Wifi Card Upgrade

[Signman59]

Hi... Was wondering if anyone could help ?

I wanted to upgrade my WiFi card in the above mentioned Laptop from the standard wireless N-2230 to a dual band card.

After doing some research l was pretty sure what l needed was a 7260ac card. I bought one off eBay and it was easy enough to install but the problem is it never worked, it didn't even show up in Device Manager under Network Adapters although the Bluetooth seemed to work OK.

I was sent a 7260ac card but received one with just a random SPS number which is 756753-001-OB.

My Question is, is the 7260ac compatible with my Laptop and if so does anyone know what SPS number it should be or is it completely the wrong card altogether and is it even possible to upgrade this model Laptop  ?

Thank you for any help. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Since your notebook has an Intel core processor and chipset, it should have worked.

See this discussion...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/HP-BIOS-Whitelists/m-p/5716994...

Why it didn't, that I do not know.

The card that usually works is this model/part number:

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

I don't think it would have made a difference with the SPS number you got, so I would try a different brand card.

Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 combo  HP part # 724935-001.

If you want to try a cheaper dual band N card, you can see if this one works...

Broadcom BCM943228HMB 802.11 a/b/g/n 2x2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 combo   HP part # 730668-001

[Signman59]

Hi, Thanks so much for your reply.

Yes I did think it would of worked I might actually try again, I was thinking should I have downloaded the drivers before installing the card ? the only reason I didn't was because I had seen YouTube videos where the drivers were detected automatically after the laptop booted up. In your opinion could that of been the cause as I had no internet connection at all for it to find the driver and as I said in the previous post it didn't show in device manager either.

Also I don't have a dual band modem/router as yet I wanted to see if the card worked first.

If you think that could of been a possible cause could you recommend a link to get the drivers please.

Thank you for your help so far.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

The wifi card should have shown up in the device manager since the Bluetooth did.

You do not need to install the drivers, and since there is no Network Controller device listed in the device manager either--(indicating the wifi is missing the driver), one of two things is wrong...

1.  The wifi part of the card is dead/defective.

2.  it is not compatible for some reason or another, and as I wrote earlier, it should have worked.

The card will work on the 2.4 GHz router.  Just not the AC (5.0 GHz) setting.

[Signman59]

Hi Thanks for your help, I tried the adapter again but downloaded the drivers first.

After l installed the card I run the driver and it ended up showing in device manager then reconnected to my WiFi and Bingo it worked, so it did actually need the drivers for it to work.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

That is great news.

Never heard of that happening before.

Usually if the wifi card needs a driver, it shows up in the device manager under an Other Devices category as a Network Controller.

Enjoy the faster wifi speeds.

[Signman59]

OK yes certainly seems weird.

Just another question if you don't mind as far as ram goes for the same laptop. I have 2 slots one 8 gig so have a slot spare, can I put another 8 gig of ram in this machine to make it 16 gig and if so would you know the best one to choose for it ?

And is it best to have both the same instead of mixing them, so basically if I can upgrade to 16 gig would it be best to buy 2 8gig's sticks of the same make or it doesn't matter if l keep what's in there and just buy another stick ?

Thanks again for your help.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, you can install a max of 2 x 8 GB of memory in your notebook.

This is the compatible Crucial memory chip for your model...hopefully you can find one for sale in Australia.

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr3/ct102464bf160b/ct6608628

I would just add the 8 GB chip to the existing one and see if it works.  It usually does.

[Signman59]

That's great thank you once again 🙂

I'II Check it out there are plenty of places I would be able to purchase it here.

Have a great day.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

You have a great day too!