Whitelist for upgrade of AC-3160 network adapter? Tired of wifi getting dropped for 3 plus years

Hello all,
I have an Acer Aspire E5-553G which I purchased new. From day one I have had severe connectivity issues, wifi drops constantly, sometimes more than once a minute. I live in a rural area where wifi is unavailable, so I tether off of my phone. I simultaneously have two other laptops, a Lenovo and HP connected to the same phone, and they never ever randomly disconnect from wifi. The Acer does dozens of times per day.

I sent it in under warranty in order to address this issues, along with several other, inoperative DVD player, also the laptop will instantly turn off when I pick it up to move it, a USB port had intermittent connectivity, and a few other issues etc. The only issues that were really fixed was the DVD player and USB port All of the other problems remain. The motherboard was changed under warranty along with a few other things that I don't recall, it was last year that the work was done.

I have resigned myself to live with the other issues, but I cannot live with the lack of internet connectivity...it reduces the laptop to a $600 paperweight. I have tried many, any and all solutions online that I can find. Hundreds of times, I have uninstalled/reinstalled the wireless adapter, updated drivers, made all changes to power settings, and dozens of other solutions/suggesetions etc etc etc.

If anything it only seems to be getting worse. It has been so frustrating to deal with this issue for almost 3 years now. At this point, I just want to change and hopefully upgrade the wireless adapter from the Intel AC-3160 to something else.

Can anyone offer any suggestions or a whitelist of compatible adapter cards? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

AMD FX-9800P 12 compute cores 4c+8g
Radeon R7
16G memory
128 ssd
1 TB hd
Intel Dual Band wireless AC-3160
Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

Thank you very much,

Edited the content to hide sensitive information
Acer-Samuel

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JackE

>>>Intel Dual Band wireless AC-3160>>>

Have you separately tried either 2.4GHz or 5GHz instead of auto? Jack E/NJ.

ChrisGo

JackE said:

>>>Intel Dual Band wireless AC-3160>>>

Have you separately tried either 2.4GHz or 5GHz instead of auto? Jack E/NJ.

Thank you for the reply Jack. I am tethered to my phone for internet connectivity, which is using ATT cellular data. It is connected via 2.4Ghz. Is there a way that I can try 5Ghz via my phone? Since it is celluar data, I'm not sure how to choose one or the other? Thanks again,

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Acer-Samuel

JackE

Perhaps you better explain what do you mean by 'tethered' to your phone? Tethered usually means wired, not wireless. Exactly how are you 'tethering' to the phone? Jack E/NJ

ChrisGo

JackE said:

Perhaps you better explain what do you mean by 'tethered' to your phone? Tethered usually means wired, not wireless. Exactly how are you 'tethering' to the phone? Jack E/NJ

Hi Jack,
Thank you again for the reply. I apologize for using the incorrect nomenclature/terminology. Yes, I am wirelessly using my phone as a hotspot and using my ATT celluar data as my method of connecting to the internet. I live in an area without wifi service. I am doing so concurrently with 2 other laptops at the same time as this Acer, yet the Acer is the only one ever to drop the hotspot connection. Many times per day. Also, my ATT signal is strong and speeds are very fast, there are no issues on that end. In addition to sending it in for the issue under warranty to no avail, I have tried every possible suggestion that I can find online...I have been dealing with this issue for years now.

I am pretty much no longer interested in trying to troubleshoot it since nothing has worked, not even Acer's warranty department. I usually am not a fan of just throwing parts at a problem and prefer to diagnose it. But at this point I am tired of trying to diagnose it and just want to try another network adapter card and hope that it is a hardware issue and will be solved.

I am just not sure which card(s) would be compatible. A search on the forums here reveal many other Acer owners with the same problem and no solutions ultimately found, at least from what I have read.

Thanks again for you advice and help, sorry again if I used the incorrect terminology.

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Acer-Samuel

JackE

Out of curiosity, open DeviceManager. Click 'network adapters' folder. Right click 3160 wifi adapter. Click 'properties'. Click 'advance' tab. Click 'preferred band'. Click 'value' dropdown if set to 1 'no preference'. Select 2.4GHz instead Jack E/NJ

ChrisGo

JackE said:

Out of curiosity, open DeviceManager. Click 'network adapters' folder. Right click 3160 wifi adapter. Click 'properties'. Click 'advance' tab. Click 'preferred band'. Click 'value' dropdown if set to 1 'no preference'. Select 2.4GHz instead Jack E/NJ

Thank you so much for the info Jack, I appreciate it. I have just completed your suggestion. I will definitely keep you updated, I am anxious to see the result.

I do need to clarify a mistake, I stated that I had the AC-3160 adapter, but it is the 3165.

I just spoke with Intel and they said that I would really have to confirm with Acer, but that the thought the AC-3168 would be compatible. And possibly the AC 8260. However, he did say that the antenna on the 8260 is 2 by 2 and on the 3165 it is 1 by 1. But that is beyond my scope of knowledge and I didn't know what he was referring to.

Thanks again and I'll be sure to update if your suggestion works.
Take care,

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Acer-Samuel

JackE

If 2.4GHz doesn't work, try the 5GHz. If the same result, then we can talk about reseating the existing card and its antenna. And if all this fails, then we can talk about another compatible card. Jack E/NJ

ChrisGo

JackE said:

If 2.4GHz doesn't work, try the 5GHz. If the same result, then we can talk about reseating the existing card and its antenna. And if all this fails, then we can talk about another compatible card. Jack E/NJ

Hi Jack.
Thanks again for the reply. I appreciate it. I switched it per your instructions to 2.4 and it is still disconnecting. I will try it on 5Ghz and let you know the result. Due to the fact that it was sent in for warranty and the motherboard changed etc., I would assume that the card was checked and seated properly considering that this problem was one of the main ones that I sent it in for. And it came back exactly the same.

I've looked on ebay etc. and the cards seem to be cheap enough, between $5-15, and I would prefer to have to open this laptop up as few times as possible. Due to the fact that is was sent in for warranty work for this to begin with, if switching it to 5Ghz doesn't help, then I would just like to swap out the adapter if I open the case up and not even worry about troubleshooting the current one, it has just been too many years and too much frustration and that I have had to endure because of this issue. I'd rather not have to open up the case multiple times etc.

I am just not sure how to determine which 3168 or 8260 adapters online are compatible? Some are for Lenovo, etc. so I don't know if that excludes them, I don't know about motherboard compatibility etc.

Thanks again for the reply Jack and I will let you know the result when I switch it to 5Ghz.

JackE

One step at a time. Jack E/NJ

ChrisGo

Thank you Jack. I have not been home much at all, so I don't have a lot of time with it on 5Ghz, only an hour or so, but so far so good. Sometimes it will go a few hours though, and then sometimes it will disconnect multiple times in 5 minutes. I'll keep you posted and thanks again.

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Acer-Samuel

JackE

OK. I'll keep my fingers crossed that 5GHz is the correct frequency it'll stay locked onto. Jack E/NJ

PS: One other thing. If one of your other devices uses 2.4GHz, your router may occasionally auto switch from 5GHz to 2.4GHz to accomodate the 2.4GHz device. If the router is slow to auto switch back to 5GHz when another 5GHz device calls for its service. that could also potentially cause issues that you describe.

ChrisGo

JackE said:

OK. I'll keep my fingers crossed that 5GHz is the correct frequency it'll stay locked onto. Jack E/NJ

PS: One other thing. If one of your other devices uses 2.4GHz, your router may occasionally auto switch from 5GHz to 2.4GHz to accomodate the 2.4GHz device. If the router is slow to auto switch back to 5GHz when another 5GHz device calls for its service. that could also potentially cause issues that you describe.

Hi Jack, thanks for the reply and crossed fingers. Unfortunately it didn't work on 5Ghz either, still dropping wifi constantly. I took out the wifi card and cleaned it and re-seated it. It is still dropping wifi/disconnecting constantly.

When I try to reconnect, it says that it can't reconnect to this network. Then I have to uninstall or update the drivers and it will reconnect again, I have to do this dozen of times per day, while the other two laptops that are on the same table, connect to my same phone hotspot, never disconnect.

Could the issue that you are describing with the router auto switching back and forth...could that happen if I am using my phone as a hotspot? I don't have a router. I live in a rural area and wifi is unavailable. I use my phone as a hotspot and only use my ATT data for internet connectivity.

Thanks again,

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Acer-Samuel

JackE

Did you also unplug and clean up the two antenna coax connectors? Since the card does work, albeit dropping connections, it's possible the coax thru the hinge area or to the antennas in the lid has broken. Jack E/NJ

ChrisGo

JackE said:

Did you also unplug and clean up the two antenna coax connectors? Since the card does work, albeit dropping connections, it's possible the coax thru the hinge area or to the antennas in the lid has broken. Jack E/NJ

Hi Jack,
Thanks for the pics and diagram. Yes, when I had the card out, I made sure to clean the antenna connections and I examined the routing etc. to ensure that nothing looked like it was binding either. Although there is no movement anyway when it drops the wifi, it can be alone on the table and I can be standing 5 feet from it and not touching it and it will drop the connection.

JackE

I'm still leaning toward broken center wire in one of the coax cables since it should be a single solid copper wire, not a stranded bundle. What does the signal strength look like? Jack E/NJ

ChrisGo

JackE said:

I'm still leaning toward broken center wire in one of the coax cables since it should be a single solid copper wire, not a stranded bundle. What does the signal strength look like? Jack E/NJ

Signal strength is full at all times, it is either connected to the max or completely disconnected. It seems that there are lots of others online that have had this same issue with this adapter. I am just going to replace it, several of the ones that I saw for sale include the coax antenna cables also. Do you know if I can upgrade to the 8260 series or do I need to stay with the 3168 as a replacement. I currently have the 3165. Do I need to get any numbers off of mine to know what a compatible replacement is? I was in a hurry when I took it apart and forgot to take a picture of it. Thanks again Jack.

JackE

Sorry, the 8260 is usually only for Intel cpus, not AMD. Jack E/NJ

ChrisGo

Thanks Jack. Will the 3168 be compatible? Is there a certain series or model number that I would need to get, or one that is designated for an AMD cpu etc.? Can I use one from a Lenovo etc. as long as it was from an AMD cpu etc.? Thanks again for all of your help.
Chris

JackE

>>> do I need to stay with the 3168 as a replacement>>>

If you now have the 3160, the 3168 should be similarly compatible, Any of the Intel 316x series should work like 3165. But not necessarily one that's designed for a Lenovo mainboard even with an AMD cpu. https://www.amazon.com/Intel-3165NGW-Wireless-Bluetooth4-0-802-11AC/dp/B0194GE5YC Jack E/NJ

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