MSI GE40 (2014) Wi-Fi card upgrade?

I have a PC Specialist SkyFire 14, which is based on the MSI GE40 (MS-1492).

I noticed in this topic that it should be quite easy to swap out the Wi-Fi card for one that supports the 5 GHz band.

I was unable to post in that topic due to the age of it.

The photo that don_svetlio has provided looks different to mine when I remove the SSD.

Any ideas?

I currently have a Realtek RTL8723AE 802.11n PCI-E NIC (with BT 4.0) (2011 model) inside.

I'm wanting to install an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265.



EDIT: Nevermind. Due to the drive being removed in don_svetlio's photo, I was focusing my attention there. Turns out the drive doesn't need removing as the WLAN card is the square chip to the right of it!

 

The WLAN card is the small card with the two black wires going to it(those are the antenna wires).

Its a plug and play upgrade, just make sure to download the WiFi driver for your new card before changing it, to ensure that you can install the driver without WiFi(or have an Ethernet cable ready to use).

 

I think you missed by edit beneath the included photograph

I've gone for the Intel Wireless-AC 9260NGW (5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.0, 2017 model).

That should be a big improvement over the Realtek RTL8723AE (2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 4.0, 2011 model).

 

That card seems to be only available in M.2 interface, you can only mount Half Mini PCIe in your laptop, or you need to use an M.2 to mPCIe adapter to mount that card.
Something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-E-key-A-...050159?hash=item1f09104fef:g:XoUAAOSw02Fcusyq

 

Nicely spotted!

Unfortunately, there's no space for such an adapter in my laptop.

So now it appears I am now looking for an M.2 WLAN card but a PCI Express Mini Card (also known as Mini PCI Express, Mini PCIe, Mini PCI-E, mPCIe) WLAN card.

In that case, my options are simply:

Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 (2013)
2x2, 2.4/5 GHz, BT 4.0
300 Mbps / 802.11agn

Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 (2013)
2x2, 2.4/5 GHz, BT 4.0
300/867 Mbps / 802.11ac

 

Looking at your photos the adapter will fit, unless its too thick and prevents the cover to be re-installed.

 

It's the thicc capacitor directly above the card that, I believe, will stop the adapter fitting.

It's not too much of a problem, I'll just track down the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260

What's strange is the screw location. On my chip, it's at the top left (or right) - see photo below. With the 7260 models, it's in the center.

 

The adapter "ears" that are aligned with that cap are to be snapped off, they are there so the adapter can be used in older laptops that used full length mini PCIe WiFI cards, like the Intel 5100.

 

Looks like 7260 is your best bet.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=half+mini+pcie+wifi+card&_sacat=0