How to choose and replace a Wi-Fi module in the Dell Inspirion 5748 laptop (for a two-band 2.4 GHZ and 5 GHZ)?

Dell Inspirion 5748 (P26E) laptop.

It has a Wi-FI module Qualcom Atheros Communications Inc. 1705 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz) (Photo attached).

I want to change to dual-band or 5 gigahertz. (I assume to order on Aliexpress).

Please advise, please, what parameters to observe when choosing a module? (name, numbers, letters, indices, etc.).

Help me not to get into a misunderstanding.

Answer

Good day. Vyacheslav, since I myself have never personally changed the Wi-Fi module on a Dell Inspirion 5748 laptop, I can’t be 100% sure of the recommendations below. You have to realize that the adapter you bought may not work in your laptop for many different reasons. I have nothing to do with that 🙂 🙂

Your Dell Inspirion laptop currently has a regular Qualcomm Atheros QCWB335 Wi-Fi module installed. It plugs into the Mini PCI-e port in the laptop. There are many such Wi-Fi modules that will physically fit in place of the Qualcomm Atheros QCWB335. Including dual-band, with support for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. That is, you can find and order a lot of such modules on the same Aliexpress. You can easily install them in your Dell Inspirion 5748, but whether they will be accepted by the laptop, whether it will work – it is very difficult to answer. If Dell doesn’t have any hardware whitelisting (where the laptop only works with certain modules), everything will work.

Even the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 (3160HMW) Wi-Fi module that I installed in my ASUS laptop will work with your Dell Inspirion. But whether it will work, I don’t know. I think it will work, but as I wrote at the beginning of the article – I haven’t tested it.

I bought my Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 on Aliexpress. You can look at other models. You can search for “Dual Band Wi-Fi Mini PCI-e”, or “Dual Band Wi-Fi Mini PCI-e Dell”.

Look at the specifications and visually.

If in extreme cases, the module you bought will not work in your Dell laptop, you can google about flashing the BIOS. Unless, of course, the problem will not be in the wireless module itself. Stay tuned in the comments.