HP Pavilion 15 laptop - WiFi/WLAN card upgrade help

spotify95 · 03 Jun 2021

itsme1 said:

Hello
Yes it will work well I did it on my 17 inch laptop. On this laptop I had an intel 1x1 wifi adapter with two antennas, I changed to a 2x2 adapter. When I disconnected the two antennas to change the wifi adapter, one of the two male connectors of the 1x1 adapter has unsoldered and got stuck in the female connector of the antenna. Temporarily I put an antenna on the keyboard side, in browser favorites I put a link for two 70cm antennas from Aliexpress.com and I have dell's guide to change the wifi antennas.
The internet speed is good, download 450 to 530 Mbps, it varies depending on the days and the servers, Upload 360 Mbps. These are good real speeds for 2x2 ac wifi.
If you use an antenna that ends in a pigtail with a metal sticker, be careful that it does not touch any components on the printed circuit board.

Hello,

Thank you for letting me know and glad to hear that it all worked out well! I already have a suitable wireless card (Intel Wireless AC 7260) and today I got a suitable antenna. It's an original antenna, as it was taken from a HP 15-p189na, the same model of laptop that needs the wireless card upgrade.

Mine has the antennae part connected to the inner coax, and the outer/braid has a metal (copper color?) sticker/piece like what you describe; why do they do this? Is it for grounding? Is it to get a better signal? Does it have to be connected to anything?

Given that I have to remove the motherboard, in order to upgrade the RAM, part of me is thinking about just disassembling the display, and sticking the antennae behind the display, like the factory installed antennae. Is there a better way to install it, whilst making sure it won't short out anything on the motherboard?

Once I've done everything, I'll test the wi-fi speeds again - should be better than the 30-60Mbps I was getting (under full strength), and means I can then do away with the USB 5GHz module.

itsme1 · 03 Jun 2021

When there are two original antennas in a laptop, there is almost always one antenna that is longer than the other. While facing the computer the wifi adapter will be either to the right or to the left, from the position of the wifi adapter the 2 antennas will pass from the motherboard side to the screen side together then one will go to the left and the other to the right along the bottom of the screen and go up on each side.

On the screen side there should be tabs to hold the antennas, as the computer is designed for an antenna you should use electrician's tights to hold the second antenna. But it is possible that there are lugs for a second antenna if the same reference of your laptop was also sold with a wifi adapter with 2 antennas.

You must take care that there is enough space for 2 antennas where the 2 antennas will pass from the motherboard side to the screen side. If not you will have to widen the space a little to fit the 2 antennas together with a hacksaw blade or a small round metal file, I only see that as tools to do it.

I don't know what the metal of the sticker is for, but what is certain is that it must make the end of the antenna stick to the plastic. If it no longer sticks, secure it with electricians' tights. If you pass the antenna behind the screen you don't have to worry about shorting the motherboard, make sure the metal sticker is stuck well behind the screen.

If you pass the second antenna on the same side of the first antenna then make sure that their metal sticker does not touch each other, stick one lower than the other.

edit: No it must not be connected somewhere.