Qualcomm Wireless Adapter Replacement

Gilligan71 · 22 Feb 2021

I have a Dell Inspiron 3580. It has the Qualcomm QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Adapter. HardwareID: PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0042&SUBSYS_18101028&REV_31. Running Win10 Pro 64-bit, Version 20H2, Build 19042.804

Is there somewhere, anywhere....that tells you compatible hardware for laptops? Didn't know if there is a "place" or is it just searching individual mfg's...who even online don't really have compatibility tools. I want something better than Qualcomm. Seems like nothing but trouble and reviews confirm others issues. If anyone has any recommendations/thoughts...I would appreciate it. Thanks!!

bro67 · 22 Feb 2021

Besides Qualcomm, Broadcom is the only other company with Qualcomm being the biggest chipmaker for communication devices.

Gilligan71 · 22 Feb 2021

bro67 said:

Besides Qualcomm, Broadcom is the only other company with Qualcomm being the biggest chipmaker for communication devices.

I guess my question is: Is there better replacements for what I have. I have read about the Intel-AC 9560 or something else. I cannot find a website to find a true uprade to what I have. Again, I have:

Name [00000002] Qualcomm QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Adapter
Adapter Type Ethernet 802.3
Product Type Qualcomm QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Adapter
Installed Yes
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0042&SUBSYS_18101028&REV_31\4&28E9D360&0&00E9

Try3 · 22 Feb 2021

Gilligan,

Gilligan71 said:

I guess my question is: Is there better replacements for what I have.

1 You'll only know the answer to that by replacing it then deciding if it's better or not. You can be guided by the experiences of other users but you will never know for sure in advance. You don't mention what's wrong with your current WiFi adapter. Perhaps there is some guidance about it in the Dell forums

2 When I once had poor WiFi reception levels with a Dell laptop, it turned out to be caused by the driver Dell had installed at purchase & the bundled 'WiFi manager' that Dell had also installed. When I removed them both & reverted the driver to the [Windows 7] default driver, my reception rose to very good levels and I never had a problem again. I eventually replaced this adapter six years later because everything else on my network was 802.11ac so I wanted the same in this laptop.

3 You need to know what your [physical] connection looks like, whether it is "dual-band", how many aerial connectors it has & whether it is just WiFi or combined WiFi-Bluetooth.
- You could open up the computer, slide the adapter out and have a look at the connections [and photograph the card for reference]
- You could search for its specs on the Qualcomm website.
- You could search for it in, for example, Amazon in the hope that a product page shows you the connection itself & provides the other specs.

4 Then you'll be able to search for a replacement that will fit your computer.
- You should search the Dell forums for comments about replacements .
- You could search online for Dell Inspiron 3580 replacement WiFi adapter
- You could search Amazon then check the results against the specs you've identified. Always check the connectors in the product photos.
- When I did this, I ended up with a shortlist and one of the Amazon reviews specifically mentioned having fitted it to my laptop type so that was reassuring.

5 You should also be wary about anything that says "5GHz" without any finer qualification. 5.0GHz and 5.8GHz are both "5GHz" but not all "5GHz" adapters can detect 5.8GHz signals. I waxed lyrical about this topic in my ditty about WiFi 802.11ac channels - TenForums

6 New terms have been coming in for WiFi. You'll see "WiFi 5" [= 802.11ac] and the new generation "WiFi 6" [= 802.11ax].
What Is Wi-Fi 6 New Wi-Fi Names Explained - PCMag UK

Denis