HP 15-ac654TX Wireless upgrade (RTL8723BE)

[Edhuin]

Hey, got a laptop with model 15-ac654TX here looking to upgrade it's wifi chip, after some research I see that usually the RTL8821CE gets recommended: https://www.realtek.com/en/products/communications-network-ics/item/rtl8821ce

Is that the one to go with for this model aswell? If so anything I need to look out for, according to realtek it also supports bluetooth 5.0 instead of the usual 4.2.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, as far as I'm aware that is the only model that will work in a notebook with one antenna wire such as yours.

Folks have tried other cards such as the Intel dual band AC and AX cards and they didn't work.

Here is the information I provide to forum members wanting to upgrade M.2 Wi-Fi cards to dual band and not have to completely disassemble the notebook including the display panel to properly run the second antenna wire.

And in the 15-ac model series I don't know of any other option you have anyway.

Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11 ac 1x1 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.2 Combo Adapter (MU-MIMO supported) HP part # L17365-005.

The card has a maximum throughput of 433 MBPS on the 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi band with an AC router and an excellent signal.

You can find this model on eBay, or Ali Express. 

I see some Intel 3165 cards listed on the eBay listings, so don't buy those.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=L17365-005&_sacat=0&_sop=15

RTL8821CE - Buy RTL8821CE with free shipping on AliExpress

On the Ali Express listings, make sure the card has the HP Part # of 915620-001.

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

HP Notebook PC (Intel)HP 250 G4 Notebook PCHP 256 G4 Notebook PC Maintenance and Service Guide

Interesting...I always thought the card came with BT 4.2.

[Edhuin]

Thanks for the quick response, saw your posts a lot during research Paul, haha.
Yeah I was a bit confused about the bluetooth 4.2 vs 5.0 thing, I thought maybe there was a new revision or something since realtek claims it supports 5.0 on their product page.

On the product page the manual leads me to the one for the HP 250 G4, which lists the following chips:
Support for the following WLAN formats:
● Realtek RTL8188EE 802.11bgn 1x1 Wi-Fi Adapter
● Realtek RT8723BE 802.11bgn 1x1 Wi-Fi + BT4.0 Combo Adapter
● Broadcom BCM43142 802.11 bgn 1x1 Wi-Fi + BT4.0 HMC Combo Adapter
● Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 802.11 ac 1x1 WiFi + BT 4.0 Combo Adapter

So not sure if there would also be an intel or broadcom upgrade path.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I don't know of any Broadcom dual band M.2 AC cards.

I know that HP doesn't use any.

The Intel Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 card listed in the service manual should work but you won't have any Bluetooth with that card since it requires two antenna wires.

The 1st three are single band cards.

While the RTL8821CE is not on the list of supported Wi-Fi adapters in the service manual, it does work according to other forum member's inputs, such as the one below, and you get Wi-Fi and BT from the single antenna connection.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Wi-Fi-adapter-upgrade/m-p/8450... 

Personally, I believe that the Intel card is 'better' but not in terms of throughput.

It has the same throughput as the RTL8821CE.

I prefer Intel cards in all of my PC's.

However, I do have two HP 255 G7 notebooks with the RTL8821CE and they both work fine with it.

[Edhuin]

Hey finally got to try the WIFI card, unfortunately it does not seem to work. Getting erorr message on boot:
Wireless Module not supported
Bluetooth Module ID (704)
Part number on the card is 915620-001.

Since the manuals refer to the HP 250 G4 model, which has a newer bios then the product page for the HP 15-ac654TX, would that bios work on said model?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I'm very surprised and sorry that the card didn't work when it worked for other 15-acXXX notebooks even of the earlier series, such as in the discussion I had posted in my first reply as well as others, such as this one.

Solved: Re: Upgrade Wi fi adapter in Hp laptop - HP Support Community - 8323292

The 250 G4 is the business class equivalent of your notebook and uses the same BIOS family but I don't know if the newer BIOS update will work in the 15-acXXX model series.

But HP quit releasing BIOS updates at F.29 for your notebook's model series (and is the same softpaq # as the F.29 update on the 250 G4's support page) and F.32 for the 250 G4.

However, the only BIOS update that I could find that adds support for a new model Wi-Fi adapter was F.1A way back in 2015.

Under those circumstances, I don't know if the F.32 BIOS update is worth the risk of wrecking your notebook if it doesn't work.

That would be entirely up to you to take the risk.

[Edhuin]

Hmm I see, thanks for the quick reply. I might give the bios a shot but looking at my options here it seems like the best way to go about it would be an external wifi adapter, seeing how there's at least one usb 3.0 port according to the specs: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05030933

Also looking at the error message it might be that just the bluetooth part of the wifi card is whitelisted.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I am really baffled as to why the card didn't work.

It should have worked.  It has in both the 250 G4s and 15-ac notebooks.

Yes, you can use a dual band USB Wi-Fi adapter which would not be affected by any BIOS whitelist.

They have some pretty small ones for sale that hardly stick out of the USB port.

I bought one of these for a desktop PC that can't have an internal Wi-Fi card installed without doing a ton of work to add the two antenna wires, and it even has Bluetooth.

RUIZHI Bluetooth Dongle, WLAN USB Stick AC600 Mbit/s USB WLAN Adapter PC Dual Band 2.4G/5.8GHz, Inte...

[Edhuin · Accepted solution]

Updating the bios did not help but I tried the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 model and that is working! it's a 2x2 card but the store I picked it up from managed to install a second antenna.

There was an issue with bluetooth, on total power loss as in no battery connected etc, bluetooth would turn itself off in the bios / is being turned off by the mainboard. This was fixed by tapping PIN 54-56 on the card, as described here: https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Intel-AC-7265-NGW-Lost-Bluetooth-functionality/m-p/1192166#M...

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That's great news, and you ended up with a better performing card than the RTL8821CE.