T410 Wireless - ThinkPad Card Vs. Intel WiFi Link 1000 Vs. 6200 Vs. 6300

ThinkPad b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless LAN Mini-PCIe
Intel WiFi Link 1000 [add $8.50]
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 (2x2 AGN) [add $17.00]
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 [add $34.00] ​

Are there any visible antennas sticking out of the card with any of these?


Which is the best, and why? I'm thinking in terms of battery life, range, and speed, though I doubt speed will differ much.

 

I got the 6300 on my X201s and have been happy with it.

 

No, there are no external antennas with any of these options (they are all cosmetically indistinguishable).

The Intel cards are supposed to be more power efficient than the ThinkPad cards (made by Realtek). Theoretically, the Intel 6200 will have better range than the 1000, and the Intel 6300 will have better range than the 6200, although the differences are probably pretty slight.

 

if you want the absolute maximum battery power, the 1000 is the card to get.   i've not yet read any accounts on how it does with connection strength but would be surprised if it were that bad.   it's now coming standard on the power-efficient systems like the X201i and T410si.

i doubt the 6200 and 6300 will differ in any measurable amount over a standard N network.   if you use high-speed N then the 6300 is what you want.

 

Are there any reviews or cross comparisons that state the range differential? I could not find any.

What's the difference between standard N and high speed N? Isn't it all the same? My net connection is a modest 5M/.5 and the T410 will be receiving the wireless from the DIR-628 primarily. However when traveling it will likely be using a g network connection.

 

if your router supports it, the difference is 450 Mbps (6300) vs. 300 Mbps (6200).   if your router doesn't support high-speed N then the 6200 and 6300 won't seem much different at all to the end user.

Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 and Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 Overview

 

Sorry, but how do I determine if my router supports high speed N? It's a DIR-628 as mentioned but I can't find anything about the type of N on the D-Link website.

 

Is your router dual-band? Does it broadcast in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz? If so, you have the advantage. 802.11a is 5GHz whereas b/g are 2.4GHz and N can do both, simultaneously (if you have the right card in your laptop)... i.e., receive on 2.4 while sending on 5. If your card is a/g/n you can do dual-band, if it's b/g/n, you can't.

This is my understanding of the 802.11 specifications. Can anyone concur on this?

I've had really bad luck with D-link routers. Linksys is better, IMO and certain Belkin models are very good and easy to configure. The advantage of Linksys is the wide variety of custom BIOSes you can flash into them to get increased versatility and special features.

 

My router, the DIR-628, has both 2.8GHz and 5GHz, but I am not sure if it is possible to use both frequencies simultaneously.

 

D-Link came out with a single-band (instead of requiring to piggyband 2 bands to go faster) 3-stream 450Mbps router very recently. You'd notice the biggest difference there with the 6300.

I typically recommend people go with 5Ghz for 802.11n, while keeping 802.11b/g to the 2.4Ghz spectrum, while keeping both bands mutually exclusive instead of mixing. IIRC, the speed difference is quite negligible when you go the distance, yet 5Ghz is more efficient and thus you'll squeeze more speed out there (not to mention it has more non-overlapping channels).

 

Wait a minute... I had a similar question and was told by "ZaZ" that the Intel Wifi Link 1000 would be rejected by the BIOS in my T410. Did ZaZ mean because it came out of a non-ThinkPad laptop? I wouldn't think Lenovo would require the card manufacturers to actually alter the firmware to put "Lenovo" in the card's hardware ID string. Or am I wrong about that?
Here's the thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/497138-thinkpad-compatible-wi-fi-cards.html

 

the intel 1000 will work if it's an original lenovo FRU 60Y3203.

anything listed here will work in your T410 as long as it's an original FRU and not a generic card (ie: engineering sample) or made for another brand.

 

Card "made for another brand" ? So, the exact same card, coming out of an Acer laptop that was made late last year will be rejected?

I'm sorry, but that sucks. I had the same problem with my old T40 while trying to put an Intel wireless card into it years ago. I had to run a BIOS hack which was widely available on the web (still is, I think). It changed one byte in the ROM and then the T40 would recognize and use the Intel card. Guess I'll look in the hardware mods section.

 

Lenovo is still whitelisting their WiFi cards. This is nothing new. Just any old 1000 card won't work.