ABGN WLAN card compatible with GX60?

[adkiller 12]

Is the WLAN card on the GX60 replaceable?

If so, are there any good ABGN cards that will work with the WiFi button on the GX60?

I opened up the bottom case of the GX60 but could not find any mPCI WiFi card in it.

Any idea where could it be? I would like to avoid stripping apart the laptop and mess it up.

[BAKED 220]

It should be located under the toch panel. And yes they are replaceable but the ABGN cards are usually longer and won't fit so you'll need to find one that is the same size as the wifi card.

And most of them are 3 antenna cards so you will also need to install a 3rd antenna.

[adkiller 12]

If I were to replace the WLAN card, would the Fn toggle for WiFi and BT still work? Any recommendation which ABGN card that is compatible?

I had a Lenovo Ideapad Y series before and had to buy a specific WLAN card from Lenovo due to a BIOS whitelist for WLAN cards.

From what I've read, MSI does not do this, but users may have problems like the WiFi and BT toggle not working.

[adkiller 12]

This is just a follow up to my own post that may be useful to someone else.

I managed to purchase a Killer Wireless-N 1202 (Part No: CTJ7G) from Dell and replaced the AzureWave WB225 that came with the GX60.

The AzureWave card that came with the GX60 does not support 5GHz A/N WiFi frequencies and could only use the 2.4 GHz frequencies on my dual-band router. I wanted a dual-band WiFi card to avoid interference from the many 2.4GHz routers near my apartment by using the 5GHz band and when I am out with the commonly available 2.4GHz routers out there.

While the card is from Dell, it works perfectly with the stock drivers from Killer themselves. I would recommend using the stock drivers as they are the latest and have the best compatibility with most routers. The WiFi and BT Fn keys work fine with this card as well. The S-Bar utility works with it too. No hacks required to get all of these features to work.

Before installing the new Killer card, I downloaded the Windows drivers from KillerGaming and I uninstalled all drivers related to the AzureWave, even including the Bluetooth drivers. Based on a tip from Meaker, I found the AzureWave card under the power button panel (the one above the keyboard with the speaker holes on it).

When removing the panel, be extra careful not to use too much force. The ribbon cable under it might snap. To remove the panel, remove the cooling fan and push the plastic clips underneath it out. You can also remove the DVD drive to unveil a clip for the other end of the panel to push out. This will make it easier to snap it off without damaging it or the ribbon cable. You should then see two antenna connected to a tiny mPCIe module that was covered by the power button panel. To remove the module, unplug the antenna cables and unscrew the single screw holding the module down. Once you remove the screw, the module should pop-up and you can replace it with another compatible one without any force. Insert the replacement module and screw it down before plugging in the antennas. Make sure to plug the antennas in the same position as the original card or your WiFi just won't work. The Killer card I used had specific markings on where the black and grey antenna plugs should go. If your replacement module has this information, please follow that instead.

Once you've done putting everything back together, you should be able to boot up your system and log into Windows and install the drivers you've downloaded earlier. After you reboot your system, you should be able to see all WiFi access points after logging into Windows.

That is all there is to it. However, if you run into issues, you may want to take your laptop over to a friend and try connecting to their WiFi to isolate whether your card is faulty or incompatible with your WiFi router. For example, I could not connect to my Asus RT-N66U but it worked fine with my Apple Time Capsule and a Nokia N9 HotSpot. After setting the WiFi radio region codes on my Asus router, it worked flawlessly.

I have not tried this with any other WiFi card. However, based on information from Meaker, the ones based on Atheros chipsets should work fine. The Killer 1202 card I installed uses Atheros chips for both WiFi and BT.