Replacement/upgrade for wifi adapter RALINK RT 3290

[ARJEE]

My wifi adapter RALINK RT 3290 that came with HP Notebook ENVY 15 j040el (bought in Italy in 2013) has stopped working.  I came to know of it when all of sudden I could not access the internet anymore but my tablet was working fine, so no fault of my ISP.   Luckily I had at hand a USB wifi adapter from my desktop, and plugging it the wifi was back.  So my RALINK RT 3290 is gone for sure. Unfortunately my warranty expired last year and I cannot claim a free HP replacement.   There are no RALINK RT 3290 on Amazon Italy.   I have seen quite a few complaints about the performance of RALINK RT 3290 on the forum. 

1. Can any one suggest a good compatible replacement or upgrade? 

2. Can HP suggest a compatible replacement? How? Where?

Laptop model: HP ENVY 15 j040el

Country: Italy

OS: Windows 8.1 (64-bit)

Processor: Intel core i7-4700MQ, 2.40gHz

RAM: 12gb

HDD: 1tb

Warranty/Guarantee: expired Sept. 2014.

[Huffer]

Your laptop is not saddled with the HP BIOS whitelist that previously constained HP laptop owners to a narrow selection of wi-fi options. You have an Intel processor i7-4700 and Intel chipset so I frankly would go for the best Intel card I can find. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-Duel-Band-Wireless-AC-7260-7260HMW-802-11AC-Dual-Band-BT4-0-Wifi-Card-...

If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it. 

[ARJEE]

Thanks Huffer, for your prompt reply.  Before I go ahead I'd like to mention two things:

1. My HP Envy 15 j040el is on chipset Intel HM87 Express.

2. A spec of my wifi adapter is '1x1' (Ralink RT 3290LE 802.11 b/g/n 1x1 Wifi and bluetooth 4.0 combo adapter) see attached images.  Your suggestion (Intel 7260HMW) is '2x2' ( I don't know what this means).

Is what you are suggesting compatible with my laptop (chipset) and socket and size?

Last year, I had bought a wifi adapter (Intel dual band wireless AC 7260 HMC) to exploit my wifi router's dual bands (2.4 +5 gHz), but that burnt out and so I put back the original Ralink which has gone too.   

Please help!

Thanks

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

The module I suggested is compatible. It is the same physical size and has 2 antenna connectors so it will be a matter of popping out the old and popping in the new and reattaching the leads, and then load the driver. I am not sure how you burn up a wifi card but the one I am suggesting is also the dual band 2.4 and 5 ghz 7260 AC so if that one causes a problem for you maybe my advice would be different. 

2 x 2 vs 1 x 1 refers to the number of radio streams in the card. 2 x 2 is better.   

[ARJEE]

Thank you for your advice Huffer.  Something you said set me worrying.  Yes, it's true, I burned up 2 wifi cards (see attachment below).  And indeed the the replacement for Ralink in order to utilize dualbands was what you suggested: Intel AC 7260HMW.  That too is gone.

I note my notebook gets warm somewhere around the space-B-N-G-H keys, and the fan keeps whirring.  It is just warm, I wouldn't say real hot.  Is it the heating factor that blows out the wifi card? 

Besides the inbuilt Intel HD Graphics 4600, my Envy 15 j040el has an NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated) graphic card.  Do you think the Intel card heats up without switching over to NVIDIA when required and blows out my wifi card? I'm quite naive in all these.  Or did make a mistake opting for an HP notebook?

In short, could you help me diagnose the problem why my wifi card gets knocked out.

Thanks!

[ARJEE]

Sorry Huffer and all out there for my query regading my burnt up wifi cards for Envy 15 j040xxxx.

I managed to solve the problem myself! 

On the forum or somewhere online, I remember someone suggesting updating the BIOS. So I got hold of the HP Support Assistant (for the first time since I bought my notebook) and updated all that was listed, including the BIOS.  I re-plugged the wifi cards that I thought were ruined and wanted to discard.  After rebooting, both the original RALINK RT 3290 as well as the Intel AC 7260HMW that I bought to exploit my router's dual band, began humming with life.  So none of the cards were burnt.  The softwares were outdated.

So thanks Huffer for trying to help.

And to those out there, who are having problems with their wifi internet connections, I'd suggest using the HP Support Assistant and update the components' drivers and sofware.  I think it will solve  most of he problems.