Quick question regarding 5100AGN

Hi i ordered the HP DV5t pretty recently, but before they offered the intel wifi link 5100agn as a free upgrade. So I got the 802.11b/g WLAN with bluetooth, which was a cheaper option at the time. What's the real difference between these two? Will I notice a difference between wifi availability or speed because of my choice?

 

No, the 5100agn is well... an n-card. You can connect to wireless n networks and it seems not a b-network. Plus it's a newer card... nothing else.

 

ohh, well from what I've read online having access to b networks at this point might be a little more important than n, which I haven't really seen around too much anyways. So maybe I didn't mess up by ordering too early. Thanks

 

Initially, probably not. Wireless draft n is substantially faster and has a longer range than its predecessors, but it is not finalized yet and there are few access points. It should become finalized sometime in 2009 and if it is similar enough to the draft, the n cards will become a lot more useful.

 

oic, so even if I don't use or need it now, would it be a good idea for me to invest in an N card? They're not really too expensive, and with all the money I should be getting back from HP because of all their price drops and instant rebate I should be able to pick one up if I need to. Is it a simple process of getting a wifi card, opening up the laptop and plugging it in (with those wires connected as well)? Or is it a more complex process of picking compatible wifi cards, due to number of antennas and all that stuff... I'm also assuming I'm gonna need to worry about drivers as well.

 

G would give you 54Mbps and the N a "promised" 300Mbps. The thing is that you would be still limited by the internet speed.

Now, if the free upgrade came like one or two weeks after you bought your laptop, you could call them ans ask them to give you the upgrade, they might say yes. With the Intel 5100 you will certainly be all set for a few years.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I actually did call HP and they're willing to do an exchange. From all the money I've saved due to the $100 instant rebate and all those free upgrades, I'm actually going to upgrade both the wifi card and the WXGA to WSXGA+ . Hopefully this won't put me in the back of the queue and give me my final notebook halfway through August. Thanks to all the responses by the way.

 

Hello, I found this thread by typing in "5100AGN" into google.

Im very fixed on getting a HP DV7 series notebook. The only problem is that this wireless card comes with it. I have a WRT54G linksys router. The router accepts B and G signals but not N.

Could I still use that card with this router ? I cant find any specs if the 5100AGN works with B or G routers.

I appreciate any help

mike

 

The 5100A GN will work with your router using the 11g.

 

thanks my friend. Just noticed its out of stock on Sears.com arghhh.

 

Hi. I'm going to order HP laptop with wifi 5100agn too. And I have WRT54 too )). I would like to buy new one router with N support.
I heard that there can be some incompatible if you have two N cards from different manufacters since N standard is not finalized.
The question is which router should I use with 5100agn?

 

A cruise through the device setup indicates the 5100AGN card will do 802.11a, b, g, and n. I've tested it on 11b and 11g, works great.

I had been having problems with the connection stopping working and needing to be repaired. I think that might have been power management, which I have now disabled and will give that a try.

 

That's true, try to get a router using the same chipset than the wireless nic.