Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 vs Ultimate-N 6300

Linksys E4200, Netgear WNDR4000, Belkin N750 DB (all are 450mbps only @ 5GHz and 300mbps @ 2.4GHz), Netgear WNDR4500 is capable of 450mbps on both bands.
There are also few more but none of them is really worth considering so I'll just ignore them.

 

Would you consider the Netgear WNDR4500 the best of the best router then?

 

No- it's the worst actually
There's a good reason why hardly anyone uses 3 stream radio on 2.4Ghz band.
You need to bond three channels together (in the same way you need to bond two to get 300mbps) to get 450mbps. With 2.4GHz band being as overcrowded as it is these days you can't really hope to find three channels that are free or relatively free and if you don't the speed goes down so the whole thing is pointless.

2.4GHz band offers more range while 5GHz being less used is clean and offers more throughput- factoring this in I'd say Linksys E4200 is the best one and if you go for E4200 Intel 6300 seems to be a logical choice.

 

Can someone help me find a good deal on a "genuine" Ultimate-N 6300 card? Ebay sells them lowest for $18 shipped, but I can't be sure if they are real or not. And how can I find out if it will fit my laptop (Asus U36JC)?

E.g.

Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 wireless card | eBay

Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 Wireless Card for Lenovo | eBay

 

Ahh. So in essence, it's usually better to have a router that has 3 stream radio just on the 5GHz band?

 

Basically yes- there's no real chance of using three stream radio on 2.4GHz unless you live somewhere remote and there's no one in the vicinity using 2.4GHz networks.

 

Hmmm, ok. So with three stream radios on the 2.4GHz band, you get slower speeds if you don't achieve getting three free channels?

How about for 5GHz, it is currently growing and eventually it will also have the problem that the 2.4GHz band presents?

 

Eventually- yes but there are no 5GHz-only routers- there are only dual band or simultaneous dual band routers which are more expensive than a single band 2.4Ghz units, so only few people buy them.

That's why in a neighborhood where you have ~20 networks working on 2.4GHz band you will struggle to find more than one on 5GHz band.

People tend to but cheap hardware and then complain- rarely anyone bothers to research and spend more money to get better hardware- that's why 5GHz will still be an open secret in foreseeable future.

 

Great. Thanks for the heads up. I guess Netgear is doing some kind of marketing strategy with the WNDR4500 then.

 

Indeed, as far as routers are concerned, you get what you pay for and the number of uninformed people is staggering. Actually, the number of uninformed people where computers are concerned is staggering as well. The things i hear sometimes at Best Buy (well, Future Shop, but i don't think you have that in the US and they are owned by BB)... There's also the fact that not all devices support 5GHz, my PS3 and Wii, do not. Neither does my phone or ipod touch. My 360 supports it, but that's only because i have a first gen one with that overpriced wireless adapter. I do not think the slim supports 5GHz, but at least it supports N (i think). All those non 5GHz devices warrant the need for a simultaneous dual band router and it frees up the 5GHz band for your computers which is great for streaming content to and from your NAS/HTPC/Laptop/Desktop. Just ask people what kind of throughout they get on 5GHz... . I'm all for saving money, but there are times when it's totally worth investing more.

I actually consider the fact that 5GHz signals attenuate faster a benefit in my case, not that much room to cover with the router and less chance the neighbors will be able to pick the signal. There's also the fact that in some places, it could limit interference from other networks (think suburb bungalows).

EDIT: On a side not we were all uninformed at some point, the lack of interest for getting informed is probably the biggest problem. I had to find a task that interested my non tech savvy relatives to get them to actually learn some of the inner workings of a computer. Needless to say, i did help some of them setup their wireless networks too so it would be at least secure. Considering the E4200 myself, but i don't think it's really worth upgrading over the E3000, i'm kinda a compulsive buyer when it comes to tech

EDIT2: tl;dr 5GHz is awesome and you should go for it if you have compatible adapters and the money for it... or get compatible adapters

 

By the way, what if two antennae wireless cards connect to the 5GHz three-stream radio of the E4200, do they suffer performance compared to just connecting to the two-stream 2.4GHz radio?

And what are your comments on the BigFoot cards? Are they better than their Intel counterparts?

 

If you have a two stream card and connect to a E4200 on 5GHz you end up being connected @300mbps instead of 450mbps- that's it.

As for Bigfoot- it's not really a Bigfoot card. What it is, is an Atheros card with Bigfoot sticker on it and some software that doesn't really work added to the mix.
So it is a good card- possibly even better than Intel but should be used with genuine Atheros drivers instead of Bigfoot's own.

 

Oh ok, so no performance loss in using a two stream card to connect at a three-stream 5GHz brand?

Ah. But is it worth it the additional money in "upgrading" from Intel 6300? I thought that the Bigfoot software seems to lower latency by a lot?

 

I've written on the subject several times (i.e. here- second paragraph).
Don't count on any noticeable improvements.

 

Just read that thread and still can't decide which card though. LAN products (including Wireless cards) that have Intel chipsets are mostly "always" preferred than other chipsets since they are very stable. This is true for my pfsense box. Does that apply in this situation also?

 

Intel has its share of issues- they have released drivers that were completely useless and didn't bother updating for a while and they made lots of bad cards.
There are only three good Intel Wi-Fi cards- 5300, 6200 and 6300. Buying any of these is a safe bet and you don't have to search for drivers on the net- Intel unlike Atheros provides them to you.
So while new Atheros cards may be better Intel is a safe bet and still very good.

 

i gotta agree with you. I just changed my wireless card to a intel 6205 and so far no issues at all. The card i had before was a bigfoot 1102, and i must say they tried to fix my issues with it, until they told "Ok then, it's an hardware issue". When i told them it was an Asus N53SV 2011 model they became speechless and didn't answered more questions. The first thing i noticed with intel was that the signal is more stable, but with bigfoot i saw more wifi networks. Honestly i'm mad at me not going with intel the first place, but probably was because i caught a bad intel 6200 card sometime ago (an engineering sample) it made my computer crash about 5 to 6 times a day.

 

Ok. But if I upgrade a 6300 to a 1103, is that a wise decision? I mean will I have any disadvantages choosing the 1103?

 

No real disadvantages but you're gonna waste some money. If you already have a 6300 than stick with it. You won't see improved range with 1103 not will you notice decreased latency so I'd save some money and keep the 6300.
You would be replacing one high end card with another high end card.

You have a good router in WRT610 and- assuming you have a 6300- you have a good card too. You could achieve more by upgrading firmware on the router and wireless drivers, changing wireless channel or a router placement (if needed) than by buying a different wireless card or a router.

 

Great, thanks for the tip. But as you've said the WRT610N only has two-stream 5GHz radio while the 6300 needs three-stream. Why is this situation a problem with the 2.4GHz band but not a problem with the 5GHz?

When is decreased latency for the 1103 needed?

 

Intel 6300 doesn't need three streams- it can use them but doesn't explicitly need them. The reason why three streams make sense on 5GHz band but don't on 2.4GHz band were explained earlier.

In essence even if your router and card can to three streams on 2.4GHz it's not going to work very well because of the band being overcrowded. On 5GHz three streams if present will work fine.
Bottom line- if you transfer lots of files locally (Wi-Fi to LAN) three streams is a good idea as it increases your throughput so files transfer faster but if you don't do that- you don't need three streams. It's not like having a three stream card makes you browsing or downloading from Internet any faster.

As for lowered latency (ping) it's like lower response time- so it's useful in games but Bigfoot's claims aren't relevant - even if their card does lower latency if does that only on LAN which is the least of your worries.

 

I made a little test to exemplify why Bigfoot cards will not improve your latency in a noticeable way.
First an assumption- Wi-Fi connection will not get lower latency than an Ethernet connection (same router, same connection, the same test server etc.)
Most people assume that Wi-Fi is slower than an Ethernet connection when it comes to latency and to improve responsiveness in games they would be willing to reduce it by as much as possible i.e. buy buying a "special" Wi-Fi card.
So let's see how a normal not-so-special Wi-Fi card deals with latency compared to an Ethernet connection.

Now the illustration:
I've tested it using a Broadcom NetLink Gigabit adapter (most recent drivers) connected to a Gigabit port on a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND router with a Cat 5e cable (connected at 1Gbps)
Another test was conducted using the same notebook connected via Wi-Fi to the same router at a distance of 6 feet. Card used was an Atheros AR5B93 (2T2R) running latest drivers and connected @300mbps.

For both tests I used the same notebook running Win 7 64bit with both firewall and AV software enabled.


Results:

Test 1
Pingtest with Ethernet (repeated 5 times): 11ms, 8ms, 14ms, 8ms, 8ms
Pingtest with Wi-Fi (repeated 5 times): 8ms, 9ms, 9ms, 11ms, 9ms

Average for Ethernet: 9,8ms
Average for Wi-Fi: 9.2ms

Test 2
Windows ping command "ping -t google.com" (16 tests each- then stopped)

Ethernet:
min:28ms
max:30ms
ave:28ms

Wi-Fi
min:29ms
max:33ms
ave:29ms

So there you have it- with a local server (pingtest chooses the fastest- meaning the closest to you) average result was within 1ms.
Wi-Fi came out on top (if you can call it that) because for whatever reason LAN came out with 14ms score once.

Pinging google.com (server is in US- I'm in Europe)- resulted in average ping for Ethernet being 28ms while for Wi-Fi 29ms.

Overall in both cases the difference between a normal Wi-Fi card and a Gigabit Ethernet is within 1ms.
Would you like to hazard a guess how much improvement would I see with a Bigfoot super-card?

Note:
There are undoubtedly situations where Bigfoot will excel compared to other cards in the same way that both Intel and AMD can always come up with specific tests that prove their respective CPUs are better. For an ordinary user though- there's no super-solution- either your whole networking setup and your ISP are up to the task or not. If it's the latter there's no magical super-card that will help you.

 

Hey all, have an odd one for ya. I have a XPS 15 "R2" that only has two antennas. I have a 6250 (from a junked studio xps) and a 6300 (purchased from amazon, don't see any indications of it being a ES. My router is a e4200.

The 6250 is performing better than the 6300. The 6250 will hold a solid 300Mbps connection to the router and transfers files to my server between 16-20MB's (about 8 to 10 feet away from the router.

The 6300 (using antenna connections labeled 1 and 2) connections jumps constantly from 90-300Mbps and when transferring the same exact files speed would range from 7-14MB's.

Tests were performed in the same location, same drivers, etc....

Any ideas on why such a difference?

 

Right, so to sum it all up it is still better to go with the Intel 6300 cards and call it a day

 

Hi,
I'd like to buy 6230 (wifi+bt one). I heard there are some problems with the chip. I want to change it from Atheros which is included in G53Sw to that 6230 with bluetooth module.

 

I have a Samsung Series 3 11.6" laptop. It comes with an Intel N-130 wireless module which includes bluetooth but no multi-stream capabilities according to

Intel® Wireless Products

On the Samsung boards, I have read many people are upgrading to the Intel 6230. According to the specs from Intel, that card has the added benefits of 2x2 streams, Dual Bands, WiDi, and VPro.

I have no interest in WiDi or VPro.
From what I read, the laptop only has 1 internal antenna for wifi (and a second one for BT).
My router is a Verizon Fios Actiontek MI424W 802.11 n router. The documentation is poorly maintained. It doesn't even mention 802.11n in the overview. http://support.actiontec.com/doc_files/MI424WR_Rev._E&F_User_Manual_20.10.7_v1_GPL.pdf
However, according to a blurb from Verizon it supports multiple spacial streams, no mention of dual bands.

Given all of the above, is there any advantage at all for me in upgrading from an N-130 to an N-6230? Will my single laptop antenna be able to handle multiple streams?

 

If it's true that you laptop has only one antenna for Wi-Fi there is no point in upgrading. You won't be able to get a decent 300mbps (2 stream) connection with one antenna.

 

I have got one of the MP2W from hwtools.net and Ive always had woeful performance - maximum 1mb/sec transfer rates even with Dlink 450MBPS Router and a Cisco 802.11n AP. I have the "rubber duck" dual band antennas so I thought maybe they were an issue... and after reading this thread I thought maybe they were selling fake 6300s too. I've taken my whole package apart to inspect. What I have noticed is that my antennas are female and the provided pig tales from the Centrino card to the antenna are also female, meaning there is no 100% confirmed connection between the antennas and the Centrino card... so i can only imagine that the reception the card has been receiving has been only from the pigtails themselves acting as antennas or by a tiny touch of each female end.


Untitled by jketteridge, on Flickr


Untitled by jketteridge, on Flickr


Untitled by jketteridge, on Flickr


Untitled by jketteridge, on Flickr

A simple mistake of installing SMA connectors instead of RP-SMA at the factory

 

Yes that MP2W adapter should have a RP-SMA male plug, not female. Otherwise your only form of antenna reception was the u.FL pigtail.

That $10~ PCI-E adapter i bought from ebay is quite good and has not skipped a beat. Same with the Intel 6300 card. Too bad i cant say the same for my router.

 

@flipfire

What router would that be?

 

Uhh a Linksys dual band. Theres about 15 devices connected to it, i dont think it can handle the traffic. It just locks up every few weeks and i have to get up and unplug it.

Might switch to netgear

 

That would be either a WRT610/E3000 or WRT320/E2000 (the latter not simultaneous dual-band).
You have quite a few options- 3rd party firmwares like Tomato and DD-WRT can fix your problem or at least enable you to change advanced setting that can fix the problem.

Another problem, especially if you own E3000, is that you are Australian
E3000 tends to get a bit warm and that's when you're not in Sydney.
Make sure it gets some decent airflow (especially underneath).

...and I dragged the thread off topic

 

@jaik
You should contact hwtool.net to replace that defective mp2w adapter.
Someone must of fell asleep during the qc.

 

hey so im having a bit of a problem with my setup, bought an e3000(dd-wrt) and i have a 6300n in my m15x, i cant seem to get more the a 144mbps connection. are there any suggestion on what i should experiment with. i actually wish i would of tested out the original firmware first.

 

Make sure you use WPA2-AES security and try using 40mhz channel width

Also in device manager double check the Intel 6300 settings.

 

I have a Dell Vostro V13 that came with an Intel 5100. Would upgrading to an 6200 be an improvement?

Thanks

 

Not much, in my experience. The biggest is performance at the edge of a signal range, in my experience.

 

@download Do you aware intel 6230 causing the problem
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-xps-15z-crackling-audio-network-traffic.html

 

Haven't heard of this particular issue but there are several angles to that.
One is that 6230 in Dell laptops is notorious for causing problems- it used to be throughput related but this one is new to me.

There are two additional things- one - I used to experience similar symptoms with a Broadcom Wi-Fi card while ago. It was eventually solved by a driver update.

Another thing is a possibility of a design issue and my guess here is antenna placement. Antennas shouldn't be routed near certain components of a laptop- namely CPU and RAM. Routing an antenna near the speakers may cause issues too. This article is somewhat related to the design problems. It's mostly about how Wi-Fi throughput and range are affected but all in all it's all interference.

 

I bought an "ES" version of Intel Ultimate N 6300 card from Ebay for my old laptop (which had a 4965abg card). When I bought it, I knew that it was an ES version, since the seller mentioned it. It was really cheap, and I only paid $15 plus free shipping.

I am wondering if there is any real difference in terms of performance between the ES card and the retail one. I see considerable performance boost with 6300n. I have a new Sony laptop which came with 6200n card. When compared with the 6200n, this ES 6300n in my old laptop outperforms the OEM 6200n in new laptop in terms of performance (download speed and range).

In other words, my question boils down to one thing: what real difference between the ES one and the retail one?

Any answers will be appreciated.

 

It's hard to say. ES is like beta- early beta my be useless but the final one is very close to what is then called "retail".
As long as you're happy with it- it's fine.

 

I'm not sure also because one of our member Shonky confirms when Dell installed Broadcom card then his WiFi was working absolutely but again with 6230 it causing the problem. I tried every thing still the issue remains same.

 

So where do pick up original authentic centrino 6300?
I need one for my dell latitude e6520.
I went through this thread,also I myself feel I must get original.
Where do I find original card?
Thanks.

 

dell.com sell them as "accessories"

 

does anyone have interference problems with their blue tooth/card combo?

 

I have intel 6230 and when using bluetooth and wifi (5GHZ) at same time I get speed reduction for bluetooth from 256KB/s to 48 KB/s

 

I've seen that happen the other way round too. When BT is enabled Wi-Fi throughput goes down like a brick.

 

I was using the 5GHZ wifi band not 2.4GHZ so there should not be any interference, or performance hit, unless the controller used for the 6230 suffer a major bottleneck when boths devices are used at the same time..

 

My Intel 6200 was really slow until I changed a few options in the device manager.

Speedtest hasn't changed, but web pages and videos load much(much) faster.

 

So, what is everyone doing to make things faster.
I have the 6300, no blue tooth.