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‎08-07-2016 07:56 AM - edited ‎08-07-2016 07:58 AM

HP Recommended
Product: ENVY 17-j101, Pavilion 15-e045
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

Hi everyone,

 

I am new to these forums so I apologise if I am not using it correctly.

 

I would like to enquire about the suitability of replacing the existing Wi-Fi cards on two HP machines with Intel Dual Band 7260-ac cards. The reason I am looking into replacing the cards is to take advantage of the 5GHz speeds offered by my new home hub, and to rid myself of the sub-par speeds that I currently get with the existing Realtek/Ralink cards.

 

I have tried contacting HP Support through Facebook and Twitter but they have so far been unresponsive, so I am therefore posting to these forums in the hope that I get a speedier response.

 

Having searched through the forums, I have seen plenty of posts regarding HP whitelists, and due to fears of wasting my money over cards that may be rejected by any potential BIOS whitelists that could exist on the machines listed below, I hope to get clarification on whether those exist anymore, or whether there is more compatibility and/or more flexibility than there previously was.  The models of the laptops in question are listed as follows:


1. HP ENVY 17-j101sa (Product Number: F5C76EA#ABU)
2. HP Pavilion 15-e045sa (Product Number: D9V25EA#ABU)


I hope you can get back to me with confirmation of whether or not an upgrade is possible, and I hope you can let me know if these devices currently have BIOS whitelists (both machines' BIOS are up to date).

 

I would appreciate any evidence (if you own the same or similar machines and have undergone a similar or the same upgrade) just to put my mind at rest prior to making any purchases, however, I will appreciate any replies that may be unsubstantiated but that may be informed from a technical perspective (or simply from experience).


Thanks in advance!

1 person had the same question
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

‎08-07-2016 08:49 AM

HP Recommended

Hi:

 

The J101, yes, you can install the 7260 AC, if your notebook has two antennas currently attached to the wlan card in there now.  Other forum members have done so successfully in the 15t and 17t-j100 notebook series.

 

The 15-e045sa, probably yes as well, if the notebook has two antennas currently attached to the wlan card in there now.

 

No one knows for sure when HP removed the BIOS whitelists but it was sometime in 2013, and HP will not divulge this info.

 

Now they make things just as difficult...on the newer models with single band wireless cards, most of them only have one antenna present.

 

Dual band cards require two antennas in order to work correctly.

 

Now what I would do if I were you, would be to order one card for the j101, and try it in the e045.  If it works, then get another one for the e045.

 

 

 

 

View solution in original post

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8 REPLIES 8

‎08-07-2016 08:49 AM

HP Recommended

Hi:

 

The J101, yes, you can install the 7260 AC, if your notebook has two antennas currently attached to the wlan card in there now.  Other forum members have done so successfully in the 15t and 17t-j100 notebook series.

 

The 15-e045sa, probably yes as well, if the notebook has two antennas currently attached to the wlan card in there now.

 

No one knows for sure when HP removed the BIOS whitelists but it was sometime in 2013, and HP will not divulge this info.

 

Now they make things just as difficult...on the newer models with single band wireless cards, most of them only have one antenna present.

 

Dual band cards require two antennas in order to work correctly.

 

Now what I would do if I were you, would be to order one card for the j101, and try it in the e045.  If it works, then get another one for the e045.

 

 

 

 

Was this reply helpful? Yes No

‎08-07-2016 09:38 AM

HP Recommended
@Paul_Tikkanen wrote:

Hi:

 

The J101, yes, you can install the 7260 AC, if your notebook has two antennas currently attached to the wlan card in there now.  Other forum members have done so successfully in the 15t and 17t-j100 notebook series.

 

The 15-e045sa, probably yes as well, if the notebook has two antennas currently attached to the wlan card in there now.

 

No one knows for sure when HP removed the BIOS whitelists but it was sometime in 2013, and HP will not divulge this info.

 

Now they make things just as difficult...on the newer models with single band wireless cards, most of them only have one antenna present.

 

Dual band cards require two antennas in order to work correctly.

 

Now what I would do if I were you, would be to order one card for the j101, and try it in the e045.  If it works, then get another one for the e045.

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much Paul!

 

I will go ahead and place an order for the card and then update this thread once I've received and tested it on both machines!

 

All the best.

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‎08-07-2016 09:52 AM - edited ‎08-07-2016 09:54 AM

HP Recommended

You're very welcome.

 

I test out cards by just unscrewing the original one and leaving the antennas connected to it.

 

Then I pop in the card I want to test, and if the BIOS doesn't reject it and it shows up in the device manager as a network controller, then I know the card should work once I attach the antennas and install the drivers.

 

That way, I am not messing around removing and replacing those delicate antenna connectors more than I have to.

 

And remember that you will need an AC router to derive any benefit from an AC card.

 

Some of them don't even work with 5.0 GHz wireless N router band--only the 2.4 GHz band.

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‎08-07-2016 09:59 AM

HP Recommended
@Paul_Tikkanen wrote:

You're very welcome.

 

I test out cards by just unscrewing the original one and leaving the antennas connected to it.

 

Then I pop in the card I want to test, and if the BIOS doesn't reject it and it shows up in the device manager as a network controller, then I know the card should work once I attach the antennas and install the drivers.

 

That way, I am not messing around removing and replacing those delicate antenna connectors more than I have to.

 

And remember that you will need an AC router to derive any benefit from an AC card.

 

Some of them don't even work with 5.0 GHz wireless N router band--only the 2.4 GHz band.

Thanks again!

 

I really appreciate your time and advice. You've been fantastic.

 

I have the BT Home Hub 5 (UK service provider's hub) which uses 802.11ac wireless networking so this new card should give me access to better speeds on the 5GHz band.

 

All the best.

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‎08-07-2016 10:03 AM

HP Recommended

Anytime.

 

Glad to have been of assistance.

 

Looking forward to reading your wlan card upgrade feedback.

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‎08-10-2016 10:11 AM

HP Recommended
@Paul_Tikkanen wrote:

Anytime.

 

Glad to have been of assistance.

 

Looking forward to reading your wlan card upgrade feedback.

Hi Paul,

 

I've got some good news for you and for any readers curious to know about the results of my wlan card upgrade (to the Intel 7260ac card).

 

It worked! Both on the Envy and Pavilion machines listed in the first post.

 

Thanks a lot for encouraging me to perform the upgrade, it paid off (I now get my full internet speeds from my home hub).

 

All the best!

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‎08-10-2016 10:13 AM

HP Recommended

That is great news!

 

Enjoy your faster wireless connection speeds.

 

If you have not done so already, don't forget to install the Intel bluetooth driver for those cards.

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‎11-02-2016 08:58 AM

HP Recommended

Hi everyone,

 

How about if your notebook PC has a whitelist and you know your pc does work with an intel wireless a/c card but you bump into the whitelist problem and the BIOS rejects your new card, even if you know it works. How do you overcome that whitelist obstruction?

 

Thanks,

 

Linux is better than Windows.
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