2899]

second comment

[@TmanaokLine]

Ew Windows, run Linux on that XPS mate! Also, get yourself an ifixit kit!