Intel

Intel 2777324 Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 WiFi Card

4.4 (549 reviews)

867Mbps AC throughput and Bluetooth 4.0 in a half mini card form factor eliminates the Wi-Fi bottleneck in aging laptops and small-form-factor builds.

$21.63*
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*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated:Jul 14, 2026.Price and availability are subject to change.

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Overview

The Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 is a half mini PCIe card combining 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 in a single compact module. On the Wi-Fi side, the 7260 operates on both 2.4GHz (up to 300Mbps) and 5GHz (up to 867Mbps) using 2×2 MIMO and 802.11ac's 80MHz channel bonding. That 867Mbps figure is a PHY-layer ceiling — real-world transfers land in the 400–550Mbps range depending on router capability, interference, and signal path. What matters practically is the jump from 802.11n: a 150Mbps single-stream n card on 2.4GHz is not just slower in raw throughput, it's operating on the most congested spectrum in a typical home or office. The 7260's 5GHz band largely sidesteps that congestion while delivering throughput sufficient for 4K streaming, large cloud syncs, and remote work video calls simultaneously.

This card is purpose-built for upgrading Intel-platform systems — ultrabooks, small-form-factor desktops, and mini-ITX builds — that shipped with an older wireless card and have a half mini PCIe slot available. The Bluetooth 4.0 integration is a genuine convenience for users who would otherwise occupy a USB port with a separate dongle. Installation requires physical access to the card slot and two antenna connectors; the firmware and driver stack are handled automatically by Windows 10/11 or Linux 3.10+ kernels. The 7260 is not the right answer for a system being built from scratch in 2024 — an M.2 2230 Wi-Fi 6 card would be the better investment there. But for extending the useful life of a capable older machine with a known slot constraint, the 7260 remains one of the most field-tested and driver-stable options available.

Key Features

A quality product by INTEL

A quality product by INTEL

A quality product by INTEL

A quality product by INTEL

A quality product by INTEL

Specifications

Brand
Intel
Model
2777324 (Wireless-AC 7260)
Wireless Standard
802.11ac / a / b / g / n
Frequency Bands
Dual Band — 5GHz and 2.4GHz
Max Throughput (5GHz)
867 Mbps
Max Throughput (2.4GHz)
300 Mbps
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0
Form Factor
Half Mini PCIe Card
MIMO
2×2

Pros & Cons

👍 Pros

  • 867Mbps theoretical throughput on 5GHz 802.11ac is a genuine 3× ceiling improvement over 802.11n, with real-world gains measurable in file transfer and streaming tasks.
  • Dual-band support (5GHz and 2.4GHz) allows the card to connect to either band and fall back gracefully in range-limited scenarios.
  • Bluetooth 4.0 integration eliminates the need for a separate USB Bluetooth dongle, preserving a USB port and reducing cable clutter.
  • Half mini card form factor is the most common upgrade slot in Intel-platform laptops from 2012–2018, making this a broadly compatible drop-in replacement.
  • Inbox driver support on Windows 10/11 and Linux means no pre-install media required in most cases — plug in and boot.

👎 Cons

  • The 7260 supports only 2×2 MIMO (two spatial streams), which caps throughput below what 3×3 or 4×4 antenna systems in higher-end cards can achieve.
  • Bluetooth 4.0 is two generations behind current Bluetooth 5.3 — it lacks the extended range and higher throughput of LE Audio and BT 5.x improvements.
  • Half mini card form factor requires verifying antenna connector count and slot compatibility before purchase — there is no universal fit, and an incompatible host system renders the card unusable.
  • 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) has no Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) support, meaning the card cannot take advantage of OFDMA or BSS Coloring on modern routers.
  • No macOS support limits the upgrade path to Windows and Linux systems only.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Intel 7260 uses a half mini PCIe form factor (half mini card), which is the standard slot found in most Intel-platform ultrabooks, business laptops, and many mini-ITX motherboards from 2012 onward. Verify your system has a half mini PCIe slot and two antenna connectors before purchasing — full mini PCIe slots are also common, and the 7260 will not physically seat in a full mini slot without an adapter.
The 867Mbps rating is the theoretical PHY rate on the 5GHz band using 802.11ac with 2×2 MIMO and 80MHz channel width. Real-world throughput typically lands in the 400–550Mbps range under good conditions. To reach near-peak rates, you need an 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) or Wi-Fi 6 router with 80MHz channels enabled on 5GHz and line-of-sight or short-range placement. The card is the bottleneck solver for older systems — not a substitute for a quality router.
The Intel 7260 uses two antenna connectors for Wi-Fi (main + auxiliary). Bluetooth 4.0 is integrated into the same card and shares the antenna infrastructure. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi can operate simultaneously, but heavy usage of both simultaneously can create minor interference on the 2.4GHz band since both technologies occupy it.
Windows 10 and Windows 11 include inbox drivers for the Intel 7260, though Intel's full driver package offers better power management and connection stability. Linux kernel 3.10+ includes iwlwifi support with full functionality. macOS does not support the 7260 natively — it is not a viable upgrade for Mac hardware.
An 802.11n card on 2.4GHz is typically limited to 150–300Mbps theoretical throughput and suffers heavy congestion in dense Wi-Fi environments. The 7260's 5GHz 802.11ac band offers nearly 3× the theoretical throughput ceiling and operates on a less congested spectrum. For systems doing large file transfers, video streaming, or cloud backup over Wi-Fi, the upgrade is measurable.