The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    How to get wireless N

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by saleen_mustang, Sep 4, 2009.

  1. saleen_mustang

    saleen_mustang Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    258
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I have a dell 9400 with just wireless g, and my router is packing it in I think. I want to get wireless N. Can I get a usb wireless N adapter? Do they work ok?
     
    saleen_mustang, Sep 4, 2009
    #1
  2. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

    Reputations:
    1,654
    Messages:
    5,955
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Sure why not. What do you mean by "work ok"?

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Sep 4, 2009
    #2
  3. saleen_mustang

    saleen_mustang Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    258
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I dunno they seem to all have poor reviews, Can some one recommend me a good wireless N router that's not to pricey and a adapter for it?
     
    saleen_mustang, Sep 4, 2009
    #3
  4. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

    Reputations:
    1,654
    Messages:
    5,955
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    "N" standard is still not being finalized, I personally still use an "extended range" G router.

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Sep 5, 2009
    #4
  5. kegobeer

    kegobeer 1 hr late but moving fast

    Reputations:
    836
    Messages:
    3,682
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    At this point, with certification right around the corner and most (if not all) manufacturers creating nearly identical products, IMHO there is no risk with upgrading to 802.11n.

    To the OP - if you don't mind opening up the case (which is ridiculously easy), you can pop in a third antenna and swap the mini pcie wifi card for an 802.11n card. I've had great luck with the Gigabyte GN-WS30N.

    FYI - the e1705/9400 is probably the most liked laptop in terms of "hands on work". You can take everything apart and swap most everything for new parts. I've swapped the CPU (from Core Duo to Core 2 Duo), increased memory to 4GB (yep - ignore the 3GB max nonsense from Dell, it works like a champ with Windows 7 x64), and installed another antenna while swapping out the wifi card. Plus, the service manual is available for download from Dell.
     
    kegobeer, Sep 5, 2009
    #5