Upgrading to WiFi 6 on my desktop M01 F0

[Katmack]

I would like to upgrade to WiFi 6 on my desktop but am unsure of what card to buy. Any suggestions?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

What model Wi-Fi adapter does your PC have installed now?

[Katmack]

I believe this is what I currently have:  Realtek RTL8821ce 802.11ac PCIe Adapter

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That model card only uses one antenna wire to work, and a Wi-Fi 6 card would require two antenna wires.

So, my next question would be:  Is there a second antenna wire inside the case that is not being used, or only one going to the Wi-Fi card and no spare antenna wire?

If there are two wires you can connect to the card, then you should be able to upgrade to this model:

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 ax 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.0 MU-MIMO M.2 2230 non-vPro   HP part number L35282-005.

You can find this model Wi-Fi card on eBay.

Search by the HP part number, not the model of the Wi-Fi card.

If there is only one wire, then you would have to buy a compatible desktop Wi-Fi conversion kit and use external antennas.

Something like this...Intel cards have to be non-vPro and looking at the blow-up illustrations of the Wi-Fi card kit, the SPS number they show is for a non-vPro card.

Amazon.com: 3000Mbps Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Intel AX200 Gig+ Desktop Kit Bluetooth 5.1 for M.2 2230 Key E...

[Katmack]

I'm not sure about the second wire. But I'm going to be opening up the computer to swap out an SSD so I'll take a look. Thanks for your suggestions!

[Katmack]

Also - as long as I have you here. My computer currently has an SSD and a regular HD. I bought a bigger SSD but can I just add it or does it have to replace the one currently in my computer? Didn't know if there was a way to have 2 SSD drives installed. Thanks!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

You would have to provide the product number or full model number of your PC to see if it has 2 M.2 SSD slots.

The motherboard specs should have that info.

Most still only come with one.

[Katmack]

These are the specs:  

• One PCIe x16 socket
• One PCIe x1 socket
• One M.2 socket 1, key A
• One M.2 socket 3, key M for SSD (PCIe x4)

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Thanks:

You only have one M.2 slot for a SSD, so you would have to remove the existing one and install one having a larger storage capacity,

The One M.2 socket 1, key A is only for the Wi-Fi adapter.

[Katmack]

Okay thanks. This is turning into a harder project than I anticipated. I'd have to get everything on the original SSD somehow transferred to the new SSD and I have no idea how to do that. If I take out the original SSD - I have no OS in the computer to work from.