Wireless

I will be getting the m1330 from dell. No the last question is about the wireless. It has 3 option a 802.11 g by dell, Dell draft N, and an Intel Draft N.

Can the Draft N cards use A B D and G?
Would it be better to buy a card later and get the cheap card, and later what would you recommend for a card? (Would the card stick out of the laptop?)

I would like to have N because of the speed.
I know Sony has one that does all the types and laptops. And also from xoticpc.com can support all of them all and that is what I would like.

I want a card that does not stick out of the laptop at all.

 

The Intel draft-N card in my laptop connects fine to b & g networks. I guess it works on 'a' as well but I really wouldn't have the opportunity to test this.

 

I would just get the Intel card - it seems to be a bit better overall vs. the Dell cards (go to the Wireless forum and search some). Not sure what the price is for the Intel card, but it would be cheaper to get it now - and it is embedded - no "sticking out" anywhere. Draft N speeds are a little harder to obtain - you have to make sure you have the right router for your environment. But I can tell you that my Intel-N card works really well on my G network.

 

Any of the N cards should be backwards compatible- best bet if they say a/g/n

You'll get good speed and range w/ any of them, but the Intel is the best you can get w/ a Dell, IMO.

The internal cards don't stick out. The ones that do are usb cards or the Express Cards like the D-Link DWA-643.

At this time, you won't be able to get the ful 300mbps due to the fact that the Intel card can only hit 300 using 2.4GHz and 5GHz. So you have to have a dual band router that can transmit simultaneously on 2.4GHz & 5GHZ.

The different manufacturers are each using their own designs(proprietary) to try and meet the N requirements, which will not be finalized until sometime in 2009. The best way to get 300mbps is to get cards and N routers from the same manufacturers, ie., Dlink Dir655 Router and DWA 643 Express Card. They can hit 300 together.

Otherwise, get a dual band router like the Linksys WRT600N. Dlink should soon be releasing the DIR 685, if it's not already out. The Airport Extreme is also nice. Buffalo a nice dual router out, but it's not a available in the US due to the lawsuit w/ Cisco.

Or you can replace your internal card w/ an Atheros card and get a dlink router- not for beginners......