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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
HP Recommended

Hi,

 

I opened my HP 650 Notebook today to upgrade my Wi-FI to 802.11ac and this is what I've found:

 

2014-11-12 09.44.52.jpg

 

There is only an antenna plugged to the Wi-Fi modules!

This will damage the Wi-Fi chip because the standard impedance for RF components is 50 Ohm, and without plugging anything the power will accumulate and burn the analog frontend in the long run!

 

It's mine the only notebook with a missing antenna or it's a production issue?

 

Cheers,

Matteo Croce

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

@teknoraver wrote:

Hi,

 

I opened my HP 650 Notebook today to upgrade my Wi-FI to 802.11ac and this is what I've found:

 

2014-11-12 09.44.52.jpg

 

There is only an antenna plugged to the Wi-Fi modules!

This will damage the Wi-Fi chip because the standard impedance for RF components is 50 Ohm, and without plugging anything the power will accumulate and burn the analog frontend in the long run!

 

It's mine the only notebook with a missing antenna or it's a production issue?

 

Cheers,

Matteo Croce


Upgrading wifi on notebooks is a bit tricky. You know that now. 

 

Success will only happen if you  first check to see what is available  interms of antenna connections and that the impedance and band matches the desired upgrade wifi module's requirements.

 

There must already be BIOS support for the  desired upgrade module. See the HP 650 Maintenence & Support guide for compatible modules.

 

Jumping a  complete generation of wifi modules in the case of your notebook is not viable without modifying  and adding wifi antenna.  You tried going from B\G\N to AC, which is the next generation of Wifi and also  happens to be 5GHz. The previous module was 2.4 GHz band.  Doing that will void the warranty



I am a volunteer forum member, not an HP employee. If my suggestion solved your issue, don't forget to mark that post as the accepted solution. If you want to say thanks, click on the Yes button next to the "was this reply helpful?"



View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11
HP Recommended

@teknoraver wrote:

Hi,

 

I opened my HP 650 Notebook today to upgrade my Wi-FI to 802.11ac and this is what I've found:

 

2014-11-12 09.44.52.jpg

 

There is only an antenna plugged to the Wi-Fi modules!

This will damage the Wi-Fi chip because the standard impedance for RF components is 50 Ohm, and without plugging anything the power will accumulate and burn the analog frontend in the long run!

 

It's mine the only notebook with a missing antenna or it's a production issue?

 

Cheers,

Matteo Croce


Upgrading wifi on notebooks is a bit tricky. You know that now. 

 

Success will only happen if you  first check to see what is available  interms of antenna connections and that the impedance and band matches the desired upgrade wifi module's requirements.

 

There must already be BIOS support for the  desired upgrade module. See the HP 650 Maintenence & Support guide for compatible modules.

 

Jumping a  complete generation of wifi modules in the case of your notebook is not viable without modifying  and adding wifi antenna.  You tried going from B\G\N to AC, which is the next generation of Wifi and also  happens to be 5GHz. The previous module was 2.4 GHz band.  Doing that will void the warranty



I am a volunteer forum member, not an HP employee. If my suggestion solved your issue, don't forget to mark that post as the accepted solution. If you want to say thanks, click on the Yes button next to the "was this reply helpful?"



HP Recommended

Sir,

 

What you can see in the picture is the original Wi-Fi module from HP, with two antenna connectors type U.FL and only one antenna plugged

HP Recommended

@teknoraver wrote:

Sir,

 

What you can see in the picture is the original Wi-Fi module from HP, with two antenna connectors type U.FL and only one antenna plugged


I only see a single antenna connection made in the image. Where do you see two antennas in the image that you provided? That could be a production fault.



I am a volunteer forum member, not an HP employee. If my suggestion solved your issue, don't forget to mark that post as the accepted solution. If you want to say thanks, click on the Yes button next to the "was this reply helpful?"



HP Recommended

The ones in the red cirlcles are the antenna connections.

it is a standard connector named U.FL

 

2014-11-12 09.44.52.jpg

HP Recommended

I saw the connections on the adapter module. That was not my point regarding what you said.

 

I only see one antenna conection wire and connector.

 

Tt looks like a production mistake missed by quality assurance. The other wire is probably stuck inside the display cover. 



I am a volunteer forum member, not an HP employee. If my suggestion solved your issue, don't forget to mark that post as the accepted solution. If you want to say thanks, click on the Yes button next to the "was this reply helpful?"



HP Recommended

Yes, there is only one pigtail (the antenna wire an connector) so the second radio of the Wi-Fi modules will burn slowly.

I've manually fixed it by adding a proper antenna (and I upgraded the Wi-Fi to 11ac while I were at it)

 

2014-11-12 09.50.45.jpg

HP Recommended

That was your own choice. If you upgraded to the 802.11ac adapter and it works as expected in the 5 GHz band, then you  may have installed a modded BIOS. Is that the case?



I am a volunteer forum member, not an HP employee. If my suggestion solved your issue, don't forget to mark that post as the accepted solution. If you want to say thanks, click on the Yes button next to the "was this reply helpful?"



HP Recommended

I didn't any BIOS upgrade, the BIOS is HP Genuine.

Anyway, the card is working fine in 11ac mode:

 

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 [8086:08b1] (rev 73)

 

wlan0   IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:"WiFreccia5"
        Mode:Managed Frequency:5.18 GHz Access Point: 0E:44:89:C0:51:01
        Bit Rate=780 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm

HP Recommended

That is indeed interesting as I just looked at the network adapters that are optional for the notebook and do not see the 

Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 listed.

 

I also do not see any drivers available for that adapter in the download section of the notebook's web supp....

 

Is the notebook that is identified at the top of the support portal the same one that you have?

 

What is the version of the BIOS that is installed?



I am a volunteer forum member, not an HP employee. If my suggestion solved your issue, don't forget to mark that post as the accepted solution. If you want to say thanks, click on the Yes button next to the "was this reply helpful?"



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