Can I upgrade the wifi in my Acer Nitro VN7-592G-747C?

Hi,

My notebook (Acer Nitro VN7-592G-747) coming close to being 4 years old and its wifi started acting up - works but would love to replace it if it can be done easily and without spending too much as well.

Currently it has the default Qualcomm Atheros AR5BWB222 adapter. Of course, I have tried to search and came across this thread:

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/335661/can-i-upgrade-the-wifi-adapter-my-aspire-v-nitro

However, I am not sure how much my notebook is different from the one that is being discuss in the above-linked thread.

Maybe someone who's done this before could help:

1) Can the wifi adapter be replaced easily or does it require massive dismantling, like removing the motherboard itself, etc.? I am not a highly skilled expert but have recently managed to an M2 SSD - so that much I could do

2) What is the most recommended wifi adapter that stays on the cost efficient side? I am not looking to meet the very latest top-notch speeds but something that is good/reliable and cheap.

3) Is it possible that one of the drivers I installed is causing the acting up? What's driver would you recommend I try (Qualcomm Atheros AR5BWB222)? I am currently using version 10.0.3.456 from here:

https://www.ath-drivers.eu/download-driver-for-Atheros-chipset-with-id-74-and-Windows10-64bit.html

Thank you very much for suggestions!

Regards,
Dundy

Accepted answers

MaClane

Good Morning Dundy !

Your adapter uses standard 801.11 a / b / g / n
So an upgrade only suits the most current standards, AC or AX.
Full disassembly of the device is required to access the wireless card slot.
It is quite possible that the driers are causing.
You can remove and try to reinstall.
Only if you really need another adapter, you can choose one that is USB by current standards.

All comments

MaClane

Good Morning Dundy !

Your adapter uses standard 801.11 a / b / g / n
So an upgrade only suits the most current standards, AC or AX.
Full disassembly of the device is required to access the wireless card slot.
It is quite possible that the driers are causing.
You can remove and try to reinstall.
Only if you really need another adapter, you can choose one that is USB by current standards.

Dundy

@MaClane

Thanks for the quick reply. Ok, if it's a complicated install, I won't bother going down that road.

Right now I am confused as I have been trying to install the different wireless drivers on the Acer download site. There are 4 available, the first one shouldn't be it as mine is Atheros (hardware ID: PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0034&SUBSYS_080211AD&REV_01 )

Wireless LAN Driver , Date: 2015/10/20 , Version: 18.12.2., Vendor: Intel
Wireless LAN Driver (NFA344A HAI) Version: 12.0.0.191 Vendor: Atheros
Wireless LAN Driver (NFA344A Liteon) Version: 12.0.0.137 Vendor: Atheros
Wireless LAN Driver (NFA222 Liteon) Version: 10.0.0.318 Vendor: Atheros

So far I've installed Number 2 and 4 and the installations complete without an error message, I've restarted the notebook and it's still showing the same driver version (10.0.3.456) after each installation as before I started the whole process.

Is it important to first uninstall the driver before installing a new one? I never uninstalled the old one, always just ran the install for the new one.

Also, Number 2 (NFA344A HAI) is an AC driver so not even sure why the driver installation would go through if my adapter doesn't support it.

Any suggestion which driver I should go ahead with?

andylb

Buy a USB Wifi card and the problem is solved. Update your Qualcom Atheros card through Device manager/Network Adapters/Qualcom Atheros/Update driver and let Windows search for the latest driver that matches your card

Dundy

andylb said:

Buy a USB Wifi card and the problem is solved. Update your Qualcom Atheros card through Device manager/Network Adapters/Qualcom Atheros/Update driver and let Windows search for the latest driver that matches your card

Thanks.

That's what I did, uninstalled the wifi driver, ran CCleaner to cleap up, rebooted and let Windows update install what it thought was best. Guess what, the same 10.0.3.456 version is back. I'm thinking that all these installation attempts for the different versions available at the Acer site failed (without telling me so) and that's why no matter what and how I install, the WLAN driver version always remained 10.0.3.456. I find that very strange.

Thanks guys. Now, I'm thinking of buying the ASUS USB-AC68 wifi dongle:

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01GZ1XRTS/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ASUS+USB-AC68&qid=1576229653&sr=8-3

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