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I'm intending to purchase a Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 M.2 wireless card, which, according to Intel's website is supported on Linux.

According to this website, serving the drivers, drivers exist for kernel version 4.1+ or 4.2+ (although it doesn't specify the M.2 model tag; I don't think this really matters though, or does it?). Ubuntu (Ubuntu Gnome 15.04) comes with an older kernel version than the required for that driver (according to uname).

This site lists a few simple commands to upgrade the Linux kernel to 4.2, which sounds promising:

cd /tmp/

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-headers-4.2.0-040200_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-headers-4.2.0-040200-generic_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_amd64.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-image-4.2.0-040200-generic_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.2.0-*.deb linux-image-4.2.0-*.deb

Would upgrading the kernel through this fashion allow me to install the drivers for that specific wireless card and have it working properly (at least WiFi)? Should I get it working through another way instead, or is waiting for Ubuntu to update to a newer kernel itself the only option?

Tgys
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  • Can now confirm the (M2) card simply works instantly if bluetooth is disabled with default drivers, see also https://askubuntu.com/questions/611222/cannot-connect-to-wifi-intel-corporation-wireless-3160. – Tgys Oct 16 '15 at 12:03

1 Answers1

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The default drivers may be able to work with the card anyway, so you may not need to install those drivers. Not sure but M.2 may mean it is the same but smaller (guessing from here).

Anyway, the driver you are referring to is the iwlwifi driver - e.g. by looking at the page or following these links: Intel Wireless AC 3160 card > Driver Downloads > Linux driver (3/25/2014). This has been included in the Linux kernel for ages - also if your card is the same as the 'Intel® Wireless 3160', that it has been supported since kernel 3.10:

iwlwifi support table screenshot

So if you are yet to install Ubuntu, you should be able run Ubuntu on your machine with wifi working 'out of the box' (you can also check if it works from the live installer disc, without installing). Linux systems are generally not like Windows where you have to download weird software of websites to get it to work - everything you need (apart from some weird third party, often Windows/Mac only software) is included in the distributions repositories in packages, and can be installed from a Package Manager (e.g. the apt-get or aptitude command, sort of Software Center and Additional Drivers, Synaptic etc).

If it doesn't work, you can use the script here to get information about the card etc and either edit your existing question or ask a new one. Please make sure information such as the manufacturer and model of your computer, and what steps you have tried already to fix it.

N.B: there are existing questions you should check through first before asking (example search), BUT some of these may be vendor specific issues or too old)

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Wilf
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  • Well, I didn't come across that driver in specific, only these 4.1+ ones... Great to hear that it's probably included by default too, so I'll go ahead and pick it up. I'll report back to further confirm it works (or if it doesn't) once I get to it! – Tgys Oct 03 '15 at 13:29
  • M.2 is supposedly only a different (smaller) form factor. I'm still fairly confident that it'll just work, but I'm obviously unsure if it works with the non-M.2 drivers, though. – Tgys Oct 03 '15 at 13:32