HP Pavilion 15 Laptop 5GHz Wifi upgrade?

[ShoutH2O]

Model: HP Pavilion 15 ab268ca notebook (http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=T0E05UA&opt=ABL&sel=NTB)

Wireless card installed: 802.11b/g/n (1x1) and Bluetooth® 4.0 combo

Hey guys!  I recently bought this laptop new. The wifi is always quite low on it because it has a 2.4GHz adapter installed.  I want to upgrade the wifi adapter card inside to a 5GHz wifi card with the bluetooth combo.

What adapter is compatible to safely install to get 5GHz wifi + Bluetooth combo for my model? Help!

Any suggestions on what will work or where to go to find out would be tremendously appreciated!

[terminator]

 Hi,

In the manual for your laptop there are two supported devices 2.4/5 GHz (dual band)

Would have to see if the practice after installed if they can reach 5GHz

http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04642845.pdf

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 802.11 ac 2x2 WiFi + BT 4.0 Combo Adapter (non vPRO) 784644-005
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 802.11 ac 1x1 WiFi + BT 4.0 Combo Adapter 806723-005

[ShoutH2O]

Wow thank you so much. I'll try and find them online and order one.

What's the difference between 1x1 and 2x2?

[terminator · Accepted solution]

Speed, according to Intel, 2x2 AC 7265 could reach 867 Mbps theoretical limit, while AC 3165 1x1 433 Mbps

In practice that is close to "real" 5GHz is AC 7265

http://www.intel.la/content/www/xl/es/wireless-products/wireless-product-selection-guide.html

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-products/dual-band-wireless-ac-7265.html

[ShoutH2O]

Hey a little update.  So I bought and installed Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 802.11 ac 2x2 WiFi + BT 4.0 Combo Adapter (non vPRO) 784644-005.

The internet is now blazing fast (Faster than ethernet!) so it worked.  The only thing is the Bluetooth portion doesn't work anymore.  This card recommended is a compatible wireless adapter with Bluetooth combo, so not sure why it's not working for the Bluetooth.

I downloaded and installed the bluetooth drivers directly from the Intel website, but to no avail.  Any ideas or help would be appreciated! Thank you very much.

[erspimp03]

That's great to hear, I have a similar model to yours so I think I will try the same upgrade!

As far as your bluetooth, I have heard that many of the pavilion 15 laptops only came with one antenna, while a card such as the 7265 requires 2 antennas. If this is the case with your computer, it may be the cause of the problem. You could experiment with installing a temporary second antenna, or switching the port that the single antenna is connected to to try and get your bluetooth working.

Otherwise, you might try downloading a different driver to see if that changes anything.

[ShoutH2O]

Oh man, let me say it is worth the upgrade. Before I'd speedtest at 2-5mbps DL with 2.4ghz stock wireless adapter card, but now web the new one 5ghz, I'm getting 105mbps DL at speedtest. It's exactly the results I could dream for.

Regarding the Bluetooth issue: I solved it. Easy fix! Just had to go into device manager and Uninstall and delete the old broken driver, then click scan for hardware change and it auto fixed it! Everything is perfect, both Bluetooth and wireless 🙂

[HarMac]

Hey.

I'm looking to also upgrade my Wifi to the Wifi Card mentioned, but I cannot locate where to get 2x2 version of the card. When I enter the part No:- 784644-005 I get the 1x1 version of the card.

What country are you in? Maybe the card is available based on country.

So I want to get the 'Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 802.11 ac 2x2 WiFi + BT 4.0 Combo Adapter (non vPRO)'

[erspimp03]

I also spent a while looking for that part number without any luck. Fortunately the BIOS on these laptops will allow you to use any wireless card, provided it is the correct interface. I ordered a generic NGFF 7265NGW for about 10 bucks on eBay and it has been great for me.