Pavilion 23 AIO 23-f200A - Can I upgrade the wireless card to 802.11ac

[JoBlogs]

I have read on many other hp models, some are upgradeable, some are whitelisted. My model info from HP shows only one card available, Mini PCIE Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n featuring Single-band (2.4Ghz) 1x1, it only has a single antenna on board.

https://support.hp.com/au-en/product/hp-pavilion-touchsmart-23-f200-all-in-one-desktop-pc-series/535...

I wish to upgrade to AC and Bluetooth, (original is Atheros AR5B125I card) I have tried an Atheros  AR5B225 combo bluetooth card (came up as a Dell) and Bluetooth and wireless came up, but the card failed (was no longer detected) after a few minutes. I reinstalled and got it working and eventually sent a file from my PC to my phone, had to put phone behind computer to get good connection. Wireless connected at between 58 and 114 mbps, old card did 72.2 steady. After a few shutdowns and restarts, had error on boot, no operating system detected, but my daughter had just put her finger on the MB, so could have been that, but she did it when powered down, anyway, pulled the card and put original back in for now and all booted up, so am unsure if it is significant or not. (Just wanted the PC running again!)

My PC is 2013 vintage,  BIOS 2.15.1226 copyright 2013.

I also tried an Intel Centrino Advanced N  62205ANHMW, I think it worked, it doesn't have bluetooth

The big Q, will an AC/Bluetooth combo run in it? Which make/model?

Finding one on ebay that suits HP is a bit harder...., I'll also add another antenna.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@JoBlogs Welcome to HP Community!

I'm afraid HP does not support or recommend upgrading the wireless card on an all-in-one desktop, however, to answer your question if you've got a wireless card that supports Bluetooth it should work, however, it would be a lot easier to simply get a USB wireless dongle to use as a plug & play device instead of making such major hardware changes on the device that may render the PC unstable due to compatibility issues.

Upgrading such components is solely at your own discretion.

I hope that answers your query,  

If it did, simply select "Accept as solution", to help the community grow, 

And if you wish to thank us for our efforts, click on the thumbs up for kudos.

Have a great day ahead. 

[JoBlogs]

Hi Riddle_Decipher,

Thanks for the info, whilst I understand HP goes out of their way to discourage upgrades by having whitelists and other incompatibilities, I think plugging a wireless card in is not a major hardware change. It actually amazes me that they didn't even offer a bluetooth enabled card when this PC was released, as earlier machines had them!  However I'm particularly chasing an AC combo. I've been fiddling around since the 8086 XT compatibles and hope someone else on this forum has too, and maybe they've shoved an AC card in an EliteOne AIO or a Pavilion AIO or similar and had a win. Here's hoping something pops up, because I'm very limited on cash these days and can't just start buying and trying. Far better to have a card working direct on the motherboard than some extra dongle shoved in the side, AFAIC anyway.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@JoBlogs I wish you good luck in your pursuit to gain more insight on upgrading the device,

please do so at your own discretion and have a good day, ahead as there's no further support available from HP regarding this particular topic, I'm afraid!

Take care.

[JoBlogs]

Ordered an Intel 7260 AC combo card, unfortunately they sent a 7260 N card, but it works, so hopefully when I get an AC card it will work as well, will have to wait and see.

[Hibb1]

Hey mate,

The below listing is the exact brand, model & form factor that you need.

I've used these plenty of times on HP AiO's and laptops.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-AC-3160-3160HMW-Bluetooth-4-0-up-to-433-Mbps-80...

Download the drivers from Intel for both the WiFi and BT prior to installing, so they're there and ready to install when you boot it up with the new card.

Make sure you get one that is mini pcie and not NGFF/M.2