Upgrade to 802.11 AC on Older Laptop

[texgeekboy]

I have a HP ENVY 15 inch, model 15t-j100.  In a previous thread I was directed to the maintenance guide for it.  There are multiple network adapters listed in that guide.  The laptop has the Intel Wireless N 7260.  The full description of it from the maintenance guide, verbatim, is;

Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260 802.11 bgn 2x2 Wifi + Bluetooth 4.0 combo adapter

Is it possible to install the following adapter, the wording is verbatim from the maintenance guide;

Intel Dual Band Wireless AC-3160 802.11 ac 11 Wifi + Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Adapter (select models only)

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

You can upgrade to this dual band wifi adapter, which has twice the throughput of the 3160 AC.

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

You can find this model on eBay.  Search by the HP part number, not the model of the WIFI card.

This one I guarantee will work. 😊

[texgeekboy]

Thanks Paul.  I've ordered it.  It won't be here until the end of the month, and with the holidays and all, I might not get to it until mid-December.  I'll post the status after my attempt.

I wouldn't have even considered doing this except that the SSD upgrade to this laptop you helped me with a couple of months ago made it a not-so-bad PC.  This may even make it something that I'll steal back from my wife!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes with a SSD, 16 GB of memory and the Intel 7260 AC wifi card, that is a pretty darn good notebook for its age.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Paul

[texgeekboy]

I just installed the chip you suggested.  Absolutely no problems with the BIOS or the system working with it.  I didn't even have to connect to the internet with a cable to find a driver since it found the proper driver already on my system.  There was a 3-4 times improvement in my download speed.  With that, and the SSD upgrade, that little old laptop is really humming!

The only issue is with the vendor on eBay.  I selected one that said the chip was 'new'.  However, when I got it, the sticker on the package said 'refurb'.  The price of it seemed to be the same as other vendors selling the chip as 'new', so it wasn't a cheapo listing.  I don't use eBay much, so I'm not sure of the return/complaint process, so I'll just let it slide since it worked.  It'll be a long time before I use eBay again though.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That's great news.

Thanks for letting us know how your notebook's WiFi card upgrade project went.