Is the xoticPC network card upgrade worth it?

I'm ordering an Asus UX51VZ from XoticPC, and wondering whether these network cards are worth the upgrade?

• Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth 4.0 (SKU – X8R012)
• Intel® Advanced-N 6235 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module + Bluetooth 4.0+HS Combo Card (Dual Band) (SKU – X8R007) ( + 30 )
• Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual Band) (SKU – X8R008) ( + 59 )

I'm only looking at those because I need bluetooth.. Are they really better than the stock card?

 

Yes, I have the Killer and I get insane range and a much more stable connection. You have two options, a 3x3 card (Killer 1103) or 2x2 with bluetooth (Killer 1202). Stock I believe is 1x1. I don't quite know how to simplify it, but those are streams (in/out), and multiple streams are used to get the best signal by magic sauce in the card being able to use all three to decipher what the actual signal is supposed to be by measuring the interference.


I haven't slept in 34 hours, if you still would like to know more, shoot me a PM and I can explain it a lot better once I get some sleep in me XD - but yes, you get better range and signal quality (less damaged/dropped packets) with a 2x2 or 3x3 card - but you won't find a 3x3 card with built in bluetooth, so you are going to want to go 2x2 if you want bluetooth.

 

Also take into consideration what wireless router you're using when you're thinking about the WiFi card in the laptop. A 3x3 Killer is useless if your router only supports 2x2, and/or if it's stuck on Wireless-G and has no -N mode. Similar situation with how you can't go full throttle with a Corvette on the Interstate .

Generally, I don't see anything special about the Killer card imo; it's just an Atheros card with modified firmware that's suppose to help with wireless gaming somehow. Don't see much of a point in the extra $29 over the Intel card, and since Intel cards are very well-known for their stability and capabilities, I'd recommend that. Save the $29 for a nice lunch or something

 

I have the E2200 Killer Network card, and it actually gives me more speed on both LAN and WLAN compared to the built in 820.11 I had before. Not sure how its possible but it is somehow...
You also get software bundled with the killer driver where you can customize which software get priority etc etc

 

Is it going to be worth it... in a word, No.

That's not to say it won't do anything, but as Kuroi said, if you don't have a router that can support the features, it isn't going to help a whole lot. If you already have a 2x2 router, it might be worth it. But if you have to buy the router, you're looking at another $60 or so for a decent router, so the cost is adding up fairly quick, even for the Intel one. And assuming you won't have gobs of network traffic, $90 is probably not going to be worth it. Go to a fancy restaurant instead.

I did upgrade from an 801.11g card to a 3x3 Intel Wireless 5300, for about $20 (aftermarket). In practice... it hasn't done a whole lot. I've almost never had an Internet connection faster than 802.11g, and when I did the only thing I was using it for was downloading Steam games (via Ethernet, because the local network was 802.11g). For transferring all my files between computers, it's slightly nice, but my router is limited by 100 Mbps Ethernet to my desktop, so I'm no better off than with Ethernet. It takes longer than it would with a faster router, but I can't justify the expense versus just letting it run overnight (even though I could afford it). It's the worst value-per-dollar of my laptop's upgrades, so I'd recommend saving your dough.

 

I'd still recommend the Intel card over the stock card for the extra antenna (most routers come with two already) and the better firmware. Hardware is probably better as well.

A good 3x3 router is expensive (compared to your typical Wireless-N router), and if you want to do anything between computers, you'll always be slowed down by the weakest link. Even if all your hardware can handle the pace, you'll need a good Internet connection to take advantage of the good router and the Killer, which is even more money.

In addition to the food comments, another good option is to get an inexpensive bookcase and get a bunch of cheap, used books that interest you. I recommend philosophy; its a fun subject

 

Stock is a 6235 so don't upgrade to that. Unless I am missing something.

 

Thank you for all the comments. From the input in this thread, I've decided to stick with the stock card and see how that goes. If I get range and speed thats worse than what I expect, then I'll consider an upgrade, but its true that if I don't see any real difference, theres not much point upgrading.

 

Stock is probably an Atheros or Realtek card, iirc. I don't recall Intel selling a 1x1 card without their branding.

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An aftermarket wireless card upgraslde can be tricky thanks to BIOS whitelists.

 

Oh, gosh, I forgot about BIOS whitelists; +1 rep to you. But you're right. Some manufacturers - namely HP - limit which wireless cards you can use in the BIOS, which amounts to a giant headache if you ever want/need to update the wireless card. From what I've read, HP does this as their way of meeting the U.S. FCC's requirements to make sure their laptops won't do anything super bad with emitting wireless radio signals (they show things work with their approved cards, and block everything else). However, many other manufacturers - Dell, for one - allow any wireless card, and meet FCC requirements in a more progressive way.

From what I'd read, I thought the majority of the manufacturers were like Dell in this regard, and HP was in the minority with their BIOS whitelists. But I could be wrong - I was blissfully unaware of this for years thanks to buying a Dell.

Broadcom is another likely candidate for stock, in addition to the others mentioned. But any generic wireless card should work just fine.

 

Can anyone with a non-Intel card and Windows 7 please check if they are limited in what MAC addresses they can assign their wifi card?

AFAIK it's a restriction in newer Intel drivers that doesn't allow setting MACs freely. But I have read elsewhere people saying it is Win7.

Just go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\SOME UUID\some number and find your wifi card and add a string of NetworkAddress and set it to 00-01-02-03-04-05. That is the manual way if there's no field in the driver settings in device manager.

Then deactivate and activate the card so the settings can take effect and run ipconfig /all in a command line.
Does the card now show with it's new custom MAC of 00-01-02-03-04-05 or whatever you chose?

Thanks guys!

 

Wrong place mate. Make a new thread or ask elsewhere