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Topic: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card (Read 3004 times) previous topic - next topic
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HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Hey guys, I'm trying to figure what the best bluetooth module is I can buy for this hp elitebook 8440p

Apparently its an older style connector, but the bluetooth modules don't have a whitelist, so I might be able to find a bluetooth 4.0 module that'll connect to it, I'm having trouble finding one though because they aren't easy to search for when I don't know the name of the connector.

It would look like this:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/HP-EliteBook-8440p-module-Bluetooth/322934913873?hash=item4b306bbb51:g:e~MAAOSwRkRZu-ss

Tried asking on the HP website but offended some HP fanboy who takes offense to comments that obviously weren't directed at him.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/HP-Elitebook-8440p-bluetooth-whitelist/m-p/6625018#M448910

This thing also has an "expresscard" on it, I think its a 54mm... I thought it was PCMCIA but it appears to be "expresscard" as its got the funny shape with the one corner cut out of it.


If any of you are able to find something that works for me - or perhaps you own something like this, if you'd like I could trade you a brand-new intel 7260 5g+bluetooth 4.0 PCI-E or a RTL8821ae 5g+bluetooth 4.0..  I would maybe consider bluetooth 3.0 if that was all that is available. The intel card was $25ish, the RTL card was a bit cheaper... So if you find one & we trade, you could maybe get a nice wifi card for really cheap. I figure this may create an incentive for someone to help me find one of these things because perhaps its much cheaper than $25 for a new intel pci-e card.

Re: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Reply #1 –
Does anyone know what these bluetooth things are called? What is that wired called? I don't know how to search for it because I can't figure out what its called :( I found a bunch of them but I can't figure out what the port they plug into is called...

I found one that should work - its called a Dell 380 bluetooth. If someone wanted, I would trade the PCI-E intel 5G+bluetooth card I have for it, you can get the dell 380 for $15 & the PCI-E card is $25. I will probably order it at the end of the month, but if someone wants to do a trade before then, then we can arrange that, and I can even throw in a PCI-E mini-to-full extender with it if need be, I ordered the extender a little while back, should be here this week or next.

Re: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Reply #2 –
All I know is there are some cheap usb blue-t dongles that can do the work, as long as the device connecting and the one on the pc are of the same era/version.  It seems like the old devices need an old dongle to work with, like old phones etc.

The good thing about a laptop with a usb on it is that you remember to take it off when not in use, so you never forget it is on all the time, which is something you shouldn't do.

Re: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Reply #3 –
Quote from: fungalnet – on
All I know is there are some cheap usb blue-t dongles that can do the work, as long as the device connecting and the one on the pc are of the same era/version.  It seems like the old devices need an old dongle to work with, like old phones etc.

The good thing about a laptop with a usb on it is that you remember to take it off when not in use, so you never forget it is on all the time, which is something you shouldn't do.

Well I am using my bluetooth most of the time. I don't want a USB - I already have a USB for bluetooth, they don't work anywhere near as well as the built-in ones, often times I end up with a slight delay on sound. I want to buy a built-in bluetooth module but I don't know what it is that I can buy.

Would a Dell 380 bluetooth work in my HP Elitebook 8440p???

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THESE OLDER-STYLE BLUETOOTH MODULES ARE CALLED????  FOR THE LIFE OF ME I CANNOT FIGURE IT OUT!!!
I can't figure out what the cords are called either -_- this makes things extra hard.....

Re: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Reply #4 –
It looks to me like a semi proprietary part that would be used only in a few vaguely related laptop models. Whether there is an upgrade I don't know, I didn't see any upgrade results searching briefly. The unit is a BRCM1043 bluetooth module, from the numbers on the picture in the link you gave:
https://fccid.io/QDS-BRCM1043
https://fccid.io/QDS-BRCM1043/User-Manual/Users-Manual-1061398
That above mentions "not intended for installation by end user" which suggests a specialized fitment part.
Your second link goes to a "login to this forum page" for me btw. But searching on that forum there was a post detailing how to disable the internal bluetooth and use a USB adapter on your model of laptop which apparently gave superior performance. Also for performance, consider a PCIE bluetooth card if you have that socket, the PCI card interface could have higher performance than USB, it hooks into the HW more directly. I read the Elitebook's have a good reputation, they are used by the military in some countries.
There are a lot of BRCM1043 modules for sale on eBay, some for vey little cost if you needed one, but I guess you have one and want to upgrade it.

Re: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Reply #5 –
Quote from: ####### – on
It looks to me like a semi proprietary part that would be used only in a few vaguely related laptop models. Whether there is an upgrade I don't know, I didn't see any upgrade results searching briefly. The unit is a BRCM1043 bluetooth module, from the numbers on the picture in the link you gave:
https://fccid.io/QDS-BRCM1043
https://fccid.io/QDS-BRCM1043/User-Manual/Users-Manual-1061398
That above mentions "not intended for installation by end user" which suggests a specialized fitment part.
Your second link goes to a "login to this forum page" for me btw. But searching on that forum there was a post detailing how to disable the internal bluetooth and use a USB adapter on your model of laptop which apparently gave superior performance. Also for performance, consider a PCIE bluetooth card if you have that socket, the PCI card interface could have higher performance than USB, it hooks into the HW more directly. I read the Elitebook's have a good reputation, they are used by the military in some countries.
There are a lot of BRCM1043 modules for sale on eBay, some for vey little cost if you needed one, but I guess you have one and want to upgrade it.

The PCI-E card is locked on this specific model :'(

Did you miss the part where I was saying I have two PCI-E 5G+Bluetooth cards?

Nice name btw, ############ lol

Re: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Reply #6 –
I meant the 54/34mm express card slot, but it looks like there were no wifi adapters made to fit this, although you can get USB 3.0 cards that might give a high speed interface. According to this the internal wifi card uses a mini PCIE port, and the other port is for SSD only.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/How-to-use-external-graphics-card-in-HP-Elitebook-8440p/td-p/6201998
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Mini-PCI-E-Slot-Question/td-p/5495544
Sounds like it is a 1x port, which might be why your other cards don't work, or perhaps you need to try the other one.
I also read that USB bluetooth adapters vary in lag, some are sold as low latency for audio streaming. Supposedly USB 3.0 adapters could be better.
That Dell 380 card looks similar but it was for Dell models made later than your HP, so no idea if it would work. Perhaps you would need the right drivers for some of these things too.
I tried doing >-0-< or something like that first for a user name but the forum rejected it  :D

Re: HP EliteBook 8440p bluetooth card

Reply #7 –
I missed replying to this thread, jeez 3 months ago, my bad.
Anyway, the other cards don't work because this PCIE is locked. stupid HP.

Thankfully I've got a bluetooth USB that works well now, which is mainly what I wanted, since the laptop already has a 5G WiFi card.