How to install newest Intel 7260 Wireless Driver

[Sendero]

This is not a tutorial. I forgot a question mark in my title.

Greetings Everyone! I am currently troubleshooting a problem with my Intel 7260 AC Wireless card installed in a Dell 7440 Laptop. I've been plagued with slow speeds, disconnects, and generally miserable usage only when using an N network. First, some specifics:

Fedora 20; uname -r

3.14.3-200.fc20.x86_64

ethtool -l wlp2s0

driver: iwlwifi
version: 3.14.3-200.fc20.x86_64
firmware-version: 22.24.8.0
bus-info: 0000:02:00.0
supports-statistics: yes
supports-test: no
supports-eeprom-access: no
supports-register-dump: no
supports-priv-flags: no

modinfo iwlwifi (with the alias entries removed)

filename:       /lib/modules/3.14.3-200.fc20.x86_64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwlwifi.ko
license:        GPL
author:         Copyright(c) 2003- 2014 Intel Corporation <ilw@linux.intel.com>
version:        in-tree:d
description:    Intel(R) Wireless WiFi driver for Linux
firmware:       iwlwifi-100-5.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-1000-5.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-135-6.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-105-6.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-2030-6.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-2000-6.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-5150-2.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-6000g2b-6.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-6000g2a-5.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-6050-5.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-6000-4.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-3160-7.ucode
firmware:       iwlwifi-7260-7.ucode
srcversion:     747ED65DE3B8B451FB8FB02
<snip>
depends:        cfg80211
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.14.3-200.fc20.x86_64 SMP mod_unload 
signer:         Fedora kernel signing key
sig_key:        41:1B:DA:28:A3:94:2F:A0:9C:B6:4A:ED:25:1D:19:EB:1D:10:85:B7
sig_hashalgo:   sha256
parm:           debug:debug output mask (uint)
parm:           swcrypto:using crypto in software (default 0 [hardware]) (int)
parm:           11n_disable:disable 11n functionality, bitmap: 1: full, 2: disable agg TX, 4: disable agg RX, 8 enable agg TX (uint)
parm:           amsdu_size_8K:enable 8K amsdu size (default 0) (int)
parm:           fw_restart:restart firmware in case of error (default true) (bool)
parm:           antenna_coupling:specify antenna coupling in dB (defualt: 0 dB) (int)
parm:           wd_disable:Disable stuck queue watchdog timer 0=system default, 1=disable, 2=enable (default: 0) (int)
parm:           nvm_file:NVM file name (charp)
parm:           bt_coex_active:enable wifi/bt co-exist (default: enable) (bool)
parm:           led_mode:0=system default, 1=On(RF On)/Off(RF Off), 2=blinking, 3=Off (default: 0) (int)
parm:           power_save:enable WiFi power management (default: disable) (bool)
parm:           power_level:default power save level (range from 1 - 5, default: 1) (int)

Dell/Intel has released new drivers that have seemed to fix most of my N-network related issues on the M$ side of things. (I'm dual booting 7.) So I wanted to try the newest drivers on the linux. Here's where I start to get confused and I hope someone can help me get this straight in my mind.

The kernel.org iwlwifi shows 22.212.9.0 for the 7260 is available. Following the instructions I found on the 'net I downloaded and extracted the tarball, then copied the files (minus the README) into /lib/firmware.

ls -l /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-*

-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 683236 Mar 17 13:38 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-7.ucode
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 679780 Mar 17 13:38 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-8.ucode
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 678904 May 11 20:56 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-9.ucode

After a reboot I started checking to see if the new driver was loaded. "modinfo" only shows the *-7260-7.ucode firmware loaded, but "ethtool" says 22.24.8.0 is loaded which is the *-7260-8.ucode firmware according to kernel.org. So my questions are:

1. What version am I really using? "modinfo" and "ethtool" disagree or am I looking at this wrong? This question is more for my linux knowledge because I know I will run into this again.
2. What's the difference between "Driver" and "Firmware" when if comes to the Linux kernel? I know the book definition difference. I guess I'm trying to figure out when a kernel module has to be built.
3. How can I get version 22.212.9.0 of the iwlwifi driver/firmware installed and loaded?

Thanks for any help in advance!

[Sendero]

Question #2 was prompted by this post on Debian forums during my Google research: stevepusser's response on Debian Forums. (The forum software would not let me post this link in the previous post)

[Sendero]

For anyone finding this through a search or Google, this option has worked to disable N on the 7260 card. After doing this I can connect using B/G to the same Network or AP without all of the trouble I was experiencing before. From a command line:

sudo echo "options iwlwifi 11n_disable=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.config

...and reboot. This is not a fix, but more of a band aid if you just cannot stand fighting with N dropping out constantly.

[Sendero]

A comment made on the Google+ Fedora Community got me to check the Fedora Bugzilla for the issues I'm experiencing. Sure enough, someone else is having the exact same issues and they are working on a fix: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1087717