Upgrading ASUS UX32VD Wireless Card - Antenna Connector Problem, Help!

(Mods please let me know if this is the correct place to put this topic. Thanks.)

Hello NBR, long time lurker, first time poster. I have a little problem which I hope someone can help me with.

I purchased a UX32VD (non-IPS) back in February, and learned that Intel released a Wireless notebook card compatible with 802.11ac. I purchased a card just last week, and it has arrived to me today. I was just about to finish installation when I noticed the antenna plugs were way too small for the plug nubs on the card.

Here is a comparison of the cards, the original Intel 6235-N card from the Zenbook, right next to the newer Intel AC-7260. You can clearly see the 7260's plug holes are much larger than the 6235-N's.



So, it's obvious to me that this card wasn't meant for ultrabooks (which, I now assume all have these smaller plugs). I do not want to mash the plugs in, as that could permanently leave my notebook with no Wifi connectivity.

Here are the plugs in question:



So I have a few questions in regards to fixing this problem, as I would LOVE for my UX32VD to be 802.11ac compatible (my home router is currently AC-enabled).

1. Is there a minute chance that I can swap the plugs to the larger size? Do any parts retailers sell plugs by themselves or an "adapter" of sorts? Also for future reference, what are these antenna plugs called?
2. Does Intel sell a more ultrabook-friendly version of their AC-7260 that will accommodate the smaller plugs? If so, does anyone have a link? I could not find it on Intel's site after some brief searching.

Thank you for all your help!

 

Hey,

Also a long time lurker, made my first post a couple of months ago, relative to this ASUS UX32VD Ultrabook as well...

Last night, I was prepared to do the exact same operation as you, switching from the GARBAGE Intel 6235 to the Wireless-AC compatible Intel 7260, and ran into the same problem.

Before receiving the piece, I knew that the Intel 6235 connectors used the IPEX MHF4 connectors, while the Intel 7260 used the (almost universal) Hirose U.FL connectors.
So I ordered this item from eBay:
IPX TO U FL IPX Double Crimp Pigtail Cable C | eBay

Which, unfortunately, didn't fit. It fit into the standard U.FL, connectors on the Intel 7260, but it didn't seem like there were any (male or female) MHF4 connectors (they wouldn't fit in the cables, nor the original Intel 6235). Plus, the wires that ASUS used were much smaller than the wires that I bought from eBay. I don't know much about antennas, but won't the interface between two different wire gauges cause a bad signal?

I'm left with a bit of a dilemma. My solder-fu isn't that great, and I wouldn't dare get anywhere near my laptop with my soldering gun.
I'm gonna go see at my local electronics store, see if they can't conjure up a solution.

There is a way to make it work without the antennas properly connected, as documented here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LGl0j6yF9Y , and
Upgrade: Asus UX32VD with the Killer Wireless-N 1202 Wireless Card | Matt Groeber's Blog

This method didn't work for me. I had the same signal strength with or without (no antennas) this method. I had no signal from my home router. I had full signal strength from my cell phone RIGHT next to the laptop, but as soon as I moved it about 5 meters away, it dropped to 1 bar. Whereas, with the Intel 6235, I had full signal from the home router (albeit a crappy connection at best).

For future reference:
http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Intel_Centrino_Advanced-N_6235
http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Intel_Dual_Band_Wireless-AC_7260_(7260HMW) (additional links in the intro paragraphs about the connectors, interesting reads)
Asus Zenbook UX32VD Teardown - Page 2 - iFixit , step 14 is the wireless part

If anyone has any insight, please post here!

 

I was researching around, and I (assumed) the 7260 uses U.FL connectors, but the UX32VD uses smaller (maybe?) W.FL connectors. I was searching a DigiKey PDF sheet, and they look like the same connector type but shrunken down a bit.

I couldn't find a U.FL to W.FL adapter, so in the end I tried the YouTube method posted above, but instead ripped off the surrounding ring on the connector. I don't have a picture to show, but so far my WiFi's been holding up well. My router doesn't seem to be broadcasting in 802.11ac for some reason, but I will test it once I figure out what's wrong with it.

 

This is a great thread - thanks for sharing your experiences. I have a Zenbook Prime and have the same issue with the 6235, and I also purchased the 7260 thinking it would be a drop-in replacement.

After reading both of your comments, I searched around for adapters, cables, etc that would fit, but all of it ultimately required some level of hardware hacking (soldering or somehow getting the connectors to fit on the card).

I'm traveling right now, but I was wondering if the antenna cables in our laptops are soldered directly to the mainboards or if they use plugs?? I'd be more than willing to simply replace the cables so that my ultrabook would have the Hirose U. FL. connectors for any future card upgrades.

Other than that, have either of you had any other progress with the swap-out and connectors?

Thanks!

 

I ending up had to remove the circular connector "locks" on the card, and used electrical tape to hold down the connectors (I didn't want to modify the connectors coming from the antenna, in case I needed to revert back to the old WiFi card.

I don't think the ring section of the connector on the card influences data transmission (they don't seem to be soldered to any connections on the card itself). So far the card works, with some occasional issues (sometimes when I move my laptop from the desk to the bed, it'll randomly disconnect) that I'm not sure if it's caused by bad installation or just the early drivers. I haven't tested AC speeds either, since my router refuses to broadcast 802.11ac for some reason...

I can snap some pics if you'd like on how I've installed it in mine.

 

Thanks for the quick response. A few pics on how the circular locks now look would be great - thanks for the offer. I've been patiently trying to get past this problem for over 6 months and this is the closest I've come to solving the issue with the original card.

Thanks again,

-j

 

After returning from my business trip, I decided to go ahead and install the 7260 card. I took the antennas out of an older/broken notebook and installed them in my Zenbook.

The adhesive on the new antennas was really strong, so to save time and see how much I could get for free, I stuck the antennas to the removable bottom of the Zenbook. I mimicked the same orientation that I originally found them in. I didn't want to pull the Zenbook's screen apart - knowing myself, I'll get impatient and twist or bend something. At this point, I simply covered the ends of the original antennas with a cloth tape and tucked them out of the way.

It's only been a couple of hours, but so far it's working like a charm. I installed the latest Win8 64-bit drivers (from Intel). BT and Wi-Fi signals and performance are strong and consistent.

The largest benefits for me are that I get a USB port back. I use the other USB port for a micro sd adapter with a 64GB card, so I actually end up with one available USB port - which, as of late, was being taken up by a very small USB wifi adapter because the 6235 required me to jump through too many hoops to connect to Wi-Fi most of the time. Almost 100% of the time if I closed my notebook (set to suspend) and re-open it, I needed to shut down the notebook to get the card to re-associate with an AP. Interestingly, this works 85-90% of the time - the other 10-15% of the time, it required multiple reboots to reconnect. Hence, I opted to chew up the second slot so I could have reliable wifi without the fight.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this is going to be a successful transition!

-j

 

Thanks for the update.

I think im going to try this exact fix on my UX51vz and see what happens

My other thought was about soldering the smaller pins onto the 7260. Not sure how feasible that is though, any ideas?

 

Hi everyone, electrical engineer here. Also an occasional lurker.

I'm going to attempt this upgrade later in the week with the Intel AC7260 card. From what I can tell from the pictures of the RF connectors (on the stock card) the RF connectors are less common low-profile U.FL or W.FL connectors. It is very unlikely that there will be an adapter cable available to convert between these two types.

If there isn't an adapter available, I may try soldering the 2 types of RF connectors back-to-back to make a simple adapter between the two types (assuming there is roughly an extra 1.5mm of clearance in the case). This would prevent actually having to de-solder the connectors from the new card, thus saving the warranty.

Anyways when I get my laptop open later in the week, I'll measure the connectors and attempt to identify the parts used for the stock RF connectors. They should be available through the typical components distributors such as digi-key and mouser. If there isn't room to build the adapter mentioned previously, the landing footprints for the two connector types are very similar and should overlap close enough to swap the board connectors out on the new AC7260 card with the new connectors using a hot air reflow tool and some tweezers + solder paste.

These parts are SMD (surface mount devices) so they would be very hard to remove with a soldering iron alone. You would also need a very fine tip + solder paste to re-solder the new connector.

If anyone is interested in an update, I can post more details later.

 

Hello zn7, i would like to hear how your upgrade worked

 

Hi link, sorry for the delay. I had to order the card from another store. The first store didn't ship on time, but this one should arrive tomorrow.

Right now it appears there are three options:

1) Swap the W.FL board connectors from the internal 802.11n card to the new 802.11ac card (will require a hot air tool, tweezers, solder paste, and SMD soldering experience) (could also buy the W.FL connectors rather then swapping them from the 802.11n card)
2) Make a W.FL<->U.FL conversion cable/adapter (soldering and crimping skill required)
3) Find or scavenge 2 U.FL antenna that fit inside the UX32VD case

I'll plan to do the first option by Thursday, will report back. Also as an added benefit to that choice, I'll end up with U.FL connectors on the 802.11n card.

 

zn7 and aznriptide859 - Do you have any tips on how to remove the ring from the U.FL without otherwise damaging the adapter?

I managed to get myself into a difficult situation while attempting this upgrade, and am trying to dig myself out.

I just bought my UX32VD. In anticipation of all the wireless problems people have reported, I bought the Killer 1202 wireless adapter, and soldered the antenna's W.FL connector to the adapter's U.FL connector. Bad move!!!

It turns out that whenever the antenna lead touches the ring on the male U.FL connector, the antenna functions very poorly. (Perhaps the ring is grounded? I should check.) So I had to desolder my connection. The antenna's W.FL connector was subsequently destroyed, so I cut off the connector.

The good news is that if I very carefully touch an antenna lead to the U.FL pins, I get a very nice signal. The bad news is that everything's so tiny, and it's extremely difficult to avoid contact with the ring.

So now I'm desperate for suggestions on what to do. My tentative plan is to attempt removal of the rings and solder the antenna leads to the remaining pins. But I have many concerns:

How can I remove the rings without otherwise damaging the adapter?

According to a photo on this page, the antenna wire is shielded. How bad would it be if the shielding contacted the antenna lead?

Now that I have cut off a few millimeters by removing the W.FL adapter, will this significantly change the antenna's characteristics? (I may need to cut the wire slightly shorter to get a good lead, especially to keep it away from the shielding.)

If I want to revert back to factory configuration, is there a place where I can find a replacement antenna?

I don't have that much time, and I am very desperate for suggestions. Thanks!

P.S.
zn7 - were you able to swap connectors?

 

That will be a bit of a problem. But hang on there may be an option.

Yes, the outside ring of the antenna connectors (and also the sheath of the antenna cable wire) are grounded together. This is to protect the weak internal signal from outside emf sources. The signal wire does have an internal bypass to ground on the WiFi card for DC voltages (fyi: if you attempt a continuity check between ground and signal they will appear shorted), the signal line however cannot be connected directly to ground for operation.

If you've already removed the connector from the antenna wire, what you will need to do is strip back the antenna sheath to reveal the inner core (reveal about 1mm). This will need to touch the center pin of the U.FL connector. You can leave enough of the metal sheath you peeled back to rest on the rim of the U.FL outer ring. However, this will be fairly hard because of the size. If you have a microscope, tiny tweezers, and a tiny razor blade you should be able to pull it off. To secure the cable you may need to solder the signal wire directly to the inner pin of the U.FL connector and the sheath to any part of the outer ring.

As a side note, both of my WiFi cards had a large via (hole) under the U.FL/W.FL SMD connectors. The via was also insulated (non-conductive). I mention this because this via gives you direct access to the bottom of the U.FL connector where the signal pin should be directly exposed. You may be able to pull the sheath back as mentioned before, run the inner core up into the via to touch this pin (tape), and then solder a wire from any ground on the WiFi card (the metal shield cover, a ground via, or the U.FL ring ground) back to the metal sheath that you pulled back on the antenna wire.

Because the U.FL is an SMD part, it is soldered to copper pads on the PCB. If you attempt to remove the U.FL connector mechanically, it is very likely that the copper pads will be ripped off. If you have a hot air tool.. or several soldering irons you can heat both sides of the connector to remove it. I don't think there is a safe way to remove the ring from the U.FL connector.

If you can remove the connector, you will expose the pads underneath. You can then solder the antenna wires directly to these.

Don't.

A few mm won't be a significant difference, 1cm - don't go that far. It's true that impedance matching will be affected, but this is also just as true for the quality of the solder joints.

You might check with ASUS or look for an online shop selling the OEM parts for repairs.

Let me know how it goes.

Yes I was!

Will post the details around Tuesday.

 

Nice update, thank you
I actually managed to find some new, cheap chinese antennas with U.FL connectors(Ebay, where else?), which fitted perfectly, but while i tried this mod i managed to break the screen...
I sent my laptop in for repair, and somehow got it back with new screen, stock wifi card and stock wifi antennas, without paying anything. lol

Anyways, If i was going to mod it again, which i certainly will, i will probably come up with some kind of W.FL(?) to U.FL adapter, so all changes would be easy to roll back...

I thought the connectors were IPEX MHF4, how did you confirm they were W.FL?

 

So i upgraded my Asus UX32VD to the Qualcomm Killer willerless 1202, wich has the same connectors as the intel. What i did was i ripped open an old laptop, took out the antenna plugs witch fittet the killer wireless perfect. Then i just cut of the original connectors and soldered the "new" ones. Just took away the isolation on both of the cable stumps. Sorry for my bad english.

 

I can confirm the connectors on the laptop are NOT W.FL. I picked up some W.FL connectors on digikey and replaced the U.FL connectors on my 7260. They do not fit. I also ordered some MHF4 connectors from mouser to give it a try. If they work i'll let you know in a week or so when they arrive.

 

I can verify the MHF4 connectors are the correct ones. I took the stock ones off and soldered the MHF4 ones on without issue, of course this helped with a proper soldering station with a heat gun.

You can get these connectors right on mouser. I bought these:

Mouser Part #:
960-RECE20449-001E01
Manufacturer Part #:
RECE-20449-001E-01

 

Hi, could you share the picture of how you connected new antenna to removable cover of UX32VD. I also used antennas (2 black) whose head fit to AC 7260 but then connection is not consistent. speed test show poor download speed. thanks

 

Hi, could you share the pics of the card connectors. Could you share on how did you manage to remove the circular connector "locks" on the card. Thanks.

 

First of all, I would like to users linkyyy and user1585 for posting the correct socket type (mhf4)
This allowed me to order the right part, solder them to my card, and have the antenna leads lock onto the sockets as expected (i had previously purchased the w.fl and the outer ring was too small - the connectors would not lock).

I'm going to order a small handful of these cards, I think, and swap out the antenna connectors on them.
Intel 7260HMW IEEE 802.11AC, dual-band, 2x2 Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth 4.0 Mini PCI Express combo Adapter - 867 Mbps+300Mbps - Internal - Wireless Adapters - Newegg.com

Let me know if you'd be interested in one. Probably about ~20$ more than the cost, for my time.

 

After picking up a 7260 for my UX21A and unfortunately discovering the MHF4 connector, I came across this thread. NextDon, if you have any more of the modded 7260s available it would be a godsend if I could buy one off of you.

I can be reached at [redacted]. And thank you.

 

For anyone curious, my card from NextDon arrived a couple of days ago and everything is looking great.

I don't have a suitable camera on hand to post pictures of it (though he certainly can if he wants), but the handiwork on attaching the MHF4 connector is extremely well done. You can tell that it's a modification and that it's not the factory configuration, but only just, and that's mostly due to some slight discoloration of the label from the soldering process. Otherwise my card was well done and the connector is solidly attached, all the more impressive given the fact that he had to deal with these tiny SMT components by hand.

Actual performance is looking good as well. I was a bit worried that the hand soldered connectors wouldn't perform as well as machine mounted connectors, but that has not been the case. If anything the modified 7260 is slightly better than the 6235; 2.4GHz is about the same, but I was seeing reception maybe a dBm or two better on the 7260 with my N router. Consequently transfer speeds in my were around 10% better too, topping out at bit over 11MB/sec.

For anyone looking for a more comprehensive review of 7260 (as opposed to NextDon's work) I haven't seen any stability problems. Granted I'm only testing this in my house, so I'm not trying to pull in any especially weak signals, but in-house everything has been great. As far as it behaves for me it's a 6235 that now does AC.

Speaking of AC, my new AC router (RT-AC87U) arrived the day after I installed the 7260. I can't compare 6235 to 7260 on this router, but AC performance with the 7260 has been excellent. I'm seeing 40MBs+ transfers from my office, with the link speed usually running at 650Mbps or 780Mbps. So real world bandwidth efficiency is around 50%. No doubt these high transfer speeds are due in large part to the rather large antennas on the Asus router (my previous E3000 used smaller internal antennas), but at the same time it means the 7260 has had no problem keeping up. For a laptop I thought was at a dead end due to a lack of other compatible adapters, being able to more than treble my wireless network speeds is wonderful.

 

Thanks for posting Virge! I am glad to hear that it is working well for you.

For folks looking for pictures, see my sites page here; It has a link to a g+ album with some rework pictures:
UX32A AC Wireless Adapter - Useful-Info

 

Hi everyone, just wanted to report on my experience with thenextdon13's card.

Everything went very smoothly. Payment, delivery, and craftsmanship were excellent.

I live in Italy, so speed is not a concern. (I have 1MB/s DSL at home, and this is the best I can get!) The big issue for me was the connection flaking out when the signal strength was low. I hoped that this upgrade would fix the issue. Before installing the new card, I brought my laptop to the location where I could reproducibly break the connection. I swapped out the card and went to the same location. It seemed like I could go very slightly further, but not significantly.

At that point, I realized that I forgot to test the old card while receiving data. Luckily my friend has the same laptop, so we brought them side-by-side at the edge of the WiFi zone, and compared our transfer rates, and swapping places to make sure one location wasn't favored over the other. There were large fluctuations in the download rate, but his laptop with the original card seemed to have a slightly larger transfer rate overall.

In summary, thenextdon13's work is excellent, but for weak connections, my testing showed no reliable improvement over the original card. I'm sad, but it was worth the try. I'm planning to keep the new card, since I am terrified of damaging the antenna connectors by doing a second swap.

 

I'm also interested in a mod. I've got a 1202 card that I tried taping with no success. I'd love to have the connectors switched out.

 

Is there any reason why just buying an antenna that has the right connectors like posted earlier wouldn't work?

 

I've tried this just now, with a pair of antennas bought off ebay coming from china. This is the setup, which yields a 70 mbps downlink 802.11ac throughput WITHOUT the rear cover screwed on, and 20/30 with.


Turning the antennas upside down decreases the speed 10-fold to an abysmal 2-3 mpbs.
Putting them somewhere else bends either the touchpad (by sticking them further up the battery), or the motherboard (bottom of the picture).
Does anybody have any suggestion on how to improve this?
Fitting them where the original antennas are (inside the plastic screen hinge, below the motherboard in the picture) is unfeasible, maybe do other antennas from other laptops fit?

 

Hi everyone! Thanks for this great thread! I've bought the 7260 ac some weeks ago and I'm now trying to optimize my wifi connection. I removed the outer pins (as recommended) and used simple glue/ isolationtape to fix the connectors (I got up to 15 MB/s network speed). But still, there seems to be room for improvement (ac should be able to transfer real 30 MB/s).

A wild guess: While it might not be very elegant maybe you can try to attach the antenna outside of the case?
I've read the aluminium case of the zenbook might cause interference problems:
http://www.kirpininyeri.com/2012/05/asus-zenbook-wireless-problem-solution/

Anyway, some general suggestions for a good testing envirenment:
- test with a dedicated NAS-Device or another PC with cabled connection to your router. This ensures there are no bottlenecks. between the router antennas and your remote storage.
- place laptop and router in the same room to ensure optimal wireless connection.
- Be sure you've switched to 5 GHz and windows connection status shows 500+ MBit/s.
- don't connect other devices to your router / disable services that might transfer data in the background (windows update service etc.)

 

I just received my modified 7260 from thenextdon13. Excellent workmanship, works like a charm with my Asus RT-AC68U. Awesome solder-fu, I can't tell the card has been modified. I did have full speed (I have a 18/5 connection) with my previous card now & then, but so far, this one is fully stable, which my old 6235 certainly wasn't. I hope and trust speeds will remain stable

I'll try it with my Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter one of these days, that one was a major hit & miss with my old 6235 card.

Edit: Wasn't able to make the wireless display adapter work. Had to install an older version of Intel's WiDi due to my older processor (i7-3517U) and older graphics (Intel HD 4000); the adapter was detected instantly, but when I connect, nothing happens. This is an improvement over the 6235 which wouldn't even detect the adapter most of the time, but clearly not enough to make WiDi (Intel) work with Miracast (Microsoft Wireless Display Adpater). Ah well. Had to give it a go

 

Hi Guys if you need the fix for the 7260 ac install on your asus zenbook here is the answer. it has the mhf4 female connector and the u.fl connector for the new card. I purchase 2 from ebay and waiting for them to arrive. here's the link http:// http://www.ebay.com/itm/181810655678?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT good luck

 

that's a MHF 3 to U.FL adapter. Did you mean this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MHF-4-MHF4-...207?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a54c2e8ff

 

Hi !

I don’t know if it has already posted somewhere, I think I have found something interresting for those who want to upgrade their UX32vd wifi adapter. Like many of us, I was searching a solution to upgrade the wifi adapter of my UX32VD - one of the last upgradable think that I haven’t upgraded in that laptop


I wanted to keep the stock antenna plug and avoid soldering things so I’ve found a workable solution to fit an Intel 7260 in my Zenbook. The only wifi cards I’ve found that use the small MHF4 antenna plug of the Zenbook was the the wifi cards using the newer m.2 interface instead the mini PCIe in the Zenbook. So I’ve bought an M.2 NGFF to Mini PCIe adapter (I took mine here : http://www.mfactors.com/m2mp1-m2mp1-e-m-2-ngff-to-mini-pcie-pcie-usb-adapter/) and an Intel 7260NGW Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 :




Here is before the changes. Note that the main antenna (#1) (black wire) is on the left side of the old card. Be gentle while removing those two antennas.




Here is the old PCI-e card (center) compared to the new M.2 Intel 7260 (right). Note the antennas plugs are the same on this model :




While the antenna plugs are both MHF4, but the MAIN and AUX plugs are not in the same order than the old card. You will have to plug the black wire on the right plug instead on the left one on the old card.

The adapter comes with a screw in the top hole that you need to put on the lower hole to fit the half size m.2 card. You will also have to break the top , left and right tab on the adapter.



Here is the adapter with the card screwed and tabs removed :




To get it fit well, I only used one of the two washers that came with the top screw. I put one washer between the adapter and the card to keep them from touching each other :





The problem with that kind of adapters is that they add some height compared to the original configuration. I was worried the bottom cover couldn’t fit anymore. It’s finally ok, but the back cover is now touching the new card.




To be sure to avoid shorts between the antennas plugs and the cover, I put some tape over the antennas plugs. Here is the final configuration :





Don’t forget to swap the antennas wires (see the white and the black indications on the card)


And since our UX32VD is getting some age, it's a good idea to clean the air vents before putting the cover back on !


And it worked The card can work right after booting but it’s always a good thing to update to the latest drivers on Intel site.

With the new card, I had to re-enter my wifi passwords and redo any Bluetooth pairings. Other annoyance, since I’ve changed my hard drive and added RAM last year, the wifi adapter upgrade was a little too much changes compared to the stock laptop for the windows activation algorithms. I had to call the Microsoft automated phone activation to reactivate my Windows. But now everything works ! I’m getting 866 Mbps (the max the card can handle) when I’m in front of my Asus RT-AC66U, and about 520 Mbps when I’m about 20 feet further in my living room. I can’t really tell if the range is better, but at least for the same distance, speed is faster.



Hope that helps someone !

P.

 

Just wanted to say I got a 7260 card from thenextdon13 as well, and it's working great. Haven't tested it out extensively, but the old card would take forever to connect from sleep, drop out here and there, etc... No such problems with the new card yet.

 

Hi, rikigst,

I'd bought this adapter x 2 and 7260HMW for UX32VD, so It's working very well.
Thank you for your information. I think about this way is most cheapest solution to built-in of 802.11ac.

Regards,

 

I have tried both of rikigst's cable adapter and Scooby00's Mini PCIe adapter. The winner is mini PCIe adapter. When my laptop stay close to AP. Both of solutions can reach 866Mb/s. However, when I move my UX32VD to the other room (30ft away). The rikigst's solution dropped to 243Mb/s, but Scooby00's can still stay in 350Mb/s. Hope this is helpful.

rikigst's solution: low cost, but not easy to connect the MHF4 to adapter (maybe it's due to my fat finger)
Scooby00's solution: little higher cost, but very easy to install.


Thanks,
Clark

 

I have tried both of rikigst's cable adapter and Scooby00's Mini PCIe adapter. The winner is mini PCIe adapter. When my laptop stay close to AP. Both of solutions can reach 866Mb/s. However, when I move my UX32VD to the other room (30ft away). The rikigst's solution dropped to 243Mb/s, but Scooby00's can still stay in 350Mb/s. Hope this is helpful.

rikigst's solution: low cost, but not easy to connect the MHF4 to adapter (maybe it's due to my fat finger)
Scooby00's solution: little higher cost, but very easy to install.


Thanks,
Clark

 

It seems so ludicrous that ASUS has used so many proprietary/non-standard connectors and parts in this laptop. I love this computer, but the proprietary SSDs and now the MHF4 antenna connectors have caused me a lot of grief and lost time!!

 

with some occasional issues (sometimes when I move my laptop from the desk to the bed, it'll randomly disconnect) that I'm not sure if it's caused by bad installation or just the early drivers.

 

Thanks to Scooby00. I too have upgraded per his post #32. The only bit I did different was to grind down the larger diameter pillar of the module upper attachment spacer so that the bit extending below the adapter does not touch parts on the motherboard and added insulation where the distance is tight. There was no need to add insulation on top of the module as there was already some plastic film applied by Asus in the bottom cover.

Unfortunately on another UX32A that I have, a while ago I cut the antenna connectors off and removed the AC7260 sockets. Soldering direct was extremely difficult but it worked OK. I have managed to find a replacement antenna and returned the PC back to original plus the parts in Scooby00's post, and got that one working properly too.

One of the AC7260NGW modules antenna connections I have is marked Main and Aux corresponding to the White and Black triangles respectively on another. Having changed the WiFi antenna, the black wire comes from the Main and the white from the Aux. So this means that Scooby00 has his antenna connectors the wrong way round. This might make a difference to the WiFi performance.

 

Hi Scooby00, I have been reading from 1st thread till I saw your pics. I saw Amazon is selling this version which looks like the original wifi card without the need for the adapter. Can someone confirm this thanks.

https://www.amazon.com/Bplus-7260-H...CBV64/ref=cm_sw_em_r_sawdtod_7pb7wb19WWG6G_tt

 

Jacky, in case Scooby00 does not see your query, the short answer is the Intel AC7260 WiFi adapter shown in your link is the variety that has the larger antenna connectors. Only the Intel 7260NGW Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 has the smaller antenna connectors - see Scooby's post #32 above. For a quick and easy job you need the NGW version and the M.2 NGFF to Mini PCIe adapter to enable connection to the existing UX32 antenna as Scooby described. Remember to remove the bits of the adapter not required and fit the spacer / screw as Scooby has shown. Also note that the black wire goes to the left connector and the white on the to the right on the AC7260NGW module when viewed top right - this is contrary to that shown in Scooby00's pictures. This may affect performance.

I purchased my 7260NGW from http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171386308290?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT and the adapter from http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252068560103?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT.

You can find the latest AC7260 Bluetooth and WiFi either from Intel's site https://downloadcenter.intel.com/ or (probably better) from Station-Drivers http://www.station-drivers.com/index.php?lang=fr from their Intel downloads section.

 

Thank you very much Bro, i'm very excited after knowing i can upgrade the Notebook to better specs. Your seller for 7260NGW does not send to my country, i use this seller instead.
http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/17117364...04&_trkparms=gh1g=I171173641839.N41.S1.R1.TR2

The adapter i get from your link. I cancelled the Amazon order twice due to wrong card model, lucky no charges before dispatch.

 

Good - don't forget that your router needs to have AC specification as well to get the higher speed. You probably know this anyway.

 

Thanks, i'm using RT-AC87U boosted with TP-Link long antennas. ; )

 

I really need to thank you guys for this amazing thread and Scooby00 for his amazing solution. I did the same thing and it took me like 5 Minutes and 35€. I should have done this years ago!

However, like pointed out by xyzbird I have the cables the other way around (matching the label, not the color).

I bought the following components:

• "miniPCI express to M.2 (NGFF) (PCIe+USB) Adapter for Wifi/Wlan + Bluetooth cards"
• Intel Dual Band Wireless AC7265 Model: 7265NGW 802.11AC 867Mbps M.2 NGFF 0K57GX

 

hello, I would have gone to use this reduction?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MHF-4-MHF4-...r-cable-IPX-/181810686207?hash=item2a54c2e8ff

 

Hi All,

The stock Intel 6235 wireless card in my Asus UX31A is dying and am thinking of replacing it with a 802.11ac card.

From my extensive research on the web, there are no UX31A fully comparable cards in the market (unless you think of replacing the stock antennas) and I ended up with a choice of Intel 7260 or AzureWave AW-CB160H. I've found no better solutions (I don't really want to jump to USB WiFi -- I have just 2 USB slots on the machine!)

This particular thread proved to be the most informative from all over the internet on the Zenbook vs. Intel 7260 compatibility issues. I've taken it that there are 3 possible solutions:

(a) an adapter like one reported by Scooby00 in the message #32 ( link). Not compatible with UX31A due to the size issue;
(b) a U.FL/MHF4 wired connector. But tkgt in his message #34 ( link) reported such a performance degradation level that makes the replacement of 6235 useless; or
(c) remove the O-ring (responsible only for grounding?) of the U.FL factor and solder (or tape-protect) the stock MHF4 connectors in there.

Questions:
- could you report the speeds you are getting under (b) and (c)?
- on the above-mentioned AzureWave 3-antennas product, where in your Zenbook would you put the 3rd antenna? Similar to UX32VD, UX31A has just 2 stock antennas located under the display bottom (see step 20 here -- link).

Many thanks for your responses in advance!

 

Hey guys. I've just tried to put Centrino-N 7260HMW (not AC) instead of breaking connections 6235. Looks like IPEX4 connector pins ok into u.FL, if you make u.FL connector "little wider" ) i've put there screwdriver, and pushed outside, for less than 1mm. However, this card didn't started on my PC(ux32vd), so i can't say that it's working solution.
So, now I'm thinking about http://www.ebay.com/itm/Azurewave-A...391074?hash=item280b4e94a2:g:NF4AAOSw7hRWOXQb what do You, guys think?

 

Hi ekbduffy,

Looks like all have lost interest in upgrading our old laptops or simply not willing to share experience. Unfortunately, there's not much useful information available on the web. I continue researching and here is something extra which I've found so far:

(1) There are reports of poor performance of Intel 7260.

(2) I found a thread on the Russian IXBT forum, the first pages of which (2014?) report positively on the BCM94360 chipset performance (which is used in AW-CB160H). I still need to read all 30+ pages for an informed view/any troubleshooting issues.

(3) I will continue searching for feedback/reviews but from all I've found by now, AW-CB160H seems to be a good choice. The question is where to put its 3rd antenna.

(4) Looks like the only place to put it within UX31A (UX32VD as well) is into the hinge where the 2 stock antennas are (see the reference to 'step 20' from my previous post). The hinge is the only not aluminium outer cover -- the latter, as reported in the neighbour thread, seems to kill the wireless signal ( link). The stock antennas are located at the left/right edges of the hinge. So, perhaps I could put the 3rd antenna in the middle and on the other side of the hidge. I suspect, however, that doing it may cause a serious interference which will affect the wireless performance.

(5) I measured that I need a circa 37cm-long cable to put the 3rd antenna up to the middle of the hinge. This seller and item have good feedback and may provide you with extra antennas if you brake something ( link).

(6) Perhaps another choice is to ignore the 3rd antenna - but it will result in no bluetooth (see the link in (4) above) and perhaps a serious WiFI performance degradation.

(7) Yes another choice may be going for an AzureWave 2x2 AC model if I am able to find one (haven't found any compatible Killer models).

I will continue researching and will put what I find here. Suggest you do the same.

 

Hello, Zhenya.
poor performance of Intel 7260 - agreed, many messages on the net.
I think that third antenna can just be placed near the card itself. For sure, as was mentioned here - it's not good idea for antennas, but at least we will have two of them in good place
I don't want to disassemble screen part of notebook. I have a friend with ux31a like ,and he updated screen to IPS fullHD. He got damage on bezel around the screen.
So i'll order AW-CB160H from taobao soon( it will took about a month to arrive into my place). Will keep updated.