Can't speak for Linux but on Windows the killer wifi card in my XPS 13 gave me nothing but grief. Internet connectivity problems, issues bringing laptop out of sleep, etc. Just a huge headache. Dell would never acknowledge the problem or provide anything but worthless scripted help involving running diagnostic tools even though I told them flat out to please replace the WiFi card. I eventually caved and bought an Intel WiFi card. While removing the killer card, killer's antenna connection ball broke off and got stuck inside the connector socket. I had to use a needle and magnifying glass to get it out. After installing the Intel WiFi card, ALL of the problems went away. Best $20 I ever spent.

It always amazes me when "premium" laptops use the same penny-pinching techniques as lower tier ones. I'm already paying $1000+, where the heck is it going if not quality parts??

I've got a 9560 with killer wifi card, running 16.04 with no problems. Additionally it's not that tough to swap out the killer for an intel wifi card if you really find the need to.

I replaced intel wifi with Killer's, not sure if it's exactly the same model but it uses the same chip QCA6174. IMHO Atheros provides the best support under Linux.

You are thinking of the old ath9k cards. Newer ath10k cards, while still supported, do a lot of the stuff in the firmware. So they aren't that different from others.

The killer cards in question, both mine and the one in the Dell laptop, use the ath10k driver. I had some problems with other cards (e.g. QCA988X as AP) but not with this chip specifically.

I have a 9370 with killer 1435 and it works perfectly out-of-the-box. I'm running Fedora Linux.

You can just replace it with Intel one.

I tried to do that on my 9343 and pretty sure I ended up breaking one of the clips on the aluminum case. I got it back on and after reseating it a couple of times there's no longer a visible gap once I get all the screws it, but there's a spot on the back of the laptop where I can press down and here a slight clicking noise, like a latch is trying to catch somewhere but can't.

Just saying, removing some of these things can be more difficult than the Youtube videos or internet guides would have you believe.

I haven't used Dell really, but in many laptops, it's usually quite straightforward.

FWIW I changed the broadcom wifi on my 9343 for Intel and did not have this problem.

with the newer XPS 13s the wireless chip is soldered on.

Ah, that's too bad. But it might have some mPCIe extension slots? So you can just plug in an additional card.

Nah. The 9370 is basically fully soldered down with no expansion - the only exception (if I recall) is the SSD, which I think can still be swapped for now.

That's bad, especially for developer oriented laptop.