Wi-Fi module upgrade for 14-dh1015ur

[Z-ion]

Hi all,

I want to change the Wi-Fi+BT card in my laptop (Pavilion x360 14-dh1015ur) to the one that is capable of 2x2 (2 antennas, the second one will appear eventually 🙂 ). But reading the service manual gives me an option only for Realtek RTL8822BE 2x2, no Intel cards with 2x2. And getting the Realtek card is a bit difficult for me (if we are considering this part number - 924813-855 - with all of its HW and FW versions, according to some images on the internet).

But the most interesting thing is that the service manual covers a certain line of models that have 8th Gen Core processors when mine has a 10th Gen Core i5-10210U (not listed in the manual):

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06523509.pdf

Reading one of the threads on this forum one guy was able to put into a laptop with the recommended RTL8822BE an Intel AX200 card and it worked fine. Checking some service manuals for a few models with the same 10th Gen Core CPUs - there were Intel AX201 cards.

So I have two questions:

1. Will my HP Pavilion x360 14-dh1015ur accept and work fine with Intel's AX200 (p/n: L35282-005) OR AX210 (p/n: M27269-005) cards despite the fact that the service manual has only the Realtek RTL8822BE as the most performant card? And maybe only the AX200 will work?

2. As my laptop has an Intel Core i5-10210U that does not support vPro, does it matter if I purchase a Non-vPro card or a vPro enabled card from Intel?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You will have to take a chance on the Intel AX200 non-VPro-- L35282-005

That would be the only wifi card that has any chance of working.

You will need to add a second wifi antenna wire and transceiver in order for the 2 x 2 card to work properly.

Intel cards must be the non-vPro model or they definitely won't work.

vPro is only supported in high end business notebooks and desktops that support Intel vPro technology.

If you decide to buy the card, please let us know if it worked or not.

[Z-ion]

Thanks for the info. Just ordered the AX200 non-vPro version of the card. Most probably will check it on Wednesday (Feb 2nd).

Just in theory, what about the AX210? No chances it will work in my laptop? Does it need something specific from the chipset or CPU?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

It may have been possible for the AX 210 to work, but I didn't have a HP part number for you to try.

I have the AX200 with the part number you bought in my HP 15-ee047nr notebook with an AMD Ryzen processor.

I figured if that card can work in an AMD notebook then it must be pretty versatile.

Since HP only had the older service manual on your notebook's support page and still was only offering the lousy Realtek 8821CE and 8822BE as options, I'm thinking maybe they offered the AX200 in some models in the 14-dh1xxx model series.

What wouldn't work would be the AX201.

Please let us know if the AX 200 worked for your notebook.

[Z-ion · Accepted solution]

So I can confirm, the Intel AX200 Wi-Fi+BT module (AX200.NGWG.NV) is accepted by the laptop 14-dh1015ur. And what is more interesting - I have purchased a "regular" AX200 module from a local reseller, not from a service center and/or parts shop by part number L35282-005. Actually, this number was still written on the module.

Didn't see any problems with it so far - the laptop doesn't throw at me any errors and/or problems before the OS loads, the OS itself can see and work with the Wi-Fi module. Didn't check the BT yet, but I assume it will be fine.

The only thing is that I have put the second antenna (which is just a laptop antenna, not the L51076-001 dual antennas) pretty clunky so that the display module cannot fully fit into the display enclosure. Probably also need to change the tape under the display.

And still, the result is almost expected - the speed of 866,7 Mbps (the max supported by my router) is achievable from a 5m distance, but it is not stable. I think there are 3 reasons for that:

1. According to the labeling of the L51076-001 antennas, I have connected the main antenna (long) to the aux connector, and the aux antenna (short) to the main connector. Not sure if it is a problem, but I will swap them later anyway

2. The fact that I did some soldering (to reduce the length of the antenna wire) and did a small workaround for better fit, may be the main reason for the unstanble speed.

3. The antennas themselves (even the HP ones) are pretty short comparing them to other laptops I have. The longest one even is not 50 cm long. Also, they are placed on the bottom of the display, not the top. But this all is something that I cannot fix, or the display will not fit on the top 🙂

Just because getting L51076-001 antennas is almost impossible for me and the available items on eBay suggest I pay almost $100 to get them lets me with no other option but to modify affordable laptop WiFi antennas to fit into my laptop. Of course, with some soldering.

I will try to do something with the new antenna and see if that will help the speed to be more stable 866,7 Mbps rather than 433,3 Mbps. Any advise may help 🙂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Thanks for the detailed report.

The best wifi reception would be achieved by connecting the original antenna to the wifi card's main antenna terminal.

The aux connection is for additional wifi reception (antenna diversity and for Bluetooth reception).

Since you do not have the correct dual antenna configuration that HP would have installed on a model that had the RTL8822CE 2x2 wifi card for example, my only guess is the second antenna you had to modify is not tuned to get the maximum reception.

You are going to have to expect some signal degradation.

[Z-ion]

Well, what I did in conclusion:

1. Flipped the antenna inside the display enclosure and made it smaller for a better fit. That actually worked just a bit, but now I know how I need to put back the display module to make it sit better.

2. Resoldered the wire, because I have discovered that both contacts (center and shield/ground) were accidentally soldered together. Not sure if that made the signal worse, but I still fixed that so the wires are attached to the appropriate contacts.

3. Swapped the antennas between the main and aux connectors on the Wi-Fi module

As a result, the 866.7 Mbps speed began to show itself frequently. But I also compared the signal strength and speed with one of the older laptops (Asus), which has an Intel 7260 module + 2 antennas from the factory. The biggest difference in antennas, in this case, is that in the Asus laptop the antennas surround the display and are placed on the top of the screen when the HP one has 2-3 times shorter antennas placed on the bottom of the screen. So what was interesting between them:

1. Most important - the signal strength on the HP laptop was lower than on the Asus laptop. I was able to walk a bit around with both laptops, and Asus didn't show me much of a difference within the 7m distance from the router. But the HP laptop had relatively big differences while changing the distance. I have checked by copying a file from a home server to the laptop's SSD drives.

2. The speed fluctuates greatly on both laptops (250-866 Mbps) and doesn't seem to be very dependent on the distance.

And it looked like the 866.7 Mbps speed was appearing on the HP laptop for a longer time than on the Asus laptop.

So my question here is - is it worth getting the original HP antennas (L51076-001) even for $100 (if it still can be delivered)? Or should I just get a new pair of regular antennas (main+aux) and put them into the laptop? For the last part, it is for keeping the wiring and the signal circuit (on the little board) the same.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

$100 is an awful lot of money to spend on a $5 pair of antenna wires.

I wouldn't do it.

You seem to have excellent technical skills, so do the best you can with what you can get for very little money, or stay with the improvements you have already made.

"Лучшее - враг хорошего," Admiral Gorshkov was known for saying.

[Z-ion]

Well, seems like I have no option to get the original antennas - gave it a shot and asked on eBay if they can be delivered to me. The answer was, of course, NO.

In general, using the current setup of antennas is already better than was before with just one antenna.

BTW, doing several changes at once while testing is a bad practice - I have swapped back the main and aux antennas connections making the original HP one (short) the MAIN one, and the new one (long) - the AUX. And you were right, the signal quality became better. I even did several tests in different locations (took 2 hours for that, still worth it) to prove it for myself. So now I think the added antenna is of bad quality or making this additional antenna shorter made it worse. And, surprisingly, the shorter antenna (HP) is better than the longer one. But this still needs proof with normal antennas (if possible) 🙂

So I have decided to purchase a generic pair of antennas with MHF4/IPEX4 connectors. They most probably will be about 50 cm long, and firstly I plan on testing them with their original length to make a better comparison with my old Asus laptop and prove (or not) if longer antennas will make the strength of the signal better. Of course, the chassis will be open as the antennas will not fit with their 50 cm length.

After that test, I will replace the current antennas (as well as the original HP antenna, probably) with the new ones. And wish I will see better local speeds, at least on the same level as the Asus laptop.

PS: Paul, as the original question about the AX200 support in my laptop was solved, should I mark the right answer and close this topic? Or it is OK if I will leave it open for 2-4 weeks more just to provide some results with new antennas and tests?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You can mark the question as solved, but that doesn't lock the thread.

You can post new replies probably for around 6 weeks, as the lock is automatic.

In any event, you can choose what you want to do regarding that matter.

I am interested in reading any follow up reports you make regarding this project as it may help others as well.

I'm glad that you are making progress!