Dell Inspiron 5759 - Slow WiFi with Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160

Hello All,

The maximum speed I can get when connected to the WiFi at my property is circa 100MBPS when I am paying for up to 500MBPS. It is extremely frustrating as I need to use the laptop for working online.

My Huawei P20 Pro android phone is achieving circa 420MBPS.

My understanding from online research is that the top achievable speed with the hardware in the laptop (i.e. Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160) is 433MBPS. If I could achieve close to this figure that would be fantastic.

I have tried all sorts including connecting only by 5GHz, changing various settings within the settings of the network adapter itself by selecting Properties > Configure > Advanced. However, no matter what I do it seems that 100MBPS is the maximum achievable speed.

Is there something I missing? Are there recommended settings for getting the best from this card / hardware in this laptop?

I have ran diagnostics on the laptop's hardware and everything seems to be working properly. Also, it seems that the drivers are up to date when I check the status of these.

I live alone and having fast internet speeds for my laptop is my main priority.

I am considering changing the hardware but would rather not risk this if it is possible. Getting circa 400MBPS would suffice for me. Also, I am unsure if the issue with slow WiFi speeds is the fault of the network card or something else meaning that upgrading the WiFi card may not lead to an improvement in performance.

If changing the card then what cards can I get that would fit the laptop and give 1GBPS to help future proof the laptop.

I would connect via ethernet but the best achievable speed is only 90MBPS as the Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller hardware is limited to 100MBPS. Also, I understand this particular hardware is soldered to the mother board making it difficult / risky / costly to upgrade.

Thank you in advance for your help and advice.