Wireless Driver for old Dell PC

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Hello.

I have a Dell computer (Vostro 260) – 10 years old. I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro x64 when the Windows 7 support was due to run out.  The computer works fine, no issues. Except for the missing wireless driver affecting the  internet connection.

I am not a high internet user so I have been using the USB modem/dongle and that has been working well, until recently. Just plug-and-connect. I don’t know whether some Windows update has affected the speed but it suddenly changed from good enough for my usage to really slow/dropping out.

I bought a new WiFi modem but didn’t realise that I don’t have a wireless network adapter on my computer. Dell has one for Win 7 but not if you have upgraded to Win 10. I have checked several sites. The only option is downloading from the free Driver Update sites which I do not think are trustworthy.

I understand that the driver is: Dell Wireless 1502 802.11b/g/n. I can’t find the wireless driver for my computer at Dell or Microsoft sites.  The Microsoft update catalog has a driver but it is in CAB format and trying to install results in error messages. I came across suggestions to this QualComm site for driver downloads, but it seems to be down and out for the past few months.

I’ve checked out the USB network adapters but the reviews are not positive.

Has anyone faced a similar problem of no wireless driver in the Win7 to Win10 upgrade? How did you resolve it?

Is there a wireless driver for my computer? If yes, where can I download it?

If not, is there any other solution?

Would appreciate any suggestions or solutions. Thanks.

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chrys wrote:

I understand that the driver is: Dell Wireless 1502 802.11b/g/n.

Based on the information provided, try Qualcomm Atheros elsewhere 😉

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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chrys

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The Qualcomm Atheros site seems to have the Dell driver. However, it has been marked “Temporarily Out of Order” for several months. It seems like a safe site to download drivers but no use to me at this stage.

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chrys wrote:

It seems like a safe site to download drivers but no use to me at this stage.

your choice. I have just downloaded the driver, scanned it as well as checked files within, all good. link now removed as it is ‘no use to you at this stage’
good luck!

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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I spent over a month downloading various drivers, trying to install/uninstall/reinstall them, sort out error messages and so on. This included several attempts with Atheros drivers, too. In the process, my system crashed with the BOOTMGR IS MISSING message. Thankfully, after 3 days, I was able to get it back up and running.

I decided to be wary of any further tests, so I came here in the hope of finding solutions tested by others.

Had I known that you had downloaded and tested the driver, and your system had no issues, that would have been helpful. When I said that it’s no use to me at this stage, I did not mean to imply that your link was no use to me. I have bookmarked this topic and mean to go through testing solutions, carefully, avoiding further crashes.

Thank you for offering a solution and testing the driver.

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Initial release for Windows 10 in 2015:

Dell Wireless 1502 802.11 b/g/n Driver

Hope this helps…

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chrys

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When I contacted Dell Support regarding the driver, I was told that they did not have a driver for my computer in Win 10.

When I click on the driver link from the Dell site, it shows up as a “Challenge Page” with a message We are processing your request but nothing happens. I am getting that same page after clicking on your link.

It seems as if Dell is trying to work out the specs on my computer and searching for a driver but cannot find a match.

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I clicked the Continue button and got the driver download page.
The download button on that page has this link: https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER03430899M/1/Alienware-X51_Network_Driver_VNP32_WN32_10.0.0.67_A00.EXE

cheers, Paul

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chrys

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I don’t know whether my PC connection keeps dropping and that made accessing the Dell link a problem. I would keep clicking the Continue button, and it would continue “processing”.

Thanks for pasting the link here for my benefit. I have copied it and will download it. Will also have to research whether my Dell Vostro and the Alienware belong to the same family.

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The Dell Vostro 260 is a mini tower PC and, in addition to the wireless PCI-e network card you’re currently using, has a “built-in” Gigabit ethernet network connection.

If the wireless card has started giving you problems with slow/dropped connections (a pretty common problem with older Dell desktop/laptop PCs after upgrading to Win10), I’d suggest you connect it directly to your router using an ethernet cable.

Not only should that solve your wireless problems, it’d provide a much faster connection that the wireless card (Gigabit ethernet runs at a max of 1000 Mbps where your 802.11 b/g/n wireless card maxes out at 150 Mbps.)

Another option would be to buy a newer model PCI-e wireless card to replace the OEM Dell Dw1502 that came with your PC.

I replaced the OEM Dell wireless 1395 802.11 b/g wireless card that came in my Dell D830 laptop with an Intel 4965AGN 802.11 a/b/g/n that improved my WiFi connection speed to my Linksys WRT1200AC router from 50 Mbps 2.4 GHz to 500 Mbps 5 GHz.

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chrys

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What you are saying makes sense. I have been wondering what happened to suddenly cause the problem and thought it must be with my ISP.

May I admit that though I understand what you have written, I am trying to work out what I need to do.  If it involves hardware, I’m a bit lost. My skills are limited. 🙂

Is there a website that will help me to work out how I go about connecting the card directly to the router using an ethernet cable?

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The ethernet port is a separate connector on the rear of your PC right below where the power cord plugs in.

In the above image, it’s the port outlined in white just to the right of the two USB ports.

Simple plug one end of an ethernet cable (your new WiFi router most likely included one) into that port on the PC and the other end into one of the ethernet ports on the rear of your WiFi router.

The ethernet ports on most routers are typically separated from the incoming internet port like the below image of the rear of my Linksys WRT1200AC WiFi router.

The 4 ports on the left (underlined in blue) are ethernet connections for “in-house” components while the port to the right of those (underlined in yellow) is for the “incoming” internet connection from your ISP (in my case, my goggle fiber modem.)

The manual for your specific WiFi router should show which ports are which with diagrams on how to connect everything.

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chrys

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I now understand how to connect my PC to modem with an ethernet cable, with the help of your images and explanation. Thanks for the time and effort.

I live in Australia and my Internet Service Provider recommended I get the Alcatel Link Zone Modem.

This is a standalone wireless device. There is no WiFi router. It has one USB cable to charge the device and the device has one jack for the cable. It is not able to provide an internet connection to my PC because there is no wireless driver.

Seems to me that I have two options:

1/  I need to find a wireless driver to get my Alcatel modem to work,
or
2/ I need to buy a new modem like your LinkSys which will have an ethernet cable.

Would this be right?

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Didn’t realize you were using a WiFi Hotspot for your internet connection, but that really shouldn’t matter as long as you can get a replacement cellular modem from your ISP that includes at least one ethernet port and it’s located close enough to your PC to allow a direct connection using a cable.

Did a quick check on the Optus site and they do have a 4G wireless Huawei e5186 modem that includes ethernet ports (the 4 yellow ones on the right rear.)

Since which Optus modem you can use is tied to the specific service plan you’re using, I’d suggest you contact them to see if they can provide you with a different modem for your service plan that includes an ethernet port.

BTW, when your connection is slow/dropping, take a look at the signal strength indicator on top of your modem.

If it’s solid orange or keeps quickly changing from green to orange, that indicates a weak cell signal and could be your problem. If so, try relocating the modem to a spot where it’s always green.

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chrys

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alejr,

Yes, I am currently using a hotspot (USB modem/dongle) for my internet connection. Plug and connect. No need for drivers and cables. It worked very well for my internet needs ….. until two months ago. Then, I was advised to get the Alcatel Link Zone hotspot and I thought it would be another quick and easy fix. Alas, not!

The Huawei e5186 modem is not in my Service Plan.

I have been looking for solutions, but my current internet speed via the USB is so slow. I tried to download a driver yesterday and it took ages, then disappeared with the error message: unable to complete download. The problem with the drivers, as I have been reading, is because Microsoft did not work this out properly with  driver manufacturers like Realtek, Atheros and others.

A few questions if you do have the time to answer:

1/ Your Dell D830 laptop must be as old as my Vostro? When you upgraded to Win 10, did you have a problem finding a wireless driver or did the system automatically install one?

2/ How do you find a newer model PCI-e wireless card  that is compatible with your device to replace the old one?  Intel is recommended as the best but how do I pick the right one, if I decide to go down that option.

3/ From my research, the driver for my PC is: Dell Wireless 1502 802.11b/g/n

Rick Corbett in his reply above (and Paul T’s link) are for the AlienwareX51. My PC is Dell Vostro 260.

Though the name is the same, can both have the same driver?
I tried a number of installs of other wireless drivers that I thought may be right, but had too many error messages and was unsuccessful.

I am comparing the specs of the Vostro vs Alienware.

Alienware includes a Wireless Protocol which is not in the Vostro. Also it has Win 8 as OS, while Vostro was Win7.

 

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1/ Your Dell D830 laptop must be as old as my Vostro? When you upgraded to Win 10, did you have a problem finding a wireless driver or did the system automatically install one?

When I upgrade from Win7 to Win10 it did automatically install a driver for my OEM WiFi card but it was much slower than it had been using Win7 which is why I swapped out the OEM WiFi card for the Intel 4965AGN and used Intel’s PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software to install the driver.

2/ How do you find a newer model PCI-e wireless card  that is compatible with your device to replace the old one?  Intel is recommended as the best but how do I pick the right one, if I decide to go down that option.

In my case, when I Googled replacement WiFi cards for my D830, the Intel card came up as the preferred choice for every other D830 owner.

Your Vostro uses a PCI adapter with a “half-height” PCI-e WiFi card plugged into it.

The PCI-e WiFi card (circled in red) is the same DW1502 card what gets used in a lot of older Dell laptops to provide WiFi connectivity.

You could replace just the PCI-e WiFi card with another make/model (and no, the Intel 4965AGN I used won’t work for you because it’s a “full-height” PCI-e card and you need a “half-height” one), but it’d probably be easier to just replace the whole PCI WiFi card with a newer one instead of hunting for a replacement “half-height” PCI-e card that would work with your particular Dell PCI adapter.

Just about any make and model of PCI WiFi card should work for you since it plugs into your PC’s PCI bus and will come with the appropriate S/W and driver.

3/ From my research, the driver for my PC is: Dell Wireless 1502 802.11b/g/n

Rick Corbett in his reply above (and Paul T’s link) are for the AlienwareX51. My PC is Dell Vostro 260.

Though the name is the same, can both have the same driver?

It’s entirely possibly for multiple PCs from different manufacturers to use the exact same WiFi card and driver.

The trick to updating a driver on your own PC is finding one provided by the whoever made your particular PC and/or WiFi card. In this case, the link PaulT provided is for the Win10 version of the same Dell Wireless 1502 802.11b/g/n driver (DW1502) your Vostro uses so it should work just fine to update your Win7 driver.

BTW, if for some reason the new driver doesn’t work, you can always “roll it back” to the one you’re currently using.

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chrys

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Ok, did some checking and found a lot of Alienware x51 users have upgraded their DW1502 WiFi cards with an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 (AC 7260HMW) a “half-height” PCI-e WiFi card + blue tooth.

It supports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual band 2.4 & 5 Ghz WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0 and, although the Bluetooth part doesn’t work on the X51 R1 and probably won’t work on your Vostro, the WiFi part should work just fine in place of your DW1502.

One catch if you go this route is you need to make sure it’s an AC 7260 and not the N 7260 (which only supports 802.11 n) and it needs to be the HMW version that uses a PCI-e slot and not the NGW version which uses a M.2/NGFF slot.

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chrys

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alejr

Thank you.

You have provided me with plenty of information, answers to my questions, and done research on my behalf. I am saving all this information and will go through it, slowly. Plenty of exciting experiments and installations await me. 🤔

Hopefully, something will work out. I do not need a high speed internet connection, at this stage. If it moves up to a respectable speed rather than the snail-crawling that has been taking place, it will be good enough for me.

It would have taken me ages to find the information you have summarised for me, in context to what I need for my specific Dell PC. Appreciate all the time and effort you have put in to explain the issues. Thank you, alejr.

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? says:

been using the Intel ac7260 for years with win xp then win7 and lots of linux and it does the job at 866Mb/s with no drops. i recommed this card…

lspci | grep -i intel
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
05:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 (rev 6b)

sudo lshw -C network | grep -B 1 -A 12 ‘Wireless interface’
[sudo] password for ubuntu:
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: Wireless 7260
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:05:00.0
logical name: wlp5s0
version: 6b
serial: 80:19:34:40:81:70
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.15.0-147-generic firmware=17.948900127.0 ip=192.168.1.232 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
resources: irq:28 memory:f0300000-f0301fff
and the bluetoof works everytime, too

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chrys

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Thanks to others who stopped by here to contribute answers to my questions:
Microfix, Rick Corbett, Paul T, and anonymous Guest.

Thanks to  AskWoody for allowing me to post my queries on this forum.

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