Dell Inspiron 3471 Wireless Card Upgrade

this is the spec of 3471 wireless card which is single band.  it is limited to 150 Mbps.  

• The Wi-Fi module is 16mm wide and 30mm long, so it will be labeled as 1630

you can upgrade wireless card to a dual band higher speed M.2 WLAN such as DP/N 8XG1T.

Dell Intel Wireless-AC 8260 Dual Band WLAN WiFi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.2 M.2 Card - 8XG1T

Max Speed. 867 Mbps

• The Wi-Fi module is 22mm wide and 30mm long, so it will be labeled as 2230

So the 22mm wide card will fit in the slot that currently holds a 16 mm wide card? Also, where do I obtain the 2nd antenna wire to attach to the 8260 card?

M.2 module includes an edge connector on one side and a semicircular mounting hole at the center of the opposite edge. The M.2 standard allows card widths of 12, 16, 22 and 30 mm.  M.2 socket is standard 22mm wide.  note the 16 mm card still has the mounting hole at the center of 22 mm socket width, therefore the hole is off-center of 16 mm.

this photo shows you a 1630 card installed in 22mm slot (some of the 22mm socket pins are not occupied), and shows two antenna wires (white and black)

are you missing one antenna wire in your 3471?  look inside case to see if one wire is inadvertently disconnected from the card and hanging in the air.  the antenna (x2) is fastened to the front panel of case behind plastic bezel. 

Appreciate the detailed responses. Thanks!

pictures of the two cards.

you are welcome.  There are different keys to M.2 WLAN card and socket.  The 3471 motherboard WLAN M.2 socket has E-key, which can fit either E-key or A+E key wireless card, but not A-key.  inspiron 3471 M.2 WLAN

WLAN upgrade options: Intel AX201 for Inspiron 3891 (E-key)

DP/N XVV0P Genuine Intel Ax201ngw Network Card 5.0 2.4ghz Bluetooth Dual Band Wi-fi

Inspiron 3891.

or AC9260 for Vostro 3681 (A+E key)

Intel Wireless-AC 9260 WLAN WiFi 802.11ac Dual Band / Bluetooth 5.0 M.2 Card - 1RKV5