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- HP Community
- Notebooks
- Notebook Wireless and Networking
- Wireless card upgrade compatibility list

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05-16-2025 07:49 AM
I want to upgrade the wireless card to 300 Mbps if possible as it is currently limited to 55 Mbps with the factory Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11bgn WiFi Adapter. The ethernet port is limited to 95 Mbps with the Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller. Bluetooth would be nice too if there is a way to add a second antenna. I have revived this 14 year old laptop with a 1 TB SSD, an Intel Core i7-2960XM CPU, and another 4 GB of RAM for 8 total. Is there a list of compatible wireless cards for this old laptop? Any helpful suggestions are appreciated.
05-16-2025 04:11 PM
You're very welcome.
The BIOS whitelist for your model notebook consists of the Realtek 8188GN PCIe Wi-Fi adapter that is listed in the parts list at the link below:
Some models have whitelists that allow for more than one model Wi-Fi card, but not your model.
It may be possible to circumvent the whitelist, but no one here would know how to do that.
You would have to see if someone developed a modified BIOS which removed the BIOS whitelist in your notebook's model series to allow for any model Wi-Fi card to be installed.
The only place I know of where you may be able to find a modified BIOS would be on the BIOS mods website at the link below.
Bios Mods -The Best BIOS Update and Modification Source
In the remote possibility that you are able to find a BIOS mod for your notebook, this would be the best Wi-Fi 6 card you could install: