Upgrade Wifi card

[Poetroo]

Hi ,

I have a HP Notebook : Wndows 8.1 ( 64-bit )

Product Number : K7W82UA
Model No : 15-g020dx
Serial No : (removed content)

My question is :

Can I upgrade the wifi card from a standard Wifi 802.11 b/g/n card , to a 802.11ac/b/g/n wifi card ?
If yes , can you please tell me which 802.11ac/b/g/n wifi card would be an HP Compatible Upgrade ?

Thank you .

[Huffer]

I have some good news and bad news and some more bad news for you.

Here is the Service manual:

Manual

See p. 51. This is a very technical and difficult process involving a lot of disassembly. That is bad news 1. Bad news 2 is that HP may have put only one wireless antenna in your laptop. If that is the case, upgrade is nearly impossible as any card you put in there will be ineffective with one antenna and an 802.11ac card will not work at all. 

The good news is that there is no whitelist. You can install any module of the correct form factor which is half-height mini pci-e like this:

Above is likely the card you have...the dreaded Realtek RTL8188EE which keeps us in business here at the Forum from the volume of issues. 

What you need to do is follow the manual and open it up and check to see if there are 2 antennae or just one. If one, close it up and start thinking about a usb adapter. If 2, then I recommend this:

https://www.amazon.com/AzureWave-Broadcom-BCM94352HMB-BCM94352-867Mbps/dp/B00JY6X9HM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=U...

That will be the best wi-fi card compatible with your AMD processor system and your form factor requirements. 

Post back if you need any more help.

If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it. 

[Poetroo]

Can you please tell me how to find out if it has one or two antennas without opening the notebook ?
Or can you find out that information for me ?

[Huffer]

You also PM'ed me and I answered that there is no way to tell how many antennae without looking. If you do not want to open the laptop, which I fully understand, you have to take it to a shop or forget about the upgrade. 

You can easily insert a usb wireless adapter into one of the usb slots. 

https://www.amazon.com/Amotus-Wireless-802-11ac-10-7-10-11-Receiver/dp/B01FF11QRO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8...

You can turn off the internal card and use this. It is so small it lies flush against the side of the case and is not really visible and they work very well. 

If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it. 

[Poetroo]

I fully intend on following every avenue to successfuly complete the upgrade / conversion .
Can you please inform me of the process to turn off the internal wifi card ?

You are assisting me and it is very important to me , thank you .

[Poetroo]

Can you please inform me of the process to turn off the internal wifi card ?

[Huffer]

Go into device manager and find the wireless adapter, right click and choose disable. You may also be able to turn it off in the BIOS (F10 as you power up). 

[Poetroo]

Thank you , so let's say I disable the internal Wifi .
Will I be able to re-enable it following the same path and method  if I so choose ?

[ On facebook , HP replied in this manner :

The wireless card in that computer is integrated so it can not be removed and replaced. You can check here on page 2 under wireless: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04886216 ]

[Poetroo]

Thank you , so let's say I disable the internal Wifi .
Will I be able to re-enable it following the same path and method  if I so choose ?

Another question is :
Is the mother board and other hardware and the system capable of running 802.11ac Wifi ?

Now , I have listened to what you've said ;
and I equate the following :
On a stretch :
Should I disable the internal Wifi Card ,
And let's take for granted that the notebook is equiped with only " One Wifi antenna , "
Would it then be possible to run 802.11ac Wifi through a USB Wifi Setup ?

The obvious reasoning here is two fold and pertains to both equally , as these two folds will either make a 802.11ac Wifi upgrade possible or impossible :-:

The first matter is ; If the notebook is equiped with one internal Wifi antenna only ,
Could the notebook run 802.11ac/b/g/n if the internal Wifi is disabled and a USB Wifi setup is setup to run 802.11ac/b/g/n ,
Although the notebook is equiped with only one internal Wifi antenna ,
And this is asked obviously with one antenna being related to Wifi 802.11b/g/n being single band ,
And Wifi 802.11ac/b/g/n being ( To accomodate ) dual band and thus being related to two internal Wifi antennas .

The second matter is ;
Should the first matter be resolved in reply that the notebook can take a USB Wifi upgrade to 802.11ac/b/g/n ,
Would the mother board , other hardware and the system in general , then be capable of running 802.11ac/b/g/n Dual Band Wifi ?

In summation :
One can apprectiate how the sum of the various facets and factors are integrated in making up the whole of my question ,
And I thank you in advance for your reply taking all into account within the total sum of the spectrum of my question .

Please bare in mind ,
That HP on Facebook has said that the hardware comprises an integrated 802.11b/g/n Wifi card ,
And thus The Wifi Card cannot be removed and replaced to institute an upgrade ( If an upgrade is proved possible ) ,
But that if an upgrade is proved possible , that a USB Wifi setup would be the only option to achieve the upgrade .

I thank you once again in advance , for taking your time , and utilizing your expertise , in assisting me with your professional advice within your replies , thank you . 
 

[Huffer]

You are way overthinking this and not sure why you went to Facebook but the wireless card is not really integrated. See p. 52 of the Manual and see how it shows actually removing the wireless card? That ain't integrated. See, the people that answer on HP Facebook have likely never had a screwdriver in their hand and taken a laptop apart. So they read from a script. Scripts can be right but in this case not. One antenna will not support an 802.11ac card. It needs 2. So if your system has one antenna it will not support an internal 802.11ac card without adding an antenna, which can be done but is very difficult. Yes, if you disable the wireless card all you have to do is reverse the process to re-enable it if you choose. Yes, the computer will have 802.11ac wireless if you put in a usb wifi module.