Dell_Bill, some advice to take back to the Alienware team

You guys really need to bring back the Bigfoot Killer-N wifi cards and SiBeam WiHD transmitters. WiDi is not suitable for gaming, and what do most people do with Alienware laptops? WiHD is the best solution we have on the market today, although maybe WHDI will be better (I haven't had the chance to compare)? Also, I have used every flavor of Intel wifi card with my Ruckus ZoneFlex 7962 access point, and the Bigfoot BLOWS THEM ALL OUT OF THE WATER! Just look at all the comparison tests on the net, nothing else can touch it. I managed to make this happen in my M18x R2 even without Dell's help, but not all buyers are savvy enough.

 

the killer wireless cards used to be available through amazon though it seems they have have been taken down. I heard there was a new killer card coming out and that Dell is waiting for the new card though, so don't lose all hope.

 

I'm waiting for the Killer Wireless-N 1202. It has Bluetooth now.

 

Just asking out of curiosity, but why would you care about Bluetooth being included? Doesn't your system already have Bluetooth like everyone else's?

 

Because I might upgrade the wifi adapter. As far as I know, the stock Intel ones have bluetooth but the current Killer Wireless-N 1102 and 1103 don't.

 

are you sure its not built directly into the mobo? I haven't really messed with it yet though because I have been waiting to see what the new killer card is capable of as well.

 

I don't know. Is it?

Does anyone know?

 

a new killer card appeared on dell NL site. killer wifi 1103 with bluetooth.
might be wrongly named and be the 1202.
i dont care about BT and ripping out the intel and placing back the 1103 i have in my R3.
R4 and no killer card, lol..

 

The Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth module is a totally separate and independent hardware device that is installed on the opposite side of the motherboard. It has nothing to do with the 802.11 wifi device regardless of whether it is an Intel or Killer wifi card. So, there is no need to get a Killer wifi module with integrated Bluetooth because you will still have it after changing out the wifi card.

To access the wifi card, you need only remove the bottom cover. It is just about as fast and easy to swap out as a stick of RAM. To access the Bluetooth module, you must remove the keyboard, display assembly and palmrest.

 

I noticed in the M17x R3 tech specs on the Dell website, the bluetooth adapter is listed separately from the Wifi options. But it's not the case with the R4. Could that mean they've removed it?

 

why does the r4 come with an 2230 intel wifi+bluetooth module on one?
as far as i can see de separate BT module in the r4 is gone.
that slot is now used for the msata.

Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230

so yes you need a killer with intergrated BT or lose BT support.

 

I think the slot that the mSATA stole was the one for the WIHD streaming, not the bluetooth module.

 

Really? wicked, ripping out my 1103 from my fubar R3 and transplanting it in my R4 when it arrives. then dell can have the crappy intel 2230 back
will see it in a few days when i start operation on the R4. if can transplant the 1103 with saving bluetooth would be a bonus.

 

What's with all the confusion in this thread? Some Wifi cards feature bluetooth, some don't. Both Killer 1103 and Intel 6300 don't. This is when you get bluetooth using a separate bluetooth module. It's called "Dell 375 bluetooth" and is either produced by Foxconn or Lieton. You can order the part separately.

Killer 1202 may indeed have bluetooth, who knows, yet what is concerning is the number. In case of Killer 1102 the "2" stood for two antennas (vs. 3 in 1103). If you want proper 450Mbit wlan, you need all 3 antennas.

Wlan cards use PCI-E mini port (the same one that can run mSata drives). WirelessHD takes regular PCI mini card port so that's something else. You cannot use the WiHD mini port for either mSata drivers or modern Wlan cards. I would assume to run both a WLAN card and mSata disk, m18xR2 would come with two PCI-E mini ports (vs. just one in R1).

Xenn0X, you do that. 1103 offers great performance.

BTW, Killer 1103 can be still ordered from a few shops in the UK and costs some 44-50 EUR (35-40 GBP).
See here: http://skinflint.co.uk/669670

Just to catch up:

According to this article, Killer 1202 will indeed feature bluetooth and have two antennas:

As said, no 450Mbit/s WLAN for you.

In other words, if you want bluetooth and wlan in one card/don't want to pay extra for a bluetooth module and don't care that much about the 300Mbit/s vs 450Mbit/s difference, then wait for Killer 1202.

If you do care about fast WLAN and don't about bluetooth, get 'traditional' 1103.

Note that you cannot always get high WLAN speeds even if you are properly equipped for that if there is a lot of wireless interference in your area, e.g. if you live in a flat or a small house closely surrounded by other houses, max you will get is prolly 144Mbit/s anyway.

Also note that actual throughput of your WLAN is generally some 60% of the declared connection speed, so that's like 30MB/s for 450Mbit/s, 20 MB/s for 300Mbit/s and 10MB/s for 144Mbit/s. You need a powerful, properly working router to actually get stable 450Mbit/s as well.

 

thnx for the info m8. rep!

i run a apple extreme router and get 450mbit stable.
copying data over wifi to synology goes 25/28 MB/s so im maxing that part out with the killer card while being in same room, no walls 10 feet away from the router.
i will certainly now transplant the 1103 from my R3 to my R4...

 

We could have some news about that water cooling idea that antec did on an alienware if it was going to be aprooved or not