HP Firefly Poor WIFI

Gwyn · 26 Apr 2023 at 17:01

Hi there

My new work laptop is a HP ZBook Firefly 14" G8. Ive had it for about 3 months now and the WIFI is really bad on it. The range and speed are very poor.
I was using a Dell Latitude which was way better in terms of the WIFI. I have full fiber 900meg and over WIFI, it struggles to get over 100 meg. Also the range is terrible.

I am currently sat in a hotel room, my iphone 12 pro has full WIFI signal and speed test gives it 94 meg down and 18.6 up. The lap top has 2 bars and a speed of 36 up and 18 up.

Its running windows 11 pro and all up to date.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Gwyn

Mujja · 10 May 2023 at 15:19

What's the model of the WLAN adapter? Check in Device Manager.

Is the laptop base removeable? Check if adapter is a small PCI card and replaceable.

I have a work HP ZBook 15 and the WiFi range is poor but speeds are good when I have a strong signal.

Minstadave · 10 May 2023 at 15:32

Usually pretty easy to remove the wifi card and replace it with an Intel one.

As above, check what the existing card is in hardware manager and check if its replaceable.

Gwyn · 10 May 2023 at 15:37

Hi, thanks for the replies.
The adapter is an Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz

By the looks of it, to remove the bottom would require me to remove the who panel. Not ideal as its a work laptop.

Armageus · 10 May 2023 at 15:39

Apparently there isn't a separate wifi card on this model:

3:53

️ HP ZBook Firefly 14 G8 - disassembly and upgrade options

In-depth Review: https://laptopmedia.com/review/hp-zbook-firefly-14-g8/ Specs and Prices: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-zbook-firefly-14-g8/✅ ...

www.youtube.com

Gwyn · 10 May 2023 at 15:41

Ok thanks. I love the laptop, just wish the wifi was better.

Minstadave · 10 May 2023 at 16:07

Gwyn said:
Hi, thanks for the replies.
The adapter is an Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz

By the looks of it, to remove the bottom would require me to remove the who panel. Not ideal as its a work laptop.

That's a decent card, upgrading that won't help. It must be the antenna arrangement on the laptop itself.

Only thing that would be an easy fix would be a USB external WiFi adaptor.

Gwyn · 10 May 2023 at 16:20

Minstadave said:
That's a decent card, upgrading that won't help. It must be the antenna arrangement on the laptop itself.

Only thing that would be an easy fix would be a USB external WiFi adaptor.

Ok thanks. I will have a look at them

Mujja · 10 May 2023 at 19:07

If the laptop still has warranty log an issue with your internal IT. It could be your laptop has a faulty antenna.

Check HP forums for comments from owners of the same model.

You don't really want an ugly WiFi dongle sticking out of a USB port. You may also need admin permissions to install the adapter and drivers.

Gwyn · 10 May 2023 at 20:17

Mujja said:
If the laptop still has warranty log an issue with your internal IT. It could be your laptop has a faulty antenna.

Check HP forums for comments from owners of the same model.

You don't really want an ugly WiFi dongle sticking out of a USB port. You may also need admin permissions to install the adapter and drivers.

Thanks for your reply. I have done some searching and looks like it’s not just me having this issue. I will talk to IT and see what they say