For example, for a Elitebook 8440p, it isįind Bluetooth in the manual and examine how to replace the board. Search for the service manual for your notebook: enter the term "(your HP notebook model) service manual" into your favorite search engine and download the pdf. Buy a (used) bluetooth 4.0 board and swap out the existing bluetooth 2.1 board. This happened to me with my 8540w (before I became aware of option#3 below), even though the card I bought was manufactured by HP.ģ. This whitelist is in the BIOS and of you insert a card that is not on the whitelist, the computer refuses to boot. However, you cannot do this: in this same period HP implemented a "whitelist" regarding network cards. This sounds good, since it also upgrades the WiFi card from "n" to "ac" (if that matters - it is only speed). (theoretical in this case) Buy a combined Wifi-Bluetooth 4.0 card, replace your existing WiFi card with it and disable the existing bluetooth device in the BIOS. This is what we want to avoid, as it takes up a valuable usb port (and needlessly increases consumption).Ģ. Buy an external bluetooth 4.0 usb dongle and disable the internal bluetoothĭevice in the BIOS. if you want to upgrade, you can theoretically (see below) do this 3 ways:ġ. HP Elitebook 8470w and 8470p (the latter is also called ProBook) HP implemented bluetooth 4.0 first with the same kind of separate little board (then started using Wifi-bluetooth combo cards that became available around 2015-6 (?)). Peripheral devices incompatible with these laptops. To 4.0 and 4.0LE (and then version 5.) in this period. The bluetooth specifications took a "leap" from version 2.1 first to version 3.0 then The bluetooth in these laptops is version 2.0 or 2.1+EDR and it is implemented with a separate little board connected via a cable to the motherboard.Īnd the laptops we are talking about include (did not do an exhaustive search): The notebooks manufactured by HP in the period 2009-2014 (?) are perfectly fine in terms of their hardware to be used for general tasks even today - except for bluetooth. I provide an overview of the "bluetooth situation" below and then instructions how
#Ub 001 dongle upgrade
The SPS number for the bluetooth board you need for the upgrade is 655792-001. I myself have done it on my Elitebook 8540w. The short answer to the question is that the upgrade can be done. Second: The info below is provided "as-is", without any warranty expressed or implied as to the reliability/correctness in any way.