Wireless upgrade

[hanbangoo]

Hi,

My HP envy 750-150xt desktop is currently using Broadcom BCM43142  802.11 bgn Wifi adapter, which only supports 2.4GHz. I wonder how I can get a compatible upgrade for 5GHz wireless. Also, can you provide instructions on how to install the card if possible?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

The first thing you need to confirm in order to upgrade the current wifi card to a dual band one would be to make sure there are two antenna cables connected to the Broadcom wifi card in there now.

If there is only one, then you can't upgrade to a dual band wifi card, and the easiest thing to do would be to purchase an external dual band USB wifi AC adapter.

Here is the service manual for your PC.  There isn't a procedure to R & R the wifi card.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06087806

The wifi card will be laying flat on the motherboard, with one or two thin and delicate antenna cables connected to one or both of the gold terminals.

The card should be held down by one philips head screw.

Let me know what you find, and if there are two antenna cables connected to the wifi card, I will give you a suggested upgrade.

[hanbangoo]

Thanks for the quick response! I can confirm that there are 2 antenna cables connected to the wifi card.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

That is good news...You can upgrade to this wifi card...

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

That model should be readily available on Amazon or eBay. Shouldn't cost more than $20 - $30.

Do your search by the HP part number, not the model of the wireless card.

Before installing the Intel card, uninstall the Broadcom wifi and bluetooth drivers in the device manager.

Also uninstall the BCM bluetooth software in the windows control panel>programs, if it is also listed there.

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

Use care with removing and replacing the antenna cables.

They are delicate.  The ends just snap on over the terminals.

[hanbangoo]

Appreciate the help! I searched for this product on ebay and amazon but this card seems to be for laptops? Just want to make sure that this is a card that I can use for my desktop.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

The card in your PC right now is for a laptop, as are most of the wifi cards used in desktop PC's for the last 7 years or so.

[hanbangoo]

Didn't know that! Thanks for the time, I really appreciate the help and prompt responses

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Please post back and let us know how the wifi card upgrade went.