Why upgrade network card when buying a new laptop?

I see these options for $30-75 to upgrade the networking card. I just ask why? Are these for people with ridiculously fast internet that's so fast that the base card can't handle it? I saw one of them said it had 3 antennas? I'll be using regular Comcast and will never go more than 30 feet from modem, so what do I have to gain by going with a better network card?

 

Well this is my reason for the upgrade.
I do mostly wireless file transfer, where gigabit+ lines are usually not available.

Some people have access to their university wireless network and connect to 5Ghz only access point cause they are rarely used which means alot of bandwidth is available , stable connection, and lower latency.

 

Three antennas are actually pointless at this point unless someone owns a 450mbps router which basically no one does.
That said stock card are often cheap low end cards like Atheros AR9285 that tend to cause a lot of problems, do not provide good signal quality and are rather slow (150mbps).

If you know that stock card is i.e. generally troublesome you should upgrade, if you needs 5GHz band you most likely have to upgrade, if you need 300mbps for LAN file transfers you may need to upgrade or not- depending on what stock card is provided.

So the answer to your question is- it depends
It depends on what are your requirements, what the stock card is and what would you upgrade to.

 

I regularly perform large data transfers over the network at my home. My X201's Intel 1000 card transfers at absolutely abysmal rates, compared to my 5 year old X41. I also get extremely diluted range, as I see significant drops in wireless signal from distances where the aging X41 still holds a full set of bars.

The 1000 card is still usable, but it's not optimal, and it also has some major annoyances when used in XP. I fully intend to rectify my mistake when I order additional memory for my system, and upgrade to both the 6300 3x3AGN card and install a WWAN upgrade card.

As said above, its all about what's acceptable to you. For basic web surfing the Intel 1000 card is just fine, but when I need cross-network draft N bandwidth, it's just not up to the task 100 percent of the time.

 

5ghz band is a pretty big reason to upgrade IMO. Its rarely included with standard configurations and often the charge to "upgrade" by many vendors is more than just buying your own.

When I can sit on a bench in the middle of an apartment complex and pick up >100 3 bar+ access points on a cell phone...ugh.

You know their bandwidth and general connection quality (dropped frames, latency all over the place) with the usual consumer gear on 2.4 has got to suck, <30 feet or not. The prospect of N in those type of environments is also a joke.

I set up a 5ghz network for someone in that same complex, still yet to see any others on my laptop while wandering around outside. It actually works well at the bench too, though not on any cell phones yet

As for $75: The 3x3 6300 is <=35 from an actual distributor, and a legit wimax+2x2 6250 is <=50. 53xx are less but still good. If you're willing to risk places like fleabay, there are lots of possible options, many cheaper but not all will actually work.

 

I wonder where you are able to find 6250 for less than 50?? I got a tough time finding those that aren't back-ordered for months. Those that are available are marked up to way over 100 for a batch of 1.

 

About the "it depends" part, well, I can tell you I won't be doing anything extreme like tons of huge file transfers or downloading massive amounts of stuff that would require the lunacy of a 100+ mbps line. I'll just be browsing the web and gaming (Diablo 3) from within 30 feet of my 12 mbps Comcast line in my new apartment. I'm getting an Asus G73SW-A1, so if anybody knows about the default card in that. I've used default cards my whole life, but if you're telling me I could get interrupted internet while gaming more than once a month...

 

I need to find someone with a three-antenna card to check against my RT-N56U. It says 450mbps nominal.

 

Doesn’t say anything about 450mbps on Asus website nor in SMB's review- I don't think either party would forget to mention something like that.

 

Take a look in in the RT-N56U thread. I have an inSSIDer screenshot suggesting that I have 450mpbs max.

 

Yeah but I've also seen inSSIDer show things that I know are not true in this department and Asus states :

.

 

Okaydokes then. I guess the three antennas are throwing InSSIDer off, or something.

 

First google hits have it in stock for 49.99 right now, they appear to be intel distributors as well.

I guess it was easier in 2010, I recall there was even a distributor selling them in NBR marketplace.

Be very careful on aftermarket sources like fleabay for wimax stuff, a lot of poorly identified regional parts ("RU" cards) and ES sales there. This is less important for generic wifi on most windows boxes, very important for wimax due to ISPs using a hardware whitelist.

 

Hijacked... I got the default card anyways, as I've never had any problems really.

 

450mbps doesn't really matter if you have a 30mbps internetconnection (what the ISP will feed you with). In comparison, having a 1gbps ethernet versus a 100mbps, if the line only feeds you a few megabits.
it is nice to have, sure, but nothing that will radically change your life.
-and if it is a wifi-nic, mounted in a pci-e slot, the transferrate would hardly go above 250mbps anyways. So take the 450 with a pinch of salt.

 

First of all 450mbps is obviously for LAN transfers, secondly PCI-Ex v1 data rate is 250MB/s (2Gbps) so I don't get this part of your reasoning.