Broadcom 4352 AC card, low wireless signal.

theveterans said:

@ Almighty

Mini-PCIe interface is getting obsolete so you won't find any good replacement other than Broadcom BCM4352. However, there's another half-size mini-pcie form from Realtek called Realtek RTL8812AE: Realtek RTL8812AE miniCard - WikiDevi

Realtek is well established in the integrated sound department, but I don't know their performance in the wireless department.

On a side note, I really wanted Marvell to provide a dedicated half-size mini-pcie or an NGFF or M.2 since their 802.11ac chip in the Surface is performing really well while giving me NO problems whatsoever (no ping spikes, no low signal strength, etc.)

Hmm, but I thought the OP had problems with the Broadcom, so Broadcom works better than the Intel? How does one tell if one has a half-size or full size card as I noticed there are adapters to make a half-size work in a full size but is it really needed?
Realtek is established in the networking department, atleast the wired NICs but they don't work as good as Intel. I don't even know if the Atheros N/BT4.0 in my ASUS G74SX notebook is a full size of half-size card. NGFF seems to have adapters to make it work in a Mini-PCIe slot like the one here:
Amazon.com: Bplus: M2MU2, M.2 (NGFF) to mini PCI-E Adapter: Computers Accessories

Seems like Intel is better than Realtek:
wireless - Realtek RTL8821AE Wifi driver/alternative - Ask Ubuntu

I can't remember if it was the Realtek or the Broadcom that required a MiniUSB connection?

Is there any difference between the Intel 7265 and the 7260 in terms of performance?

Seems like from Amazon, many said the Intel 7260 is not reliable as it has dropouts compared to the Broadcom.

My Atheros only does 65Mbps N.

Found this one but it's NGFF:
Atheros Sparklan WNFQ 255ACN BT M 2 NGFF 802 11AC 867Mbps WLAN Bluetooth 4 1 | eBay

They have one without BT:
Compex WLE600VX Atheros QCA9882 MiniPCI E 802 11AC 867 Mbps 2x2 MIMO 2 4GHz 5GHz | eBay

I ended up getting the Intel AC-7260.HMWWB.R, the .R means revised that came out in September 2014. The AC-7260.HMWG.R is the same card too but make sure it's the .R version even though the physical card itself will not say .R. Using the latest drivers from Intel and all is fine, connected at 867Mbps to my Netgear R7000 router running XVortex ASUS Merlin firmware v378.56_2.