this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2025
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Also keep in mind that laptop wifi cards are usually easily replaceable, so if you end up with that being the only problem it's usually cheap and easy to solve
this
these cards are about $ 5-12 and i pull them from junk laptops all the time
not the "easiest" thing to solve but well within the abilities of somebody who can build a PC
If you happen to have a nice enterprise laptop, you can usually access the card very easily. For example HP EliteBook laptops (which are sort of nice laptops, but with a bad keyboard) you won’t even need any tools to open the bottom lid. Lenovo ThinkPad laptops tend to require a screwdriver. Never actually swapped a wifi card on either of these, but I guess there could be one more screw holding the card in place. Definitely doable, and it won’t take too long.
Contrast that with HP Pavilion or Acer Aspire TrashBooks. Yes, I have opened a few of those, and I regret every minute of it. Normally, you need to disassemble the whole thing before you get to even see the parts you need to swap. It’s not quite as painful as opening Apple hardware, but it’s not far behind. Verdict: 2/10, would not recommend.
yeah word to the wise, avoid HP notebooks even if they have that fancy AMD APU you want, they are a nightmare
Not all laptops have replaceable wireless cards. If you have a thinner machine they probably soldered it on. But I can’t find any rhyme or reason to what manufacturers do and don’t solder.
Even thicker laptops...I have an HP Envy (that I hate and I want another Lenovo 14")...wifi card is bios locked. I can only replace with another Intel AC card.
Interesting, I don't think I've ever seen a laptop where it was soldered.
My Thinkpad P1's is soldered :( At least that came with a good Intel Wireless card.
But somehow on my T14s (a much smaller machine) it wasn't soldered.
But then on the bigger T14 it is soldered. So I have no clue what is going on at Lenovo. At least the machines with good wifi cards are soldered, and the shit ass ones are