CF30 Mk2..Installed SR71e wifi/WLAN card

Just installed an Ubiquiti SR71e in my CF30 Mk2. No pin 20 mod needed. Plug and play. It's getting late tonight so it's running with the Atheros modded driver on the Win 7 client. The modded driver is supposed to allow access to a lot more settings on the card. There is a slight improvement over the Intel 6250 that I pulled out. I want to see what happens when I use an Atheros client. My unscientific test is comparing the signal strength and quantity of signals of all the neighbors as I sit on my couch.
In the next day or so, I will try a couple different Atheros clients. I have used Ubiquiti's client before with my Mikrotik card. I have also used a SMC high power client on an Engenius card.

Ubiquiti SR71E PCI-Express Card 802.11a/b/g/n 400mW

Extended Range and 300Mbps Wireless Speeds

The SR71-E is the perfect upgrade to super-charge any laptop or embedded system with long-range 11n MIMO wireless performance.

Features:

Chipset: Atheros AR9280
Radio Operation: IEEE 802.11a/n, 5GHz, 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
Interface: PCI Express
Antenna Ports: Dual u.fl connectors
Temperature Range:-20C to +70C
Indoor Range (Antenna Dependent): Up to 300m
Outdoor Range (Antenna Dependent): over 50km

 

Shawn... That is the card I have been running in my MK1 model for years.... I think it is a slightly stronger card both in terms of reception and stabiity. Since I switched to W7 I have let Windows run it though...

 

tell us what are your best case scenario download/upload speeds. And what AP/router are you using.

 

Router is a Zyxel Q1000z. I will watch the speeds and report back. Maybe I will get fancy and download a speed test program of some kind. I want to test peer to peer transfer speed also.

 

Here is an interesting program for network testing.

IXIA QCheck


I don't know if the SR71e is any faster than the Intel 6250 that I had in my cf30. It is MUCH more sensitive and picks up a lot more signals. The Intel 6250 was much faster than the original Intel 4965. The Intel 6250 doubled my connection speed over the Intel 4965. So the SR71e is also twice as fast as the original Intel 4965.
I will get some sort of specific connection speeds, but my recommendation to anyone looking for just a faster connection the cheap and easily available Intel 6200 series will upgrade your laptop to 802.11n and works decent.
If however, you are looking for longer range and better stability, along with a speed increase, the SR71e is a good upgrade.
I use my cf30 in my vehicle quite a bit. I access free wifi from parking lots and the SR71e will work well for getting a good signal from inside my truck.

 

I think you meant 6250 and 6200 series. You will need 3 antennas for 6300 series to utilize its 3x3 capabilities (3x150mbps theoretical maximum). Toughbooks have two, but I think you can add a third, if you want - some users here did it.


My CF-30mk1 has stock 3945ABG which I like as it connects very quickly to a wifi network (stable, time-tested, 'polished' drivers). I did try to put a 6250 in it, but BIOS would not see it.

I might try the SR71. how much did you pay for yours ?

Later Edit: I see you have a VDSL router (q1000 z, verizon ?). So any (relevant) speed tests to measure the card's max transfer speed, would have to be made between your laptop and another device (PC/laptop) connected to one of the gigabit LAN ports.

In Linux, I use iperf, which measures TCP/UDP upload/download speeds;
It's great, and consistent, because, as opposed to benchmarking a file download (HTTP/FTP) or using Flash base tests (speedtest.net), it's not influenced by HDD speed, or CPU performance when using browser flash plugins.
Of course, you can workaround the storage overhead by using a RAM disk.

I'll try Qcheck for Windows tests, it seems interesting.

 

Correct it is a 6250. I guess I can't read my own sig. I confused the 5300 in my cf52 which I did add the 3rd antenna.

I paid $49.00 new from the fleabay.
Yes the speed tests are from my desktop PC connected with a wire to the Q1000Z. My provider is Centurylink which used to be Embarq. It is ADSL, probably ADSL2. Everyone told me the VDSL modem would not work on ADSL. I works great once I tweaked the settings.
Toughbook has installed a SR71e in his cf30 mk1.

 

I can not get an Atheros client utility to install. Win7 pro.
I tried Ubiquiti mobility. Also tried one from Acer that was listed for Win7. I can't find where to disable the Win7 built in client either. They all install the driver and say they are installing the client, but when the install is done the client install folder is empty???? I tried disabling my firewall..No joy....
They are all around 20mb setup files.
It does work with the Win7 built in client. I wanted to try an Atheros client to compare performance.

 

Well, I found a couple clients that work. Lenovo connection manager and Bell mobile connection manager. I like the Lenovo better. It has much more information available. It takes a bit of hunting to find it all. There is a setting for max performance.
I tried TP Link. It installed and put the shortcut on the desktop but won't run. It can't find the wlan card.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS013683


The SR71 is not any faster than my Intel 5300 (3 antennas) It is much faster than the Intel 4965 with 2 antennas.
The CF30 with the SR71 sees 10 Wifi spots of my neighbors. The CF52 with the Intel 5300 sees 7 wifi spots. This is from the same location within 15 minutes of each other.

 

I don't have any numbers, but the reception on this thing is amazing.

 

For Azrial and other new cf 30 owners...
I do have an external antenna for the roof of my truck that I want to test.....Still afraid to drill a hole in the roof..Going to look for a cb antenna magnet .

 

When I had a CB I mounted it on my truck box, then run the lines under the cab and came in threw a fire wall plug.

 

For antennas mag mounted to the roof of an older truck, I run the cable over the back of the cab to the bottom of the rear window, cable tie a 3"-4" loop in the cable ( to help reduce the chance of water running down the cable and into the cab) then fish it through the rubber window gasket into the cab and under the seat(s) to the front of the cab. Some newer trucks have vent louvers on the lower back side of the cab, facing the box, that you can run the cable into. No need to drill holes.

 

Diamond, or was it one of the other Ham radio type companies used to sell a 2 Meter/440/Wi-Fi antenna that I believe was an NMO mount. If I can get the straight of the External antenna mod that is the antenna I will be using as I need the other band capability.

BTW, when mounting to a toolbox you will get far better performance if you make sure that the box is well grounded to the truck. If it at a different ground potential you will have all kinds of directiveity issues and VSWR problems. This will most likely be less of a problem with the Wi-Fi of the antenna due to the higher frequency.

Thanks for thinking of me! :thumbsup:

 

Here is a link or 2 for the external antenna mods

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/696551-cf-29-rear-wifi-pass-thru-connector.html#post8946063

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/518338-rewireing-pass-through.html#post6707380

 

I am familiar the ground plane/ directional issues. I installed 2 way radios in school buses for 15 years. The antenna I have is a Mobile Mark SMW multi band. Wifi, GPS and Cell phone..It requires a 3/4 or 1" hole for flush mounting. I want to verify performance before drilling. I am going to test it with a temporary mount. I figure a magnet on the roof would be best for testing. I don't care about the cell band, but I want to use it for wifi and gps on my cf30.

www.mobilemark.com

 

If someone needs more powerful adapter - there is one
RouterBoard.com : R11e-2HnD
And it's 1000mW edition, but with heatsink
RouterBoard.com : R11e-2HPnD

 

Those will NOT work in a Toughbook...I already tried....

They have surface mount components on the bottom of them. Those components hit components on the motherboard.