Intel WiFi Link 5100 BG??

Hi guys,

I bought what I thought to be the Intel 5100 half-height card on eBay and Win7 detected it as Intel WiFi Link 5100 BG. What's with the "BG"? I can't find anything about it except that it's a valid product on Intel's website. I suspect that it is missing the A band. I bought it for the A band, so it's very disappointing!

I thought all Intel 5100 have the 5ghz band capability?

 

The 5100 does A, B, G and N. I'm using it right now. Go grab the drivers from Intel's website.

 

Yep, I have it too. It does support A.

Just make sure you set the roaming aggressiveness low so that you dont lose the connection a lot.

 

Thanks for the reply guys. I have downloaded the drivers from Intel's website. The thing is, the A band just doesn't work. That's why I asked about the "BG" suffix at the end of the model number. I'm just totally baffled!

When I force it to A band only in the driver, I get the wifi icon with an "X" over it.

 

Does the router support A band?

 

It sure does. My Intel 5100 on my other computer HDX18T work just fine. I'm putting this half height Intel 5100 on my UL30VT.

 

That is very strange. In device manager mine is listed as Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN.

The intel 5100 is a duel band wifi card. It can do N at both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz.

 

I know, the Intel 5100 on my HDX18T works just fine with my router on the A band. That's why I am so perplexed!

 

Maybe you just got a bad card. I'd try to exchange it.

 

I paid $12.90 for it from eBay shipped from China. I don't think it's worth the time and money to have it shipped back. It's quite expensive and trouble some to fill out all the paperwork.

I've order the Intel 5300 shipped from within the US. Hope that will do the trick. Was tempted at the 6300, but again it is shipped from China and I am not willing to take another risk since it's almost $50!

 

You might have gotten a knockoff if it came from China.

 

That's what I am thinking myself, but the b/g band works just as good as my other Intel 5100. So I am just baffled!

 

It's probably an ES version (lots on ebay). The mac address on the lable wont match the one you will see in windows.

 

Is there anyway to ID that? the "BG" suffix does show up on Intel's website. But not much info is provided on it.

 

Yes, if the MAC address is different.

look at what MAC address is written on the card, then boot up and in cmd type :
ipconfig /all

I think that should show the MAC address, if the two are different then it's an ES version.

 

Here's the thing, I don't see the MAC address printed anywhere on the card. Here are some pics of the card:




I removed the sticker at the back of the card:



Front of the card


Can anyone tell whether this is an ES or fake version?