Replace Centrino 2230 with 7260?

[musicrabuk]

Hi, my Centrino 2230 card has gone down - 90% sure anyway. Lots of debugging - removed driver, updated driver etc.  Symptoms are losing the wifi conenction regularly - main error is not being able to release and renew IP address;  USB wifi dongle works; tethered phone works;   Has been a problem since about 15 July.  Could be Miscrosoft messing about I suppose.

Anyway, form factors of these cards is the same, so I'm hoping the upgraded 7260 will work. 

[Huffer]

Need exact model so we can assess how likely it is you have the HP whitelist in the BIOS restricting your wireless card options. Don't buy anything yet. 

[musicrabuk]

Thanks its a Pavilion m6  B3Z95EA#ABU

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

2d gen Intel Core (i3) is going to still have a whitelist so the only adapters you can have are the ones listed in the Service Manual and it MUST be an HP Part, not just the same chip from another brand of laptop. 

Manual

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @musicrabuk :

I am going to chime in here, and ask you if you want to take a bold experiment on behalf of the community.

You may be risking the loss of 20 quid or so, but I wouldn't be suggesting this if I didn't believe you had a shot at winning.

While your notebook has a 2nd generation core processor, it does have the mobile intel series 7 chipset.

The successor to your model..the dv6/7-7000 series with Intel processors, with the mobile Intel series 7 chipsets, can all take the Intel 7260 N or AC wireless card, which works just fine on W7 - W10.

So, here are the HP part numbers you can try, if you are game...

AC:

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11 ac 2x2 WiFi + BT 4.0                 HP Part #710661-001

 N:

Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260AN 802.11 a/b/g/n 2x2 WiFi + BT4.0    HP Part #717381-001

You should be able to readily find either card on Amazon or eBay.

Do your search by the HP part number, not the model of the card.

Here is one testimonial that shows I am correct about the dv6/7-7000 model series.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Wireless-and-Networking/Intel-Centrino-Wireless-N-2230-altern...

[musicrabuk]

Thanks.  A bit strange how the original Centrino card has been fine under W10 for a couple of years.  Anyway , may experiment as you have suggested, or stick to a USB dongle which is currently plugged in.  Cheers.

[Huffer]

Your model is a generation older than the dv6/7-7000 series, which we already knew is free of the whitelist but it is 3rd gen. Since HP has never given us a definitive list of models that do and don't have the whitelist I am also curious if a non-listed adapter will work in yours. 

Its not just a matter of the driver, which Windows 10 would clearly provide. Its a matter of will the laptop even POST past the "unsupported wireless adapter" message? I am thinking not to the extent I will not suggest you venture the money for the adapter. If I happened to need one, I would offer to buy it from you if it failed, but I do not.  

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Steve:

The m6 is a generation newer (or at the very least equivalent) than the dv6/7 7xxx.

Most of them come with third generation core processors, but some of the less expensive models have the 2nd generation i3's in them, which are upward compatible with the series 7 chipsets.

That made them a budget-friendly option, and probably a step better than equipping the model with a celeron or pentium processor.

Click on the specs tab for a typical m6-1000 model.

https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-pavilion-m6t-1000

[Huffer]

OK I think equivalent is correct and that being the case I am going to say if it works in the dv7-7000 it will work in this m6. On further review I think the motherboards are essentially the same. 

[musicrabuk]

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@Paul_Tikkanen wrote:

Hi, @musicrabuk :

I am going to chime in here, and ask you if you want to take a bold experiment on behalf of the community...

 

 N:

Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260AN 802.11 a/b/g/n 2x2 WiFi + BT4.0    HP Part #717381-001

---

Bought this off Ebay (link at bottom); I was going to advise as soon as I saw this on Ebay but thought I'd ty it first.  There was a minor postage delay but received and isntalled this morning; I allowed Windows Update to doits thing (running latest W10) and it installed Intel driver as follows :-

Description:    Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-N 7260
Driver version:    18.33.7.2

It appears to have have fixed my problem (Centrino wifi dropping out); bargain fix for the princely sum of £2.95

(You do have to credit Ebay for providing a great market for this kind of stuff; the fan failed on this laptop last week too - replacement was £8)

Ebay link (lots available)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-ELITEBOOK-840-G1-WIRELESS-CARD-N-7260AN/272773757148/

Cheers!