In regards to wireless cards

Is the Killer Wireless-N THAT much better than the basic intel? I see everyone tends to get the Killer card with their laptops and I'm just wondering how much of a difference it will make. Currently working with the sales dept for a decent quote.. just wondering if I should include that card or save the money. Any opinions?

 

It's an extra $70 on your purchase so I highly suggest you research it first, however I can offer you a little information of my own that you should take into logical consideration as you would with anything an anonymous stranger tells you on the internet.

The Killer wireless adapter is designed with the idea of streaming content in mind that requires many sequential uploads and downloads of small information packets in terms of gaming or VOIP, or large amount of data being sent over time, in terms of video streaming. What the Killer Wireless-N does is optimize for this traffic that prefers a low ping. This optimization is used to decrease lag and stuttering caused by the data not being able to move fast enough.

It also has a nifty little hardware monitoring and networking application that allows you to manually prioritize applications for the internet. e.g: giving Steam more bandwidth while lowering the bandwidth that Java auto-updater receives.

But wait, there's more! The Killer Wireless-N Adapter also has three antennas giving it an extended range over other adapters that only have one or two.

If you don't have easy access to a CAT5 cable (the preferred but not always convenient method for online gaming), or you want better range with out having a line of sight to your router, the Killer Adapter might be a good choice for you. My M17x has one and it helps give me smoother games and video than other computers I own.

Make your choice before your order! It can often be more difficult to replace the stock wireless adapter than other hardware, or even cost more at a resale price than what Dell is offering it for.

Tachyonic

 

read this. just stumbled upon it today and feel like i should have ordered the 1103 over the 6300 for a mere $25 more. but then again, i don't even have a dual band router (yet). qualcomm ftw.

 

IMHO its not worth it ... but what do I know I'm wired like 99% of the time and I use the Bluetooth a lot (you loose bluetooth with the killer)

 

I still have bluetooth with my 1103

 

I think they install the Broadcom 380 adapter for bluetooth when you opt for the Killer 1103 option.

This was in my order information:
430-4712
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video and Bluetooth 4.0

430-4706
Internal Wireless Bluetooth 4.0

 

Yes, that's exactly what they do, shinyi257. It's not integrated with the WIFI module. On the M18x R1 with the Intel Ultimate-N 6300 they used the 375 Bluetooth module.

The Ultimate-N 6300 and Killer 1103 are both excellent WIFI cards and both are 3x3 MIMO. Anything less is a compromise. You need a dual band 5GHz router to benefit from the 3x3 MIMO. Killer 1103 is optimized for things that the Intel 6300 is not. The Intel card offers streaming wireless video capabilities. It depends on what you want to do which one is best, but I would spend the extra for a 3x3 MIMO card. The Killer 1103 is the only one that Alienware offers in a new system, so short of installing an aftermarket part it is your only choice.

 

I would guess that this thread is dead, but I just ordered a new apple airport extreme AC. The card that I've found for it is Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260. Anyone installed this card?