thinkpad wireless vs intel wireless

Is it worth the 30 or 50 dollar upgrade? is the signal strength better? this is just normal usage with normal routers...

 

someone here told to upgrade to at least the second one

 

5100 isn't good as 4965 as some said. Go for 5300.

 

Atheors is a solid wireless chipset, it performes better than the Intel but also runs hotter, so I agree, go with the 5300.

 

I got it for future-resistance (nothing is future proof )

Wireless A networks are much better than B/G in every way except cost to consumer.

 

thinkpad wifi > intel wifi by about 20% in terms of signal strength. I tested this on two identical t61s (7662 build)

atheros also picked up more networks

 

They're not offering an Atheros chipset that does A/G/N though.

 

atheors = cheaper thinkpad one?

 

Yes...........

 

Did you test this with power saving mode off? By default, most wireless adapters have that option ON to save battery life and I'm thinking it's possible that the Intel card may have a better power saving feature.

Anyways, I have the Atheros and it's just a breeze to use. My friend had the Intel 4965AGN card and we both were in the same hotspot; my card ended up having much better reception than his. I have the non-N Atheros.

 

You would have to check the signal quality from the AP, as I doubt they measure it the same way. It's like contrast ratios... they don't mean s.

 

hm.. people have said both the cheaper one is better and the more expensive one is better

 

fudge it


just save $40

 

fvk
wasted the 30 bucks on the 4965

 

What are you talking about? lol

 

i turned off power saving by setting the adapters to max performance and verified this by checking the tabs in the device manager

 

basically I got the 20% from access connections. the thinkpad wifi got a 20% better signal and it picked up more networks. this was tested on two exact same 7662s right out of the box from lenovo (They screwed up my order and I got two for a few days before I shipped one back). I made sure that power saving mode was off

I dont normally like to use access connections, but I like the fact that it shows the signal interms of percentages vs 5 bars.

My brother picked out the intel wifi for his 8897 and to this day regrets it. He picked it because he wanted to get intel ABGN vs atheros ABG.

You could check it from the AP, but its clear that the intel wifi has weaker reception by the fact that it picks up less networks.

So maybe its not 20% as the intel and atheros might report the signal different, but I can assure you that atheros > intel wifi. even mark from lenovoblogs recommends it

 

shvt
why wasnt this post made earlier ?
could have saved 30 bucks and a inferior product
wtf

 

dude that was just my opinion "fudge it"

maybe the upgrade was worth it; idk

 

No man, the 4965AGN is not an inferior product, you also have the support of N network that the ThinkPad WiFi doesn't. N networks are much faster than G. And don't just take a couple of users' experience and draw a conclusion, cause it depends on the router too. Some routers work better with Atheros chipset adapters and some work better with Intel.

rofflez, if you're gonna upgrade, go for either 4965AGN or the new 5300, forget the 5100.

 

N is going to be standardized next year and will probably replace G in the future, so I don't think 5300 isn't that bad either.

 

Yep, although I'm sure G will still be a round for many more years, but having the N support will definitely be useful in the near future.

 

Ok so what's the conclusion here? upgrade to the 5300 or don't upgrade at all?

 

depends if you have the extra $50 and NEED faster wifi.

 

Don't most routers have a max speed anyways so upgrading to the fastest wifi won't do anything?

 

Even if you have a draft N router, unless you have a Home network setup and you actually transfer large files over the network frequently, it probably won't be much use for you to get the 5300. Your internet download speeds aren't going to be any faster if you upgrade from G to an N network since your bottleneck will be your service provider.

I'm not sure about network reception but if the 5300 has better reception than that might be a reason to go with that card.

But of course if you want to futureproof yourself and have the extra 50 bucks to blow. Go for it.. I did..

 

I think you can easily swap the network cards in future if required. Lenovo also have details about this in support site

 

good thing i checked this, gonna save the 50 bucks and upgrade if i ever have to in the future