HP Notebook 15s-fq1505na wifi 6 upgrade?

[roofift]

Hi, does anyone know if I can replace the wireless card in the laptop with a newer wifi6 one? If so, does it need to be a specific type? Thanks!

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

The product specs for your notebook indicate that it comes with a Realtek RTL8821CE Wi-Fi adapter.

Since your notebook only has one Wi-Fi antenna wire, the only Wi-Fi 6 card that I know of that might work with a single antenna wire is this one:

Realtek Wi-Fi 6 RTL8852BE-VS + Bluetooth 5.3   HP part # N26166-005

The card is out of stock from HP, and I didn't see any listed for sale on eBay UK, so I don't know where else you can find one.

The HP Parts Store - HP Computer Parts - HP Printer Parts - HP parts - hp batteries - SSD - printhea...

Maybe you can find a US eBay seller that will ship the card to the UK

N26166-005 for sale | eBay

Below is the link to the service manual where you can find the Wi-Fi card removal and replacement procedure.

Maintenance and Service Guide HP 15 Laptop PC

Here's the service teardown video:

Removing & replacing parts for HP 15-dy0000 Laptop PC | HP Computer Service (youtube.com)

[roofift]

Great, thanks. Will this one work?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256570553004?itmmeta=01J3QS03KKGETBRWNFEDDB9KGT&hash=item3bbccbf2ac:g:duk...

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, that's the right card.

I wonder why I couldn't find any on eBay, UK...

It was not listed as a supported card in the model series but hopefully it will work anyway.

Here's the link to the latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers for the Realtek AX card, and they would also work for your RTL8821CE:

Realtek RTL8xxx Wireless LAN Drivers 

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp153001-153500/sp153227.exe 

Realtek RTL8xxx Series Bluetooth Driver

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp151501-152000/sp151800.exe 

[roofift]

Wow, you have been extremely helpful. I need to download those and install before I install the card correct?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Yes, I would do that because I doubt that W11 has the driver for that model Wi-Fi card in its driver database files.

That card is a pretty new model.

I just found out about that card's design yesterday when another forum member showed a screenshot of that model card installed in their notebook (a newer model notebook than yours).

My assumption was that all Wi-Fi 6/6E cards needed to work with two antenna wires and they all had two antenna terminals.

Live and learn.

[roofift]

Great! I'm surprised there is no Intel WIFI6 card that will fit in the laptop. Is my laptop that old?

I only ask as I use Geforce Now with it and I'm getting tired of the terrible connections that I keep experiencing and looking online, people are saying WIFI 6 has solved their issues so I'm hoping it will for me 🙂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I'm thinking that if you install the driver I posted, it will help the RTL8821CE work better.

It installs version 2024.10.229.0    05/16/2024 and I'm willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that your notebook doesn't have that driver version installed.

If your notebook had come with the RTL8822CE 2 x 2 Wi-Fi adapter, I definitely would have recommended the Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E card, but installing a second antenna wire takes a lot of disassembly work and you would need to order the dual antenna kit listed in chapter 3 of the service manual and use the missing second antenna wire from the kit to install.

If you want to go through all of that work, then order this card instead:

Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E 2x2 AX + Bluetooth 5.2 M.2 2230 non-vPro   HP part # / SPS # M27269-005

[roofift]

Sounds like too much hassle for me lol.

I've ordered that part so hopefully, will be a nice little boost. I'll also update my current card later.

Thanks for all your help!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Looking forward to reading about the results of your notebook's wifi card upgrade project.

If it works for you, I will be able to recommend that card to other forum members with M.2 cards that only come with one antenna wire.