Which is a better wireless card?

Which is a better wireless card?

Dell Wireless™ 1505 Draft 802.11n Mini Card

or

Intel® 4965 802.11a/g/n Dual-Band Mini Card

 

if you have a choice of configuring your laptop with the intel card go with that.

the Intel card might have better compatibility with routers. Also usually intel cards are very good on power consumption too. Drivers are updated on a regular basis.

 

Any card might have better anything, but until anyone publishes numbers proving it I wouldn't waste a dime on a different brand. The Dell cards are made by Broadcom, I believe, so they're not crap or anything. A while ago I actually scoured the net for hard data about different wireless cards' performance, and I couldn't find any data about it. If Intel cards are really better then why haven't they published a comparison?

Edit: I voted Dell because it's the cheaper one last I checked.

By the way, they're both actually Draft N, since the final N spec isn't available yet.

Another advantage of the Dell card is that they won't put the Centrino sticker on your notebook, so you'll have one less sticker to peel off.

 

I would go with the Intel. > Good brand, bood compatibility.

 

I have yet to hear of an issue with the intel cards while the dell cards have been reported to not resume from standby properly or have had issues with network compatability.

 

But I like the Intel Duo sticker..

Larry

 

I guess I lost this poll.

 

I don't know whether u guys have encountered this problem. There is not a single centrino laptop that is free from this problem: quite often disconnected when running ad-hoc network . A least this is my experience. It is very annoying when playing LAN games like warcraft, suddenly someone disconnected...... And this problem never happen to any broadcom based wireless chipset (namely AMD notebooks from dell and hp compaq). Atheros (Asus AMD or celeron notebook) is even worse than intel, even more prone to disconnects when running ad-hoc mode. BUT THAT PROBLEM APPLIES TO AD-HOC ONLY, NOT ACCESS POINT CONNECTION!

Anyway, i voted for dell wireless, i really like Dell Wireless driver, very customizable and it will display signal strength of the received signal around the area, very nice feature which is missing in Intel wireless driver. Broadcom chipsets are not Linux friendly, so if u plan to use Linux then Intel is better

 

The intel card seems to have a wider range and also is more reliable

 

Intel has greater compatibility, stability, and range.

 

And what is this based on? Is there a source for this information, or did you test the two yourself?

Or is it another one of those things that "everyone knows" because "everyone says so"?

 

i m not sure about the n standard but for those b/g only card, i am pretty sure that the range is more or less the same. Anything that intel detects, broadcom can too. Dell card shows the signal strength in numbers (dB). But for stability, Broadcom is definitely better since it never disconnects on ad-hoc network, intel is quite prone to disconnect and becomes worst when the network is crowded, they are very sensitive to interference. This is personal experience when playing LAN games together on wireless ad-hoc network. Quite annoying since it is so rare that we could play a game completely without a single player disconnected from the network.

 

Good question,

I'd like to know as well...

 

Just wondering guys whats the difference between the Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n Mini Card and the Dell wireless 1500 which I happen to have in my 6400? They are both a/b/g/n.

 

Another vote for Intel. I am very happy with the new Intel pre-N card.

 

Can't speak for the N cards, but I had Dell's last gen Broadcom and Intel cards in the same laptop. I ordered the laptop with the Intel, and used that until a friend told me to try out the Broadcom because it supposedly had better range.

Well, the Intel worked better for me under Windows XP. I'm glad I bought Intel, their drivers are much better and seem to give me slightly longer range and integrate better with the chipset.

Plus, Broadcom sucks donkeys for Linux support.

 

What did you notice specifically that was better, besides the range?

I had no problem getting my Dell/Broadcom card working under Linux... but I never did get encryption (WEP) working under linux.

 

I go for Intel's Wireless. The brand, the signal strength they recieve and the drivers updated regularly.

 

And everybody goes and posts after i purchase my notebook. Ive posted this on many other forums and nobody gives me a good answer but judgeing from this i shouldnt have got the n draft!

Thanks a lot you guys!

 

Well I'm talking about the G products only, I know you are asking about N but this is all I can give you:

Lately there have been problems with the Intel Drivers for Vista, where they just 100% do not work and mess up your card until you go back to the Microsoft Driver (once you experience the problem, you can no longer use any Intel Driver). But the Dell G card has many more features and options than the Intel card. The Intel one only has basic options you can change, however in my experience has better reception and included the A band. Also, if you don't want to use the XP or Vista network program...Intel's is far better than Dell's.

Hope this helps

 

Would the 1505 be the best choice all around for the D630? Is it true that the 1505 is backward compatible? I am using XP Pro.

 

Intel for me because of driver support. Intel wireless cards are like the de facto standard in wireless adapters, they are used in many notebooks and has the best support under any OS.

 

Are you sure, did you use the wireless driver provided by Dell? I can connect to a wireless signal that is weeker than -80 dB and noise -95dB, and candownload at speeds about 100 kbyte/s that is not good enough?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=133479

Well, a forum member complains about intel wireless disconnect problem...

 

someone slap me if i'm wrong, but i think the new wireless-n cards are draft 2.0, which is guaranteed to be compatible with the final n by a mere software update, the hardware will still be the same...so compatiblity isnt an issue with the final n. from that point of view, intel more frequently updates their drivers, and i believe if it was designed to work together as an entire system, it'll work more efficiently. if you're going with the centrino pro, go for the whole kit and kaboodle.

 

Other: Atheros

 

I used manufacturer drivers for both cards. Both cards did not drop out, but I could sit on my front fence with the Intel and had to settle for the verandah with the Broadcom.

 

Intel.

Better compatibility, and probably better battery life.

 

phonevoice, get the Intel. Your question is the whole point of this thread... what does "backwards compatible" mean in the context of WIRELESS CARDS?

 

I think what he meant by backwards compatible is if there would be drivers for xp or would they only be available for vista.

As the landslide poll indicates and some have already said. Just grab the intel card. Not because its better necessarily but because it works and its going to have the best driver support.

 

Well, here's a "hypothetical" question : Let's say that you already ordered the m1330 with the Dell wireless b/c it was the default. Is the Intel THAT MUCH BETTER that you guys would actually feel compelled to change it after the fact? Purely hypothetical of course

 

I believe the default is the Intel® 3945 802.11a/g and yes if i made that mistake with the m1330 or any other notebook that i could customize myself i would call back and change it to a wireless n adapter.

Now if you meant you chose the dell wireless n adapter over the intel i'd leave it be.

I may have stronger feelings about getting a wireless n card because i have an n router and use wifi extensively.

 

This is what I got: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card

 

I think intels 802.11n card is better then dells. My gf had a dell card in her laptop and I had an intel one and my intel card was way better then hers.

 

This is hard to answer without proper investigation,

For example I tried HP DV1000 with an intel card and it was dropping packets with WPA. Dell's wireless 1450 didn't, also dell's wireless config utility is very nice.

 

I went with the Intel one for my m1330 because I use Fedora 7 and Ubuntu quite a bit and I was highly disappointed with the support for my Broadcom wifi card in my old laptop. I had to use ndiswrapper with the Windows drivers since Broadcom has ****ty Linux support. The connection would be dropped after five minutes of inactivity and I never could get WEP or WPA for that matter to work.

That's not to say that Intel won't do the same. I just had bad experience with Broadcom in the past.

 

When I ordered this D610 over a year ago I went with the Dell wireless instead of Intel as I figured wireless cards were pretty much a commodity now (I had been happy with a (Chinese) TP-Link wireless card bought before which uses the same Atheros chips as D-Link).

However, I have had some problems with the Dell Wireless. The WLTRAY.EXE (system tray icon) has a memory leak and has to be killed every few days and restarted to free memory. I have had some connectivity problems in wireless cafes (but they may be due to interference from other users or perhaps users messing with the router's - they are usually left on default admin password!).

 

Does Intel wireless run any processes? or is it just drivers and windows handles the rest?

 

I'd be curious to know that too. I actually quite like the interface of the Dell wireless utility and let that manage my Dell wireless rather than Windows XP.
But what irks me is sometimes a wireless hotspot spirals down to 1 MBPS and then resists letting me re-connect to it. Other times I have had to manually configure DNS.

 

I chose the Dell Wireless N beause the Intel had a 16 business day delay time. Im concerned with battery life and connectivity (my school has not the best signal strength).

Would it be worth it to all and switch to the intel, or is the dell (Broadcom) 99% the same? (Im still in the 'production stage')

 

If you're unhappy with the Dell card (which I doubt), you can buy the Intel card and install it yourself:
http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Wifi...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1187980017&sr=8-1

 

The difference is $10.
Dell-N is $40, Intel-N is $50.

For folks considering the N adapters, did you also factor in $90-130 for an N router? Yes, N will give you 2x the range using MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) technology, but is it worth an extra $130-180?

I picked the included Dell-g, and have a netgear g router.
Using Vista's built in wireless software I get a solid 54Mbps to router with 60-80% signal strength. For games I went on an EQ2 raid last night (24 people) with no issues at all.

I'm assuming that you chose Dell for the "best bang for the buck", but maybe you have money to burn. I'm waiting for N-routers to finalize then price compete, then buy an after market N adapter.

 

But it's backwards compatible; you don't need to buy an N router.

On the other hand, when they come down in price and are widely used publicly, you'll be ready, for an extra $10. Seems fairly win-win.

 

And if you don't like your choice, go on ebay and buy a card yourself and change it.

 

It didn't matter to me when I ordered because I have an Air@hawk LD-WL11 that I plug into my USB. I was told that it would be all I needed a few months ago. Am I wrong?

 

I'm not sure the differences between MMRPGs and FPS games like counter-strike:source, but it seems that FPS games are much more sensitive to lag (even minor latency).. I used to have netgear wireless G (with the speedboost), and I also connected at a solid 54Mbps around 80% strength... However, playing CS:Source, my latency was usually above 100ms, and the game became much more difficult to play, at times impossible.
With the n-draft, I connect at 270 mbps, and my latency is comparable to wired network (when my ethernet port was still working).

Connection at standard (20mhz) channel is still 130mbps, and connection using wideband (40mhz) is 270mbps. I too was sceptical at purcashing a 'draft' technology... but compared to G and G+ and G+'insert your brands BOOST name here', I've had my linksys WRT150N router for over a year now, and I have not regreted it AT ALL!!! MAYBE if I had waited 6 months, I would have paid $100 less, but it was still worth it at the time (considering I could not get the built in 1gig ethernet port to work, nor could I get any add-in 100mb ethernet card to work either...).

As far as mini-adapter cards, I have the dell 1505, which is a broadcom card, sold by dell, with dell drivers. Although I must say, I do not care for the driver provided by dell (I had to go to this site: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/network/p70008/EN/props.htm to find out the various options and their settings {some settings are too long to read within the drop-down box})... Although this document helps, I have been meaning to simply download the broadcom driver and see if there are any advantages. Other than the driver itself, The "Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility" is a great program. It allowed me to troubleshoot my connection and discover that the mini-card was automatically defaulting to the standard connection channel rather than the wide-band channel on my router. (which was due to not understanding the device setting prior to finding the support guide)

In the Dell WLAN utility:
The link status information shows everything you'd expect about your connection plus detailed info on the channel (frequency of channel, 40 or 20 mhz) and radio streams (2x2, TX x RX). Also a handy signal AND NOISE bar w/ history graph at the bottom (I find it nice they integrate noise to help troubleshooting and possibly changing the connection channel)

The next tab is the Site monitor, which shows all available connections. At the bottom it shows all radio channels being scanned as available networks pop up. Does a great job in showing not only the name and signal strength, but also:
-icons to easily identify b, g, n support, security, max speed, connection channel, and of course a bar for signal strength (I see 11 access points supporting 54 mbps max, and only one other N router at 270 in range, I would assume that picking up 10-15 access points is pretty good range for a mini-card)
-beyond the icons, clicking on a certain access point shows the
Mode (frequency Ex: 2.4 ghz, band ex: 20mhz & 40mhz)
MAC address
Data Encryption, in detail and multiple encryption settings. (Ex: (m)AES (CMM); AES(CMM); WPA-PSK)

Under this tab you can select the scan interval, and even start a log
You can also select scanning of an individual router (usefull for scanning multiple channels on one access point)

Even access points that are not broadcasting SSID show up as "(nonbroadcasting)"
One other handy detail is receiving 'information elements', something which is over my head in the networking world, but I'm sure would help many others with more experience...
ex of information elements:
{
00 16 53 4d 4f 4b 45 20 49 54 20 49 46 20 59 4f 55 20 47 4f 54 20 49 54
01 08 82 84 8b 96 24 30 48 6c
03 01 02
05 04 00 01 00 02
2a 01 00
2f 01 00
}

The next tab available is diagnostics (which I have not personally experimented with)...
however, there is hardware diagnostics:
-Control registers
-SPROM format validation
-Memory
-Interupt
-DMA and Loopback

and connection diagnostics:
-Radio
-Association
-Authentication
-Local IP
-Gateway IP ping
-Internet IP ping
-DNS IP ping
-Domain name ping

All of these diagnostic options are checkboxes, so you can select 1, a few, or all, and run them, with an option to log the output.
I realize much of the connection diagnostics can be done easily through command prompts, but its just nice to see so many features on a simple wireless card utility program...

The last tab is information...
simply to check the utility application, wireless software, and wireless hardware versions and dates.
Even gives my hardward board details of my mini-lan card (Rev. 2.0)
as well as the chipset (which is going to be useful in helping me find the broadcom driver), the mac address of the card, its 'location' setting: USA, and the channels it supports...

I have not had the opportunity to try out the intell card, but I know the dell card does not let me down.... you can see all the advanced properties available under device manager here: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/network/p70008/EN/props.htm

I am also impressed with the ammount of information provided by the Dell Wireless Card Utility.... it is 100x more useful than the software that came with my linksys wireless N card for the desktop (even though the 3-connection antenna that can be relocated makes up for that), and definately more useful than using the windows zero config.

 

Can someone recommend a wireless network card i should pick for my dell m1530.

i can choose between the dell 1395 wireless g card ($0), dell 1505 wireless n card ($49), or intel next-gen wireless n card ($59). i'll be starting college in august, so i don't know what their wi-fi network will be like yet.

i'm also sort of new to wireless cards, so this might sound like a stupid question, but if i buy a wireless n card, it will still pick up b/g networks right?

thanks.

 

I ordered 5 DeLL laptops with the 1395 wireless G card and have had zero issues and connection problems. The card even picks up other wireless routers in my area. I have no trouble recommending the $0 cost of the 1395 wireless card.

 

Ok well I did some research on this. I found out that the Dell Wireless card only supports WEP encryption. Anybody who knows about WEP knows this is not very secure at all. I found this information at http://accessories.dell.com/sna/pro....aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=bsd&cs=cabsdt1&sku=430-2556.

As for the Intel Next Gen card, it does support WPA2. I found this at http://www.intel.com/network/connectivity/resources/doc_library/tech_brief/316286.pdfBoth allow for 802.11n which is the fastest available right now so the only difference is the encryption. I would suggest going with the Intel card. Its only about $10 more and is well worth it plus its way more secure. I hope this helps.

 

Thats absolutely wrong, I am using it with WPA2 right now. It would be ridiculous to have an N card to support WEP only.

 

Is it safe to use Intel wireless card on AMD Laptop? I have HP DV2000.