Slow wireless speed on HP Envy 15 Product Number G7Z03AV ‎with Atheros 9485 network adapter 2.4 GHz

[hp_2202]

On my wireless network using xfinity speed test I get speeds of 400 Mbps on my iphone and ipad on 5 GHz band but on my Envy laptop I get max  wireless speed of 26 Mbps. It has a qualcomm Atheros AR9485 with 802.11 n protocol network card, Although 2.4 Ghz with 802.11 n protocol is billed as achieving speeds of up to 300 mbps, I am not even getting 30 mbps. why is that so?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

There is more to it than what the wireless protocol specs are.

You have to consider the specs of the Atheros wifi card, the signal strength, etc.

The Atheros AR9485 802.11b/g/n 1x1 WiFi adapter your notebook has is a single band (2.4 GHz) only wifi adapter.

The 1 x 1 spec means that it has a maximum throughput of 72 MBPS.

30 MBPS is a little low.  50 MBPS with a good to excellent signal would be about average.

You notebook may only have one wifi antenna connected to the Atheros wifi adapter, which was designed to run better with two antenna cables connected to it.  That would also affect the performance.

Of a lesser consideration, but still could be a factor, is that card is barely supported for W10.  The last driver for it is probably over 3 years old.

If there are two antenna cables connected to the Atheros wifi adapter, I would recommend you upgrade the wifi card.

Here is the card I recommend...

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

The card is readily available on eBay or Amazon.

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

Below is the link to the service manual.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04409752

[hp_2202]

Thanks for the info

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.