Wi-fi adapter to wi-fi/bluetooth adapter upgrade

[balwill]

Hello,

I have an HP 15-r018dx Laptop. I recently realized after upgrading the memory from 4GB to 16GB that I don't have Bluetooth capability. I currently have a Realtex RTL8188EE 802.11 bgn Wi-fi adapter. 

Can I purchase a Wi-fi and bluetooth combo adapter that will give me bluetooth capability?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

balwill

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Before I can give you an an answer to your question, I need to know how many antenna cables are connected to the RTL8188EE wifi card in there now.

I'm looking to see if you can upgrade to a dual band AC wifi card with bluetooth, but that would require two antenna cables.

Here is the link to the service manual where you can find the wifi card removal and replacement procedure...

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04409502

Do not rely on the picture in the manual.

If it only has one, then there is one model wifi/bluetooth adapter that will work with one antenna cable, but it will only be single band like you have now.

[balwill]

Paul,

Thank you so much for the reply. I am going to check now and see how many antenna cables I have attached. 

I will reply with the answer shortly.

Regards,

balwill

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[balwill]

Paul,

There is only 1 antenna connected to my Wi-Fi adapter

[balwill]

There is only 1 antenna connected to my Wi-Fi adapter

[Paul_Tikkanen]

OK, then you can upgrade to this single band wifi card with bluetooth that was designed to work with only one antenna cable.

Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11bgn 1×1 + BT 4 LE Combo Adapter   HP part # 753077-001

You should be able to find the card in used but tested and working condition on eBay.

Search by the HP part number, not the model of the wifi card.

The wifi card uses the same wifi driver as the RTL8188EE, but you will need the bluetooth driver.

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp98001-98500/sp98266.exe

[balwill]

Thanks Paul.

You ave been a great help. I was on another site earlier today and they had given me Ralink RT3290LE 802.11bgn 1x1 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Adapter 690020-005 as the item I needed to order to accomplish what I was looking to do.

Thanks for your input and I'm going to see if it is available on the HP store Parts.

Kind Regards,

balwill

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

Don't buy the Ralink card because that won't work on W10.

It only worked on the first couple of releases of W10.

While the card I posted isn't in the service manual, it will work.

[balwill]

😀Understood.

Thanks again.

balwill