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    Can I put a 7260 wifi card in the Y50 myself?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by KallDrexx, Sep 13, 2014.

  1. KallDrexx

    KallDrexx Notebook Enthusiast

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    With my current laptop I upgraded the wifi card to a 7260 to fully take advantage of my 802.11ac router. Since it looks like some Y50 models come with a 7260 and it looks like the wifi card is easy to access with the cover off, I was wondering if anyone knew if it was possible to manually upgrade the 3160 to a 7260 (mostly in terms of whitelisting)?

    I'm sure the 3160 is good enough, but I'd rather upgrade if I can.
     
    KallDrexx, Sep 13, 2014
    #1
    hug66 likes this.
  2. schwibbles

    schwibbles Newbie

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    I just tried installing mine today. Original 3160 is on the right. (Link is to a high resolution image of the two wireless cards side-by-side.)
    http://i.imgur.com/Ijg7vVQ.jpg

    But when I tried turning on my Y50, I got this message:
    6CmQI1nl.jpg

    It then kept restarting until I used the power button to turn it off. I also had installed the drivers for the 7260 and restarted my computer before shutting it down to try to install the 7260. Upon putting the 3160 back in, the computer started up just fine. I'm not sure if the problem is on the Y50 side or the 7260 side.

    Other info:
    I purchased my 7260 here:
    Intel 7260.NGWWB Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11ac M.2 NGFF 867 Mbps Wireless Data Rates - Wireless Adapters - Newegg.com

    The wireless card takes about 10 seconds to remove and install once you have the bottom cover off. Be EXTREMELY careful when removing the bottom cover, there are some plastic clips near the screen that are very easy to break. I accidentally broke some of mine but the screws hold it on just fine. The fake, black "air vents" on either side of the screen are part of the bottom cover as well.
     
    schwibbles, Sep 17, 2014
    #2
  3. arthurdent42

    arthurdent42 Notebook Enthusiast

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    This is due to the horrible horrible practice of whitelisting wireless cards in the BIOS that Lenovo does. The only 7260 that you would be able to install is one that is Lenovo "approved". Which means purchased from Lenovo. Problem is they won't sell you the card directly, so you need to find one elsewhere that was pulled from a lenovo or that is lenovo "approved" (from a vendor or something).

    EDIT: There are also many forums out there where people are removing this silly whitelisting from the BIOS. Be careful with that as if you do not know what you are doing you could really break things.
     
    arthurdent42, Sep 19, 2014
    #3