Upgrade WiFi on a 15-EH0017na laptop

[NJH60]

Hi, I am having inconsistent WiFi performance on my laptop, with the speed often dropping over time so I decided to upgrade the WiFi card. I am sure I saw a post somewhere on the internet that the Intel AX210NGW would be compatible, so I bought one. I only have WiFi6 at home but thought I'd go for the AX210 (6E capable) over the AX200 just for future proofing for the sake of a couple of pounds more.

I've just tried fitting the card and installing the drivers but in Device Manager I see a yellow warning triangle and a message "The device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device".

I have not tried deleting the current card's drivers (RTL8821CE) first as I have seen in a couple of videos. Should the AX210NGW be OK in my laptop, and if so, how can I fix the problem?

Not quite related, but I am sure the RTL8821CE also provides Bluetooth but does not have antenna 2 connected. Does it not need antenna 2? When I removed the card I lost Bluetooth so I am sure it is provided by the card.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

The AX210 doesn't work in most HP notebooks with AMD processors.

The installation is plug and play, so there is a compatibility issue.

You can try uninstalling the Realtek Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices and drivers as they show as hidden in the device manager, and see if that makes a difference.

Without two antenna wires, the Intel AX210 and AX200 will not have any Bluetooth reception.

I do see that HP does offer the Intel AX200 card in the 15-eh0xxx model series as indicated in the parts list for this model:

HP PartSurfer

So if you can do without Bluetooth the Intel AX200 should probably work.

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 802.11ax 2 × 2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 5 (non-vPro)    HP part #/Intel SPS # L35282-005

Have you installed the latest driver for the Realtek 8821CE card?

Version 2024.10.230.600 

sp162860.exe

[NJH60]

Thanks for the reply. From what I've found on the internet, the AUX antenna (antenna 1) is WiFi+Bluetooth and the Main antenna (antenna 2) is WiFi only, so I was hoping to get away with just antenna 1. I've shut all the links down so I'd need to look them up again. I can look at getting an extra antenna as I found links on the forum.

For the RTL8821CE, my driver is 2024.10.228.3, wither from Windows Update or from HP Update. I'll try yours, but either way its maximum connection speed is 433Mbps which I often see, but I am currently connecting at 260Mbps and sometimes 390Mbps. There is only a closed cheap hollow door between me and the WAP and I rarely get transfer speeds above 200Mbps, even when connected at 433Mbps. I was hoping the AX210 would be a step improvement.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes the RTL8821CE's maximum throughput is limited to 433 MBPS but the driver update may improve stability.

[NJH60]

I tried uninstalling the Realtek WiFi and Bluetooth drivers before removing the Realtek card and it didn't help. The AX210 Bluetooth works fine irrespective of which antenna is connected. The WiFi still gives a driver error no matter what I do with removing drivers/rebooting/reinstalling the Intel stock drivers.

Before I go down an AX200 rabbit hole as well, do you, by any chance, have the HP AX200 driver for this laptop? Otherwise I'll be stuck with the Intel stock driver.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

It's not going to matter if you use the HP or Intel driver.

The latest Intel driver HP has is this one from 3 years ago on your notebook's support page:

This driver is also supports multiple Intel Wi-Fi adapters and I will bet my bottom dollar it will do nothing to get the AX210 to work.

HP Pavilion Laptop PC 15-eh0000 Software and Driver Details

[NJH60]

Thanks. I'd just found it. It looks like it supports the AX200 and AX210 so I'll give the AX210 a go again. I guess I need the Intel Bluetooth driver in parallel.

FWIW the Realtek driver you gave me is not any better. When I resume Windoze I still have to often disable then re-enable WiFi to get a sensible speed. I've also tried plugging in a spare WAP from my mesh. It is less than 1m from me, connects at the maximum 433Mbps but the fastest transfer it can is only just over 200Mbps when it is doing well. Last time, after a resume, it was less than 50Mbps.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Here is the Intel Bluetooth driver:

HP Pavilion Laptop PC 15-eh0000 Software and Driver Details

It's really a shame those Realtek cards are no good.

[NJH60]

It's gone from bad to worse. I removed the RTL8821CE drivers and then shut down and removed the card. I installed the AX210 and it was not recognised in the Network section of Device Manager. I then installed HP's AX210 drivers and the card still does not show up in the Network section of Device Manager. I can see it in the Bluetooth section and it is working with bluetooth. I've tried swapping the AX210 with another second one and I've tried installing the later Intel stock drivers, but it is not recognising either AX210 as a Network device.

Puzzled!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Time to go down the rabbit hole with this card and part number:

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 802.11ax 2 × 2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 5 (non-vPro)    HP part #/Intel SPS # L35282-005

Chapter 3, page 17 of the maintenance and service guide has the list of Wi-Fi cards HP offered in the model series and I had posted the link to the parts list the other day for a 15-eh0xxx that came with the AX200.

HP Pavilion PC 15-eh0000 | Maintenance and Service Guide - Page 1

Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac 1 × 1 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.2                          L17365-005

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 802.11ax 2 × 2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 5 (non-vPro)         L35282-005

Realtek RTL8822CE 802.11ac 2 × 2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 5                              L44796-005