Wi-Fi card upgrade on Hp 15-AU018ca

[SwiftRun]

Hello

I currently have a Hp Pavilion 15-AU018ca Notebook.

It has the 2.4ghz wifi card installed.

I’d like to upgrade this card to the Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 9260 9260NWG 9260AC NGFF M.2 2230 wifi card 1730mbps 2.4/5ghz Bluetooth 5.0 card.

Problem is there’s only one antenna cable for the old 2.4ghz card.

Does anyone know if there’s enough room to route a 2nd cable with I assume a 5ghz transceiver?

If you do can you post a link for this 5ghz cable and transceiver as well a installation video?

Thanks

Bob

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi, Bob:

That's quite a lot of work to do in order to properly install a 2nd antenna wire and tranceiver.

I suggest you do a direct swap to this dual band AC card that works with just one antenna wire.

Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11 ac 1x1 WiFi + 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 wifi band.

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

I see Intel 3165 AC cards listed at the top of 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 removal and replacement procedures.

HP Pavilion Notebook PC Maintenance and Service Guide

[SwiftRun]

Thanks for the feedback in regards to my Wi-Fi question. 
I’m curious about the Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11 ac card you mentioned. 
I see it’s a single antenna connection which is great. 
But on my hp pavilion that’s setup for 2.4ghz is the transceiver at the end of the antenna cable going to support either the 2.4ghz or 5ghz wifi card?

I was under the impression that I’d need to have both transceivers installed to use both frequencies. 
Or does the Realtek RTK8821CE handle this?

thanks

bob

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

The RTL8821CE is designed to work on both bands with a single antenna wire, and have Bluetooth as well.

It is a 1 x 1 card.

With an AC router, the card has a maximum throughput of 433 MBPS on the 5.0 GHz wifi band, and the same 72 MB/S throughput on the 2.4 GHz wifi band your notebook's Realtek RTL8723BE wifi card has.

Certainly not as good as the 9260 AC but definitely a lot easier to install.