Upgrading to Intel 5300 series wireless on the Studio laptops

Conversation with Dell sales, does this sound possible?

Agent BE_Rep_John
How may I help you with your purchase today?

Customer Mike
Do you have any laptops that can be ordered with the intel 5300 series wireless card?

Agent BE_Rep_John
Hello Mike. All our laptops use a Dell Wireless Card.

Agent BE_Rep_John
But they shouldn't be any different from any other brand when it comes to the technology.

Customer Mike
you have intel 4965 cards offered but I have noticed on your parts site that you offer the 5300 series card. what would that be able to be upgraded in?

Agent BE_Rep_John
Oh, I see. That one is for the Studio 15.

Customer Mike
can that be selected from the baseline system?

Customer Mike
i do not see that in the website selection

Agent BE_Rep_John
It's not available on upgrade. You can purchase it separately and the one we have on site is only for the Studio 15.

Customer Mike
i think I found it the precision line has the 5300 available for selection, do you know if there are any other models available for this 5300 series card?

Agent BE_Rep_John
Let me check.

Agent BE_Rep_John
Looks like we only have this for the Studio 15.

Agent BE_Rep_John
You can try checking retail stores if they have ones available for other systems.

Customer Mike
i am not understanding that you say that the 5300 is available for the studio 15 but I can not select it from the website. Do I have to order through parts and install myself?

Agent BE_Rep_John
Yes, that's right. It's not available for upgrade. You can purchase it separately and do the installation.

Customer Mike
ok. so last question. If this was available for studio 15 why would it not work on the 17, I understand that the 5300 series requires an additional antenna wire, so this laptop is ready with the additional wire existing?

Agent BE_Rep_John
It shows here that it is only available for the Studio 15. It's because our laptops have different components and installing these on different models might cause compatibility issues. But we might have similar models for the Studio 17. Let me check on it.

Agent BE_Rep_John
Thanks for waiting. I just had it checked. The 5300 is tested to work with the Studio 17.

Agent BE_Rep_John
Sorry for the misinformation.

Customer Mike
ok thanks for your help

Agent BE_Rep_John
You're welcome. I appreciate your patience. Anything else I can help you with?

Customer Mike
no thats all

Has anyone upgraded to this wireless card? or giving it some serious thoughts?
I am in the market for a new laptop and would really like to have that latest technology for future proofing and not be stuck with the 5100 series. There is not alot out there to select a 5300 series and I am not really wanting to purchase a precision laptop to get this as a selectable option. As far as I know the only other laptops that are decent and can select the 5300 series are the Sager/Clevo. Thoughts?

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...&mnf=694&sort=price&~ck=anav&nf=1991~0~191387

If you really want the Intel 5300 just order it from where you found it on the parts site.

I actually am running Linksys Pre-N routers flashed with DD-WRT firmware at home and prefer to have the Dell Wireless 1510/1505/1500. ect. Broadcom-based chipset due to the fact that Broadcom is also what is used in the latest generation of Linksys routers for increased stability. Don't think there is really that much diff in technology between the Broadcom or Intel as they are the same(latest) generation of WLAN...

 

I was under the impression from the Anandtech reviews that the antenna arrangement used in the 5300 series is to improve the transmit range and throughput compared to the Intel 4965 set (is this what the Broadcom is based on?), that is why I am looking at this card. I have yet to find reviews of the actual improvements, maybe sometime soon. Thanks for your input. I do use Linksys products for my wireless at home and I will start looking into what you are saying to see if that is the better route.. thanks again..

 

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/comp...efaq/task,answer/Itemid,214/catid,99/aid,109/

You are not going to find any major manufacturer (Dlink/Linsys/Belkin, ect.) using Intel wireless chips in any of the latest Pre-N routers avail today. They are using either Broadcom or Atheros and some non-linux firmware based routers using Ralink, ect. but NO Intel.

Just makes sense to me using the same manufacturer chipset, in this case Broadcom, in the WLAN (notebook) as well as the router would be better choice than mixing and matching a Intel-based WLAN card with a diff manufacturer chipset in the router...