Intel WiFi Link 6300 and Dell E5500

Dear forum,
I intend to upgrade to Wireless N soon, I have a choice between Intel WiFi Link 5300 and 6300.

Is the 6300 compatible with Dell E5500 ?
I have 3 antenna cables, 2 of which are connected to my crappy Dell 1397 card and a grey one covered in a plastic sheathe (and of course the bluetooth one connected to my Dell 370 card).

Are there any practical differences between them (in regards to compatibility with the latest N routers) ?

 

The 6300 is a newer card that replaces the 5300. I doubt there are any practical differences between them. Given that the 5300 should be cheaper, I would go with that one.

 

Any mini PCI-E WLAN card will work. I would just get the Intel Wifi Link 5100 AGN, hardly a difference from the 5300.

 

The 5100 only uses two antennas. I would think that the 5300, which uses three antennas, would be at least a little bit better?

I got the 5100 because I swapped my 1397 with the 5100 from an E4300, but had I needed to purchase one, I probably would've gone with the 5300 because of the additional antenna.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone, I got the 6300 and it worked flawlessly (using the "Driver-only" end-user version from intel site).

With my current crappy D-Link 2640U, I barely get 1.5 MBps file copy speed, this didn't change, but I can see 10 more networks now !

Next up, is to find a good 5 GHz router (no need for simultaneous 2.4 GHz) :smile:

 

My 6300 card works very well and is suppose to be a bit more power efficient.

Using it with the dualband Linksys E3000, I notice that 5GHz (N-mode only) is definitely faster within its range, but that range falls off more quickly than for 2.4GHz within the same modest sized home, making 2.4GHz faster at greater distances. Plus there is 2.4GHz support for the older standards/users/guests. My E3000 is now in an off-campus application with multiple users among a ton of other personal WLANs zinging around... it replaced a 2.4GHz Belkin that was unreliable. Its simultaneous dualbands and stability have been assests there... a case study with these specific products. After seeing how it worked, I setup and considered the 5GHz band to be the *bonus* high performance WLAN for close-range N-mode only clients, and 2.4GHz to be the workhorse.

Point being, given you have the 6300, adding a dualband router might have some usabilty advantages in some applications.

Edit: I do wonder if the lack of external antennaes on the E3000 affect its range. So, perhaps your mileage may vary with another 5GHz router with beefy external antennaes.

GK