WiFi cards for Optiplex 755

[X-13]

It's what we need.

 

I ordered 3 TL-WN781ND PCIe WiFi adapters, but from the looks of them there's no chance they're going to fit.

 

For a start the computers are thinner than usual, so we need low-profile cards.

 

And there are no PCIe [or PCI] connections on the board that match the card.

 

 

Can anyone suggest something that will actually fit?

 

Computers are Dell Optiplex 755. [i would link, but the Dell website keeps killing the computers here...]

 

 

Words cannot describe how incompetent I feel right now...

[FN-GM]

Any PCI card with a low profile bracket will do. Linksys do some.

[Flatpackhamster]

Could you not get away with USB? Something like the miniature Edimax ew-7811un ?

 

How exposed are the computers to prying fingers?

[X-13]

Could you not get away with USB? Something like the miniature Edimax ew-7811un ?

 

How exposed are the computers to prying fingers?

 

 

It seems, at least according to Misco, that USB would be our only real option here. The PCI slots are miles away from the back panel. [Probably completely the wrong terminology... but I don't care.]

 

 

The computers are pretty exposed. Plus, they're in an Autistic learning doodah. [Can't think of what it's actually called]

 

At the moment there's only one pupil, but they have a habit or throwing and/or breaking things for attention.

[Flatpackhamster]

It's a tricky one then. Have you tried Dell support? They may have a list of compatible cards for that particular model.

 

The only other option that I can think of is to use that USB card that I suggested and use a tiny dab of superglue to secure its plastic mounting to the bottom of the USB port. If you need to take it out, then you have to use solvent to remove it. It's not an elegant solution though.

[X-13]

It's a tricky one then. Have you tried Dell support? They may have a list of compatible cards for that particular model.

 

Annoyingly Dell.co.uk kills our computers.

 

There's a script or something on the page that just freezes everything. I did manage to have a quick look this morning, but I can't see anything. It's kind of an old computer. [No budget for new ones.]

[Flatpackhamster]

I just had a yomp through the 'spare parts' bit of the Dell site for the Optiplex 755:

 

Dell - Support

 

I can't find any list of approved network cards.

 

The other possibility is the discussion forum there:

 

Networking, Internet, Wireless - Dell Community

 

I've put the links in in the hope that you can bypass the pages which are making your system crash.

[plexer]

Do they not have network cards built in? If so could you use a small switch and a wireless bridge to somewhere?

 

Ben