Pavillion 17 e048CA wireless card upgrade

[HP_Canada_User]

Hi,

I have HP Pavilion  17 e048ca,  AMD Radeon HD 8650G processor and Ralink RT3290 802.11gbn WiFi card.  I bought this computer in 2013 from Best Buy.

I want to upgrade the wireless card on Pavilion 17-e048ca now as it I lags while gaming and feels slower comparing to regular work on newer laptop.

The internet connection is high speed 150Mbps.  Router is suppled by internet service provider and it has dual 2.4Ghz and 5.0GHz connection.

The speed test on my newer HP Pavilion 15-cs2003ca (bought in 2019) shows download speed of 360Mbps speed on 5.0GHz.

Both machines are 1 storey below from the router.

What configuration should I look in the new wireless card that will work flawlessly with my Pavilion 17-e048ca laptop?

Will I have to physically remove or just disable the existing Ralink RT3290 card when installing the new wireless card?

Best Regards.

[banhien]

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@HP_Canada_User wrote:

....  I bought this computer in 2013 from Best Buy.

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@HP_Canada_User 

That means due to the whitelist the chane to upgrade wifi card is very slim or none. Option

      https://www.pcgamer.com/au/best-usb-wi-fi-adapter/

Few weeks ago, for testing, I bought the following wifi card for my 11 years old machine

            https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Networking/Adapters/60514-7265.NGWWB.W

Unfortunately my machine uses different format, not M.2, physically won't fit therefore I went to the shop and swap to the following one (I did not have to pay more, they are same price):

           https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Networking/Adapters/67965-USB-AC53-NANO

And it works perfectly, get same result (download speed) with the 1G wired on same machine.

Regards.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @HP_Canada_User 

Your notebook does not have a BIOS whitelist, and you can upgrade to one of these two dual band wifi cards...

Dual band N:

Broadcom BCM943228HMB 802.11abgn 2×2 Wi-Fi Adapter, Broadcom Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter  HP part # 730668-001

Dual band AC:

Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 combo   HP part # 724935-001

You should be able to find both cards in used but tested and working condition on eBay.

Search by the HP part number, not the model of the wifi card.

Here is the link to the service manual...

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04069163

[HP_Canada_User]

Thanks for the quick reply Paul.

The two BroadCom wireless card you mentioned are not in stock in HP store.  Are these the only two that can work with HP Pavilion 17-e048ca or there are other manufacturer/brands that will work flawlessly with this laptop?

What is a whitelist and how can I figure that out in this laptop?

Thanks.

[HP_Canada_User]

Thanks for the quick reply Banhien.

Is the wireless card you mentioned compatible with my laptop (HP Pavilion 17-e048ca?  How do you figure out what wireless card is compatible with a computer? Whats the information you need to know to make a decision to give it a try?

Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

You would have to buy the cards I referenced on the secondary market.

They are old and HP wouldn't stock those anymore.

No other dual cards but those two would work that I know of.

HP does not publish any info on what models have BIOS whitelists.

We rely on info from other forum members who have installed wifi cards not listed in the service manual and reported that they work.

Based on the information we have collected, all notebooks made in 2011 or earlier have whitelists.

A few models made in 2012 do not have BIOS whitelists.

More than a few models made in 2013 or later do not have BIOS whitelists.

Notebooks made in 2014 or later do not have BIOS whitelists, with a few exceptions.

The 15-eXXX and 17-eXXX notebooks do not have BIOS whitelists, based on reports from other forum members that have installed wifi cards not listed in the service manual for those models.

The 17-eXXX have the 17.1" display and the 15-e's have the 15.6" display.

For example:  This was on an Intel 15-e model, but you normally can't use an Intel card in a notebook with AMD hardware.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/HP-BIOS-Whitelists/m-p/5716994...

And this one where I provided the same info I gave you, but this person was overly cautious and I doubt went through with the upgrade.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Wireless-and-Networking/does-flashing-from-bios-f22-to-f39-re...

[HP_Canada_User]

Thanks Paul.  I checked prices at amazon.  It's around CAD $150 .  I will look for something on affordable price. May be what Banhien mentioned and see if that works.  Thanks for your time an insight you provided.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

That is why I suggested getting the AC card on eBay...$34.00

https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=724935-001&_sop=15

The dual band N card is much less...

https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_odkw=724935-001&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=...

[HP_Canada_User]

Thanks for your time Banhien.  I appreciate it.  I will search for other cards as well.