HP Pavilion 15-p077sa - Compatible Network Cards for 5GHz

[Joeshy92]

Hi,

I have a HP Pavilion 15-p077sa, Intel i3 4030U from 2014. I'd like to upgrade the Wi-Fi adapter to give the laptop 5GHz compatibility. The currently installed card is a Broadcom BCM43142 802.11 bgn that only supports 2.4GHz. I'm confident with the procedure, just struggling to nail down a compatible card, I think the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 802.11 ac 1x1 WiFi + BT 4.0 combo adapter, HP Part Number 710662-005 would do but can't find an exact model online, I'm finding parts with different form factors etc.

If someone could confirm what card is compatible and even point me to one for sale it'd be really appreciated.

Thanks,

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

In order to upgrade to a dual band Wi-Fi card where both the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will work properly, your notebook needs to have two antenna wires to connect to the card.

I believe the HP 15-p0xx notebooks with single band Wi-Fi cards only have one antenna wire.

The only way you can find that info out would be to open up the notebook and check the antenna wire count before buying a dual band card.

If you don't care about Bluetooth and don't want to take the notebook apart first, then I recommend this model Wi-Fi card and part number:

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

It should work with one antenna wire (if it turns out that your notebook only has one), but the Bluetooth may not work.

You should be able to find this model Wi-Fi card on eBay.

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

You can also buy the card you referenced in your post, but it only has half the throughput of the 7260AC.

Below is the link to the service manual.

c04402649.pdf (hp.com)

[Joeshy92]

Thanks Paul,

Ive had the laptop open and can confirm you’re correct. There is only 1 antenna cable.

Is it possible to install a 2nd antenna? If not I don’t use Bluetooth very often if at all I might try one of the other options.

Thanks,

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

There are two ways you can add an antenna wire.

The right way which would entail purchasing the correct antenna kit found in chapter 3 of the service manual and taking virtually the whole notebook apart including the display panel to properly run the antenna wire.

The other way, which would be to buy a generic Wi-Fi antenna for a HMC form factor Wi-Fi card and installing it in any manner you want so long as it doesn't touch any metal parts of the motherboard.

The second method would not provide the best reception but for Bluetooth, that may not be an issue, since a person is usually close to the notebook with a Bluetooth device.

You may just want to try out the dual band card with one antenna wire and see how well it works.

Attach the single wire to the wifi card's 'Main' antenna terminal.

[Joeshy92]

Thank you very much for your advise Paul!

I've installed an Intel AC 7260 and it's working perfectly 👌 not tried the bluetooth yet but if it doesn't work I'll try installing dual antennas.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.