Upgrade wifi card?

[*Chazz]

Hey guys,

 

I have a laptop that was manufactured back from 2013. It has 8gb ram, and an i5-3337ui cpu in it. It works great for me and I plan to use it until the plastic body finally gives up. In case you were wondering the make is a Sony Viao and runs Windows 10.

 

I currently live in a studio apartment and the 2.4 wifi here is terrible. My cousin just recently purchase a new laptop that does 5.8ghz and he has great wifi. Soo, the option is to pay $15 every month to have ethernet wired our room or I could invest in a better wifi card. 

 

My only reservation is whether it easy or seamless to add a 5.8ghz card to my laptop. Would I need to switch out the antenna or something like that or simply pull the back cover and pop in a compatible card. It would be great if that were the case but I hope to hear from you guys have to say and whether it is really worth it. Cheers many thanks for the help in advanced.

 

 

 

 

 

[BubblyCharizard]

5 minutes ago, *Chazz said:

Soo, the option is to pay $15 every month to have ethernet wired our room

why $15 a month? it should only be a 1 time expense

 

for the laptop, just grab a decent USB wireless adapter from amazon or newegg, usually they are soldered to the mainboard,, and difficult to remove

[TrigrH]

4 minutes ago, BubblyCharizard said:

for the laptop, usually they are soldered to the mainboard,, and difficult to remove

no they are not.

Wifi cards are almost never soldered unless you have some ultra thin piece of crap, and they are the next easiest thing to replace after storage and RAM.

 

 

[*Chazz]

7 minutes ago, BubblyCharizard said:

why $15 a month? it should only be a 1 time expense

 

for the laptop, just grab a decent USB wireless adapter from amazon or newegg, usually they are soldered to the mainboard,, and difficult to remove

It is what it is. If you want a wired connection, its +$15.

[BubblyCharizard]

Just now, *Chazz said:

It is what it is. If you want a wired connection, its +$15.

is the internet included in your rent then? or just a stupid ISP requirement

[*Chazz]

Just now, BubblyCharizard said:

is the internet included in your rent then? or just a stupid ISP requirement

Yes included in rent. 

[BubblyCharizard]

1 minute ago, *Chazz said:

Yes included in rent. 

weird...I've not heard of that one before,

 

If you only use the laptop sat on a desk, I'd go with Ethernet any day of the week, you should get a better connection, but if you need mobility, then grab something like https://www.amazon.ca/Wireless-Adapter-AC600Mbps-Network-802-11ac/dp/B0727N25RL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507003215&sr=8-1&keywords=802.11ac+card

[ErrystioT]

You first need to check whether your laptop supports the NGFF M.2 form factor or the HMC (slot like mSATA, but 1/2 the size). Regardless, it should be upgradeable.

[*Chazz]

22 hours ago, ErrystioT said:

You first need to check whether your laptop supports the NGFF M.2 form factor or the HMC (slot like mSATA, but 1/2 the size). Regardless, it should be upgradeable.

Thanks you that's the kind answer I was I looking for. I need to buy a small screwdriver kit and I will open my laptop up and take a look at it. I suppose antenna wise that is not of any concern?

[ErrystioT]

On 10/4/2017 at 3:07 PM, *Chazz said:

Thanks you that's the kind answer I was I looking for. I need to buy a small screwdriver kit and I will open my laptop up and take a look at it. I suppose antenna wise that is not of any concern?

Antenna is always provided by the manufacturer for as it is used by the pre-installed WiFi card to make it work, so no worries on that. It should be easy to replace, just a matter of opening the laptop up, disconnect the AUX and MAIN cable (black and white cable) from the old card, take it out, and put the new one in while reconnecting the cables back.

[*Chazz]

I guess I draw my concern from the rc community. For FPV (First Person View) the usually use 5.8 for video transmission. However there are some that use 2.4 as well. The antennas are  distinctly different in size between 2.4 and 5.8. I suppose for laptops it is not as critical. I was really concerened that the card would work and everything, but have crappy signal with 5.8. I will go ahead and do it. I think I will try to post the outcomes later. I should have it done within the next week or so. Many thanks again.