WiFi module update for a G500?
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:57 am
Trying to help my sister with the wifi connection speed she's getting on her laptop (a G500 running Windows 10).
Her WiFi module seems only to have a/b/g/n capability, and it's limiting her connection back to the router - running her Xfinity internet speed test is showing the laptop only managing about 25-30 Mbps download speed on Wifi where her iPads (personal and work) seem to connect with AC and are seeing nearly 200Mbps download speed against the same router.
I was poking at it over the weekend with my own machine (a Middleton-eqiupped T61p that I upgraded a few months back to an Intel AC7260), and was able to get about 90Mbps connecting under the AC protocol so it seems like the bottleneck is her WLAN module.
Unfortunately, from what I've been reading the whitelist in the BIOS doesn't include any AC-capable adapters. Is there an already-downloadable BIOS version for the G500 that removes the whitelist similar to what Middleton did for the T6x machines so we can put a more recent internal module in? All I've found thus far is a process that involves taking a snapshot of the BIOS image and sending it off to someone via a forum post to get it hand-tweaked
Alternately, what would be a good USB wifi module for this computer? it has a single USB3 port, but it's right next to the left-side shift/ctrl keys so something with a big antenna probably would become quickly annoying when typing.
Her WiFi module seems only to have a/b/g/n capability, and it's limiting her connection back to the router - running her Xfinity internet speed test is showing the laptop only managing about 25-30 Mbps download speed on Wifi where her iPads (personal and work) seem to connect with AC and are seeing nearly 200Mbps download speed against the same router.
I was poking at it over the weekend with my own machine (a Middleton-eqiupped T61p that I upgraded a few months back to an Intel AC7260), and was able to get about 90Mbps connecting under the AC protocol so it seems like the bottleneck is her WLAN module.
Unfortunately, from what I've been reading the whitelist in the BIOS doesn't include any AC-capable adapters. Is there an already-downloadable BIOS version for the G500 that removes the whitelist similar to what Middleton did for the T6x machines so we can put a more recent internal module in? All I've found thus far is a process that involves taking a snapshot of the BIOS image and sending it off to someone via a forum post to get it hand-tweaked
Alternately, what would be a good USB wifi module for this computer? it has a single USB3 port, but it's right next to the left-side shift/ctrl keys so something with a big antenna probably would become quickly annoying when typing.