I just got a Dell XPS 13 and switched out the stock DW1820 wifi card (M.2 format) for a Killer 1535 M.2 wireless card.
First of all, a post on the net said a plastic putty knife could be substituted for the "plastic scribe" tool to remove the back panel after removing the Torx T5 screws.
Not a good suggestion, knowing in hindsight that there is a circuit-printed cable near the outside of the laptop (somehow I, apparently at least, did not damage the cable from a functionally point of view when using the very thin plastic putty knife type tool, thank God).
Second the 'people parts' video showing how to remove the back panel and replace the wifi card for the XPS13 is very useful, with one major exception - they neglect to show the middle screw needing to be removed (Philips screw).
Anyway, I took out my DW1820 wifi card. However, when it came time to install the replacement Killer 1535 M.2 wfi card, the antenna leads did not snap / fit in easily. It took me 10 minutes plus to get the black lead to stay put.
Then the white one took forever and seemed to eventually sit in place; I put back the silver metal antenna brace secured by one Philips screw. I put the back cover in place, but did not yet reinstall the T5 screws, wanting to first check the wifi worked given that neither antenna lead snapped into place.
The wifi seemed weak, so I removed the back and checked under the brace (very hard to see without removing the brace) and the white lead seemed loose. I removed the brace and sure enough it was already loose again! SIGH.
Long story short, I eventually got the white lead to stay in place but never head a reassuring snap or similar sound or click to give any confidence that the antenna lead would stay in place.
I secured the brace again carefully and tested again about 11 1/2 hours ago - wifi performance of the Killer 1535 has been solid since (handily outperforming the speed of my MU0-MIMO WUSB6100M USB wifi adapter).
I just wanted to know, based on personal experience of others here, whether there is any way the antenna lead could still come loose over time with the brace in place?
1.Should I be concerned that they could suddenly come loose?
If issues occur with antenna leads coming loose over time, is there any other workaround to secure the antenna leads semi-permanently?
2. Is it possible that the Killer 1535 card (bought 'new' on eBay) did not have properly machined / engineered antenna lead mounting points, thus bein such a pain to stick, especially the white one???
The black one looks like it is good to go, but I am still nervous the white one could come loose, although it has been fine so far (given performance today, I can tell is must still be in place - maybe the brace is helping???
I ask because it should not have been so hard to reattach the 2 antenna leads from what I have seen online in a video...
Thanks for any feedback and suggestions!!
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Hopefully someone can reply soon.
Regarding the following.
1. Once the 2 wifi antenna leads are in place. Even if one of the 2 antenna leads is not 100% securely connected, will the bracket / brace that is screwed on top of the 2 wifi antenna leads keep the leads in place for the long haul???
I.e. is there any wiggle room for the lead to potentially come loose?
(I tried to check, but once the brace is in place, it was very hard to see if there was much of a gap between the top of antenna lead and the brace that could allow the lead to shift / move semi-'freely').
Still find it odd that the leads did not click into place, unless MY particular Killer card's antenna mounting points were not properly engineered? The black one seems to be well attached. The white lead is another story.
2. Re. potential laptop component damage if not careful when prying back cover off with a tool.:
I found out that the brown and gold cable near the edge (that I hoped I had not damaged with the plastic putty knife, used instead of scribe when opening the back) is just an LED cable (see URL below).
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Dell+XPS+13+Teardown/36157
Still find it strange that someone would recommend a putty knife.
Anyway, it seems to be working well... Hopefully no other laptop components were damaged by the 100% plastic putty knife.
I am not getting any performance issues or errors and Device Manager shows no issues.
The laptop has a 6 month Premium Dell warranty if worst comes to worst, but I am probably worrying for nothing.
Dell XPS 13 - switched DW1820 for Killer 1535 wifi card - loose antenna lead(s)???
Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by njweb, May 9, 2017.