Intel 5100 or 5300 Wireless

I'm looking at the XPS 16 and wondering if the 5300 would get a better signal at a further range than the 5100. Is it worth the $40?

 

Well, I prefer the 5300, but here is how you do it economically... Buy the system with the 5100 try it out, if not happy then head over to ebay and get the 5300 card for around $20, if you feel the need for it, then turn your card around on ebay for $15 or so.... I did that, and it worked out great... It's a 2 minute swap, and simple to do.

The 5300 will get a better signal and strength only if you have the equipment to match it's capabilities. The XPS Studio already comes pre-wired for it, so just plug and play, and the drivers are the same, so no downloads or anything.

 

agree with poison.. get a piece in ebay.. it's much more cheaper.. xps has really done a great job getting the antenna ready.. mine show no sign of signal drop since i swapped it..

 

**You mean to say that you swapped a 5100 (two antenna card) for a 5300 (three antenna card) and dell had already installed the 3rd antenna ready ??

I have yet to open up my XPS 16 5100 to see if theres a 3rd cable spare - I have ordered a 5300 off ebay and its in the post at the moment

 

Yes, they have conveniently installed a 3rd antenna. Probably easier for them to do and then install whatever card... It's there and capped off right next to the card slot.

 

great thanks! Only question I have now is what colour cables did you use ?

See the table here at the end:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/sxl16/en/sm/minicard.htm#wp1180188

I assume yours just had:

WLAN (2 or 3 antenna cables)
Main WLAN (white triangle) = white
Auxiliary WLAN (black triangle) = black
MIMO WLAN (gray triangle) = gray

?

 

What exactly are the benefits of the 5300 over the 5100?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/MIMO-3-802-11n-...27ab5fc60b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_3455wt_952
or
http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-Intel-WiFi...in_0?hash=item4a9974da31&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

which one is the right card to get?

 

gulp! - good question!

This is the one I ordered :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390094365061&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

which is a "HALF" one and I think I have ordered the wrong one as this link here references the larger one thats "for Dell Studio 1735/ XPS 16 Laptops" :

http://computers.become.com/shop?&bskuid=796638155&pid=650000000&cid=0&q=&reab=100&nofilter

I assume I will still be ok as its just a smaller card - Hopefully it will be turning up today so i'll post a note when after i have installed it

Mark

 

half height card is hard to installed in full height minipcie WLAN slot,
since there is no place for screw that hold the card down.

And yes, dell had 3 antennas installed for new models.
for intel 5300 it will be:
1 = white cable
2 = black cable
3 (middle) = grey cable

But I read in dell's service manual:

so if your half mini card slot is not used yet, you're good to go

 

thanks! - I might post some pictures before and after (if it turns up today)

 

Just fitted mine at lunchtime, the 3rd cable was there and it was a straight swap out for the existing 5100 which was a half size one so in answer to your question:

Its this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-Intel-WiFi-Link-5300-Half-Height-WLAN-Card-0N230K_W0QQitemZ320402151985QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9974da31&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

This upgrade increased my wireless speed from 120Mbs to 260Mbs

 

5300 due to "MyWiFi" from Intel. MyWiFi rocks. Connect a wifi device right to the notebook no need for a router. Printers, iPods, other laptops to share internet,printing,media, etc.

Take it to a hotel pay for 1 pc with WiFi get all your ipod touches, and other wifi internet devices connected all via the main rig with MyWiFi.