Samsung Series 7 Chronos and Intel Wifi Card

I hope you guys can shed some insight on this. My US version NP700Z5A-S04US came with a Broadcom Wifi + Bluetooth card. It was my understanding that before the notebook was released that it would ship with the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 card which is a dual band, a/b/g/n, WIDI, and bluetooth capable. So for 25 bucks online I bought this card and installed it. I went to the Intel website and found separate drivers for wifi (version 14.2.0.10) and bluetooth version (Intel® PROSet/Wireless Bluetooth High Speed Software 1.1), both available from:

Intel® WiFi Products — How to install Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software for Bluetooth® technology

With these drivers, the wifi works fine. I was even able to download separate drivers for WIDI and get that working, but windows would not recognize the bluetooth radio. So I went to the Samsung US website:

Samsung

and found bluetooth drivers for Intel Centrino under their Bluetooth (Driver) (ver.2.0.0.0) package. With this, windows was able to recognize the Bluetooth under device manager and reports that the device is working properly. The problem is that I can't access the settings to turn bluetooth on and off. As far as I can tell, all the wireless on/off settings are controlled via the Samsung Easy Settings software. With the Broadcom card, bluetooth controls were under "Wireless Network" settings in that software. With the Intel card, those settings are missing, even though windows recognizes the bluetooth hardware and driver.

So the question is...how can I turn bluetooth on and off? Is there a way to bypass Easy Settings?

Interestingly, I also found Intel wireless drivers (version 14.2.1.1) on the same Samsung downloads page, which would seem to be a later version of Intel's drivers than from their own site. I tried those and they again work for wifi and widi, but not for bluetooth. I had to re-install the samsung bluetooth drivers for windows to recognize bluetooth again. Still no way to turn it on/off.

BTW, the response from Samsung support was "We don't support third party hardware"... which begs the question, why are intel drivers then posted on their site?

Can anyone help? I would love to have dual band, a/b/g/n, WIDI, and bluetooth all working without a separate bluetooth dongle.

 

Samsung posted Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 card's driver on their website because this card comes with the Canadian series 7 specification.
Samsung Notebook Series 7 CHRONOS - NP700Z5A-S03CA - Performance - mobile computing | SAMSUNG
Different countries different specifications!

 

I bought this card yesterday, and had a plan to upgrade it today. My problem is that after removing 10 screws from the back of the laptop, the back lid is not coming off.

 

Thanks for sharing the experience. Do you notice a improved range and/or sustained wireless speed after the replacement of the Broadcom card by the Intel's one?

 

The seam you want to work on is where the palm rest meets the edge. I cut a small piece of stiff plastic from packaging that the wifi card came in. You can use any thin piece of plastic and insert it into the seam and carefully pull away the tabs from the edge.

 

It's interesting that this card is standard hardware for Canadian models, but I can't get it to work with the drivers from Samsung. Can someone with a Canadian model confirm that bluetooth works with the Intel card?

 

It's not out in canada yet.

 

How's the signal after installation? I'd like to replace the crappy Broadcom adapter as well. I could care less about bluetooth if this gives bandwidth a substantial boost.

 

I don't have a dual band network, so I can't comment on 5ghz. I don't have a measured comparison, but the seat of the pants feeling is that it seems better. I'm getting slightly below if not as fast a connection as my gigabit ethernet connection, just not as consistent. The strength of signal seems better too. You need to go into advanced properties in device manager and make sure that you select auto for both bands to get the maximum bandwidth.

 

Did you do anything to disconnect the battery while replacing the wifi card? This machine does not have a removable battery,but it is recommended to remove / disconnect the battery or else the motherboard could be accidentally damaged. Thanks!

 

There's a small pinhole on the right side if you turn the laptop over. Turn the laptop off. Use a paper clip to press the reset button in the pinhole with the ac adapter unplugged. If it's properly reset, you won't be able to turn on the laptop by pressing the power button, unless you plug the ac adapter back in.

 

Yes, the manual says to use the pinhole and I was on the phone with the Samsung rep for 20 minutes, but unfortunately when the power button is pressed the computer starts up again. Maybe if I drain the battery before opening up the bottom, that might work.Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

Hold down the pinhole button for 3 seconds

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

@sinman02

Not sure if you're still have the WiFi problem?

I had that after I'd replaced my Broadcom adapter with Intel 6230 in my Series 9. Then I figured out what I'd failed to do...

One needs to uninstall the Broadcom drivers. There are two sets of drivers in Uninstall Programs. One starts with Broadcom and the other is way down the at the end of the alphabet (I think one was Bluetooth-related and the other WiFi-related -- it's 6 months ago now). Once I'd uninstalled these; rebooted; and installed the Intel drivers, it all worked fine. Hope that helps..

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm sure I've uninstalled all the previous Broadcom drivers. Did you get your bluetooth working?

 

I spent whole day trying to make Intel 6230 work, but bluetooth did not work for me. I did a complete system restore by pressing F4 during the boot up process with Intel 6230 installed in the machine but it did not work too. Finally, I replaced the original Broadcom card and did another system restore to get the laptop in an original shape. Apart from all the unsuccessful attempts, I like the way we construct knowledge in this forum.

 

Yes. You may want to uninstall and reinstall the Intel drivers again.

Do you see Bluetooth in Device Manager? If so, it flagged as a problem?

 

I've re-installed the driver a number of times without success. The Intel wifi driver by itself does not allow device manager to recognize the card. (I've tried the official driver from the Intel site, as well as the Intel driver posted on the Samsung site). There are separate bluetooth drivers on the Samsung site for both Broadcom and Intel Centrino under their Bluetooth (Driver) (ver.2.0.0.0). When I installed this, windows (fresh install of win 7 ultimate) recognized bluetooth as "Intel (R) Centrino (R) Bluetooth 3.0 + High Speed Devices" (see screenshot). No warning icon...but Easy Settings doesn't recognize the bluetooth. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing Easy Settings without success. I'm not sure at this point whether it's Easy Settings that's the problem at this point, since there seems to be no other way to access the bluetooth settings.

I'm curious if the drivers will be updated when the Canadian models are released, since those models will come with the Intel card stock.

kalahari, can you please post the drivers that you used to make yours work?

 

@ sinman02

Unfortunately, I don't have my Series 9 any more so I can't give all you all the things to check in Device Manager. Maybe someone else can.

When I had mine, it was working with:
1. "Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi software and drivers for Win 7 64-bit" v14.1.1.3. Downloaded from Samsung USA as WLAN_Intel_64bit_14.1.1.3
2. "Intel PROSet/Wireless Bluetooth ..." v1.1.1.0. Downloaded from Intel as ICS_vs64.exe.
Both of these drivers were published in June 2011.

 

@kalahari, I tried this combination but bluetooth did not work.

 

So does the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 card work better than the Broadcomm one? I'm really considering buying one right now off of Amazon. I exchanged my unit twice at the Microsoft Store in the past 2 days because of the wifi issue. I tried updating the drivers that are on the Samsung site but I still only get one bar only 15ft from my router....and my old crappy HP laptop gets full bars.

 

I'm definitely getting a better connection with the 6230. I'm not sure why the OP's bluetooth is not working. Mines working just fine. I can recommend this, it's light years better than the Broadcom one.

 

Cool, do you know if any retail stores sell it (I live in California)? I tried Fry's but they don't have it. If not I guess I'll just settle to buy it online.

 

What's wrong with buying it online? I got it off Amazon for $39, but I think it's worth it. Especially since I use wifi every single day.

Right now I'm connected to a public roaming wireless, which only works outdoors. I used to get a weak signal because I was at least by the windows. I would not be able to get any signal at all in the living room because of the walls. After installing the 6230, I could actually get a strong signal in my living room! That's pretty amazing for me.

 

Haha, nothing is wrong with buying it online, I just didn't want to wait for it to ship since I only have two weeks to return the laptop if the solution doesn't work.

I'll order it off of amazon right now and see how it goes.

 

Hmmm...Interesting... Maybe I have a defective chip? Can you please tell which specific drivers you used and the sequence that you used to install it? How do you access the bluetooth settings? Through Easy Settings? Please advise...

 

The installation process is pretty straightforward:
1. uninstall Broadcom and Bluetooth applications.
2. Disassemble S7 case (the most difficult part of this procedure)
3. Disconnect the two attached lines, take out Broadcom chip.
4. Slip in Intel 6230, and connect both lines to the corresponding socket.
5. Install Wireless LAN,INTEL (Driver) (ver.14.2.1.1) 48.14
That's it. You only need that one driver.
There are a few things that you might've missed.
1. Make sure you've installed the 64-bit driver, not the 32-bit one.
2. Reconnect the two lines to their corresponding antennas again. It can be hard to tell whether they're connected.

 

@midgetdiablo, for me this procedure did not work. I think I am missing something in step 1 listed by you. Can you expand your first bullet: "1. uninstall Broadcom and Bluetooth applications"? Please list the individual applications.

 

Do you have a US model? Also, after the above procedure, do you access the bluetooth through Easy Setttings?

 

I've tried installing these drivers every which way I can think of, and I still can't get bluetooth to work. I even replaced the 6230 card for another 6230 in case it was a defective chip without success. I don't understand how midgetdiablo can get his to work!

 

I'm accessing this through a little bluetooth icon in the taskbar. I'm not sure if Easy Settings works as I've never tried. That may be a problem right there. See if you guys have a bluetooth icon in the taskbar.

 

I have no such icon... I used to have that icon when I had the original Broadcom chip installed. Haven't seen it since I installed the Intel chip.

Midgetdiablo, you have a US model, right?

 

Yup. it's the US version. I'll run a speccy tonight after I get out of work.

 

So this morning I see a icon on my notification tray that a software update is available for the system bios. So I go into Easy Update and let the system update the bios...the system reboots,...and viola!!!! I see a bluetooth icon on my notification tray!!!! I now have Intel 6230 with working WIDI, WIFI, and bluetooth! Oh happy day!!!

 

Which drivers did you use for the Intel 6230 Wireless Card - the ones on the Samsung site or on the Intel site? A link would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

see op...either one

 

Does anybody know if this applies to the 14" in the US? If so, is it possible to order the canadian version?

edit: I just asked samsung support about the 14" in US and they claim that it comes with the Intel chip
the support person said that the s04us comes with broadcom chip, but the others come with intel chip.

edit2: it actually came with the broadcom chip. the support person probably just made something up.

 

Sinman and midget,

Picked up the 8gb ram series 7 model (upgraded from 6) at the microsoft store last Monday.

My question,

What wifi signal are you guys on? Im reading some feedback on the intel wifi chip about problems on N signals.

Thank you,

Butters

 

I purchased an S04US and am yet to receive it. I live in India and my concern is this.

Does this improve the strength for all WiFi signals ? As in, improve the reception range or something like that ?

 

The Intel Advanced N 6230 card improves the signal strength and also uses the 5 Ghz frequency that allows for 300 Gb/s speeds. The Broadcom only uses the lower 2.4 Ghz band and gives a max of 130 Gb/s connection speeds.

 

Updated the BIOS to latest version. Still can't get bluetooth to work.

Good news is that WiDi works great! Using D-Link Mainstage WiDi adapter to connect to HDTV. Mainstage has a separate digital optical output that I feed to my main surround sound processor. You Tube video has never sounded this good!

 

so different wireless cards in different countries with different versions???!

im in the UK, and want to get the S01 UK version, which is 8gb, i7.
What wireless card will come with that then?

ive been comparing this to the dell 15z, and that comes with an intel 6230 wifi card - which has been causing a LOT Of grief for people on the forums.......

 

Mostly just curious, but does anybody have an explanation for this?

 

I had issues with my 6150, which were rectified with a 6250. The difference between the 6230 and the 6250 is trading Bluetooth for WiMax. I don't think it's the bluetooth that would cause issues...would it?

 

Hmm..did you update to bios version 09FD?

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@sinman02, can you please list the step by step procedure to install and run intel wireless card with working bluetooth.
Secondly the latest bios version is 10FD.

 

has any one tried Killer™ Wireless-N 1103
the ones that are on the alienware

 

Yes, BIOS is now version 10FD.
When I load the intel driver for 6230 advanced N from the samsung site or from the intel site, I get the wireless to work, but bluetooth shows up in device manager as "generic bluetooth" and doesn't work. When I install proset intel bluetooth, it does show up in device manager, but with a conflict.

 

What is the trouble code?

 

"Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)"

I called Intel tech support - they said it had something to do with the way Samsung had implemented the BIOS and Intel would not support retail versions of the card.