y410p wireless not working (computer doesn't even recognize presence of adapter)

Today when I turned on my y410p, at first I thought I had simply disabled my wifi, but upon opening adapter settings, device manager, and so forth, I can't find any trace that my laptop even thinks that it has a wireless card installed. I still see the bluetooth adapter and ethernet adapters, but as far as I can tell, my computer regards the Intel 2230 that came with my laptop as non-existent.

With that said, the 2230 has always been a fickle nuisance, and I wouldn't mind simply ditching it. What other wifi cards would I be able to install without disabling secureboot? Has anyone had a positive experience doing so, and if so, which card did you install?

 

I'm using the least popular of the 3 versions of Intel 7260: "Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260". It's the fastest 2x2 WiFi N card I've owned and it's the most stable 7260 version IMO since I've never had a disconnection, nor limited connectivity problems. In addition, Bluetooth doesn't slow down WiFi and it also doesn't interfere with WiFi at all. You can get the 7260AC if you need AC (though I've seen people complain about driver issues with the AC). Keep in mind that you have to have a hacked BIOS to be able to swap WiFi cards.

 

What would the ramifications of using a hacked BIOS be? After using only ethernet for the last several days, I've learned to greatly appreciate a stable connection.

 

The modded BIOS is harmless and will not compromise stability in any way, however there are many settings inside of it that you should NOT TOUCH BY ANY MEANS OR YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR SYSTEM. Basically, flash the modded BIOS, install the card, install the drivers for the card and done. No need to fiddle in the modded BIOS, trust me.

 

Hm, after a quick look, I've found four versions of the non-AC 7260.

Newegg.com - Intel 7260HMW AN IEEE 802.11 Dual Band N600 Mini PCI Express Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Adapter, 2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 300Mbps
Newegg.com - Intel 7260HMW NB IEEE 802.11 Dual Band N600 Mini PCI Express Wi-Fi Adapter, 2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 300Mbps
Newegg.com - Intel 7260HMW BN IEEE 802.11 N300 Mini PCI Express plus Bluetooth 4.0 - Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter - Wireless Adapters
Newegg.com - 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

For my purposes, are they all equally functional, with price being the only difference?

Additionally, is this the hacked BIOS I should use?
Lenovo Y410p / Y510p - unlocked BIOS / wlan whitelist mod / vbios mod

 

I don't know which modded BIOS to use. Jobine can assist you with that. I'm using the Intel 7260HMW NB version on my Y470. See mine here:

 

From the picture, it looks like that's the same size, so I'll go ahead and order that version.

 

OH. Be wary that the 7260HMW NB DOES NOT have Intel Bluetooth included. I specifically ordered that model for my Y470 because my laptop already came with the internal Broadcom Bluetooth (this is separate from the WiFi card). Having 2 Bluetooth devices can result to conflict with the Lenovo Energy Management Software (for Y470/Y570) so I decided to buy the one without the Intel Bluetooth. If you don't use Bluetooth at all, you can get that model. If you do care about Bluetooth get either the "7260HMW AN" or the "7260HMW". The AN is basically the NB with the Intel Bluetooth included just like the Intel Centrino 2230 is basically Intel Centrino 2200 with the Intel Bluetooth included.

This is just my opinion: based on my threads I read at Intel forums, the Intel Bluetooth does interfere with the speed of the Intel WiFi. It might be due to both Bluetooth and WiFi share the same interface (not sure if this is correct) while having a separate Bluetooth and WiFi adapter does not cause any interference at all. This phenomenon also happens on 2013 Macbooks (both air and pro) where Bluetooth also slows WiFi (both Bluetooth and WiFi are integrated in the same package).

 

I don't use it anyway, thanks for the heads up though.

 

lenovo has blocked the unauthorized wifi cards from being used in their laptops by whitelisting the card in bios.
only solution is to install modded bios with wifi whitelist removed and then upgrade the wifi card.
i did that with instructions in How To Remove Bios WLAN Whitelist From Lenovo Y410P/Y510P? | The Cosmosphere
hope this helps someone.