Wifi Upgrade for Hp Pavilion 17-1215dx with Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U

[jrfrazier412]

I am looking to upgrade my wifi card for my Hp Pavilion 17-1215dx. It currently has a RealtekRTL8188EE wifi card that only does 2.4 ghz and I want to connect to 5 ghz. Is this possible and if so what would be the part number of the new wifi card?

[visruth]

Hi,


Could you confirm your full model name.

What is the exact product number of your laptop?

With i5 5th gen processor, I would suggest you can go for any Intel AC dual band card provided your laptop has 2 antennas on the WLAN card from factory.

You've to open it up and confirm this yourself.

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11 ac 2x2 WiFi + BT 4.0, HP Part no. 710661-001

Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260AN 802.11 a/b/g/n 2x2 WiFi + BT4.0, HP Part no. 717381-001


Regards

Visruth

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

The model is actually 17-f215dx and it takes a mini-pcie. 

Here's the problem. The motherboard can accept a dual channel 5ghz card BUT your model has only a single wireless antenna. See pages 3-4 of the Manual here.

Manual

All wireless adapters except the Intel AC3160 have a single antenna. This will effectively block any effort to upgrade to something like the Intel 7260ac, which is what you would want, as mentioned by @visruth. The only way to do it would be to completely disassemble the laptop and string a second wireless antenna cable, which is a major chore...basically take it completely apart and rebuild. 

Post back and let us know if you want to do the antenna or if you maybe want some links to usb wireless adapters. 

Don't shoot the messenger here. Not my decision to build it like this just letting you know the lay of the land. 

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

[jrfrazier412]

If possible please provide the steps for adding an additional antenna as well as some usb options. Thank you both for your assistance.

[Huffer]

The Manual I posted shows how to do it. You would need to remove the top cover as if you are changing the hard drive then also remove the display and open the display housing. Find the existing antenna and trace it down through the chassis to the wireless card. You would need to buy another strand of laptop wireless antenna, and they usually come in pairs:

https://www.amazon.com/PORJET-Wireless-Bluetooth-Internal-Antenna/dp/B01E211DLW/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&q...

Just string the second strand so that it connects to the top of the inside of of the display housing on the opposite side from the existing one, trace the wire down the opposite side of the housing and then run the two of them side by side inside the chassis to where they connect to the wireless card. The little plastic channels and clips are already built into the chassis pieces so it is just a matter of tracing it and following the channels. See page 61 in particular. Actually much easier said than done.

USB adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/OURLINK-600Mbps-Wireless-Network-Computer/dp/B011T5IF06/ref=sr_1_5?s=electron...

Much much easier, and these actually pick up a signal very well you just lose the use of one usb port.  

[visruth]

This would also help you:
Click wireless antenna cables removal
Applies to your model series
https://h20574.www2.hp.com/results.htm?SID=6936220&MEID=2B625720-169F-43B2-AAFE-7544CF953F86