Wifi upgrade

[kgrater67]

Can my desktop computer a Pavilion HP-H91150T be upgraded from 2.4g wifi to 5.0 g wifi?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Open up the PC and check to see how many wifi antenna wires are connected to the currently installed card.

The parts list seems to indicate that the antenna system is set up for a dual band wifi card, but I recommend that you double check, because a dual band wifi card will need two antenna wires connected to it in order to work correctly.

HP PartSurfer

Planar Inverted-F (type) antenna (PIFA) - For 802.11A/B/G/N WLAN card

If there are two wifi antenna wires connected to the card in there now, you should be able to upgrade to this dual band AC wifi card with Bluetooth...

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11 ac 2x2 WiFi + BT 4.0    HP Part # 710661-001

You should be able to find this card on eBay.  Search by the HP part number, not the model of the wifi card.

Before installing the Intel card, go to the device manager, and uninstall both the wifi card and bluetooth adapter (if applicable) in the device manager.  Also check the uninstall driver box.

If there is any Bluetooth software in the Windows control panel> programs, uninstall that too.

Then shut down, unplug the PC and install the Intel card.

Here are the links to the last drivers released by Intel for that model wifi card...

Download Windows® 10 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel® Wireless Adapters

Download Intel® Wireless Bluetooth® for Intel® Wireless 7260 Family and Intel® Dual-Band Wireless-AC...

[kgrater67]

I will do as you suggested.  In my hardware properties for the wifi device states that the hardware is Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter and I see no info regarding another channel for 5g.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

If you look under the electronic parts section on the parts list link I posted, there were several model wifi cards offered.

The product specs for your PC indicate that only one dual band wifi card was offered.

HP Pavilion HPE h9-1150t Phoenix Product Specifications and Configurable Options | HP® Customer Supp...

Networking

Must select one of the following options: No networking HP Wireless 802.11 b/g/n 2x2 mini card HP Wireless 802.11 b/g/n 2x2 mini card + Bluetooth HP Wireless 802.11 b/g/n Dual Band 2x2 with Bluetooth mini card

[kgrater67]

I don't see any external antenna on the back of my desktop computer.  Is it possible that the wifi is built-in to the motherboard?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

The wifi card and antenna wires are all internal to the PC.

The wifi card will be lying flat on the motherboard and will (hopefully) have two very thin and delicate antenna wires attached to it.

The wifi card will look like this...It will be about 1" wide and 3/4" long.

[kgrater67]

Thanks for the last post.  I have found the 2 black wires that seem to come from the mother board, underneath the fan, etc. and go up into the top portion of the case.  I did also find my original packing list and it shows 1 unit of item A5U27AV HP Wireless NIC 802.11b/g/n DB (2x2) w/ BT Mini Car. So I guess I do have a Dual Band adapter.

Just wondering why the speed does not seem very fast and that is why I am wondering if it is connecting on the 2.4g channel or the 5.0g channel.  I have a Netgear Nighthawk Mesh Wifi 6 Satellite MS60(no more than 6 feet away) but according to my Netgear app the computer is connected via the 5g channel on the MR60 router which is through a wall into the livingroom.  Not sure if my Netgear app is telling me the truth because is showing the connection type as wired for a large number of wireless devices.  I only physically have 4 wired connections off my newly installed 3rd generation Xfinity modem and thru a Netgear GS108 1000M network switch; wired connection directly from the modem to the MR60 router, wired connection to the GS108 and wired out of the switch to 3 devices: Panasonic plasma TV, Yamaha AV receiver, and my FireTV Cube.

What is the best software for checking my Windows 10 computers wifi speeds?  I have used several different ones but they give me drastically different readings even when I make sure they are pinging to the same destination address.

Is there better software that I could use to determine the connections in my system?  If necessary I suppose I could go to the command line, but not sure if I could remember all the commands that would be necessary to get the information.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes it appears your PC may have a Broadcom Dual band wifi N card.

The card should be connecting at 144 MBPS on the 2.4 GHz wifi band if you are getting an excellent signal.

On the 5.0 GHz wifi band, the max throughput is 300 MBPS.

You can see what speed your wifi adapter is actually connecting at, by going to the Windows control panel>network and internet>network and sharing center.

On the right side of that window, click on your wifi connection listed there, and it will tell you what speed your wifi card is connecting to the router at.

On my router, I have named the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz SSD's differently so I know what band the wifi card is connected to.

[kgrater67]

I have been monitoring my Wi-Fi Status lately and I see a full 5 bars of Signal Quality all of the time.  I do see that sometimes I get connected at 300Mbps but more times than not it is 130 Mbps and stays there.  I have an HP Envy x360(hardware is Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7265) with the same 5 bars of Signal Quality all of the time that is connecting at anywhere from 400 to 866Mbps almost all of the time and it is physically the same distance away from my Netgear Nighthawk Mesh Wifi 6 satellite MS60.  Do you think an upgrade to the Intel wireless card you recommended will help me to connect at the faster speeds?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, I think it would.

The Broadcom card seems to be wavering by the same percentage as your Intel 7265 when you think about it.

It just seems to be hanging around the low end of the spectrum more.

The other thing is the Broadcom card has older drivers than the Intel 7265 and even the Intel 7260 has newer drivers than any Broadcom card has.

The last driver for any Broadcom HMC card like yours was from 2016.

It would be a small investment as long as it is not too difficult to get to where the wifi card is to remove and replace it.

Just be very careful removing and reattaching the delicate antenna wires.

Since I was in no hurry to upgrade a Broadcom wifi card to the same Intel 7260 in a HP notebook, I opted to get one from China.  They sell them new for the cheapest price I could find on eBay.

I think it took 2 - 3 weeks for me to get it.

But if you don't want to wait that long, you may be able to still find some for sale in the USA, but I believe they will be considerably more expensive and you may have to buy a used one pulled from a salvaged PC/notebook.

710661-001 | eBay