Bigfoot Killer Wireless-N 1102

That was my thought process, most people can't handle the speed of the 6300, nor the speed of the 6230. Id say go with the 6230 because it does boost over the stock Intel card, but isn't such an extreme but still gives you bluetooth which you may not use currently but might in the future.

 

Don't forget the extra range offered by the 6300. That alone was enough for me to get the 6300

 

Check out my post earlier in the thread. Here

It's just simple things that let you take full advantage of your N router, if you have one.

 

Doesn't having more antennae help if you're connecting to more than thing with wifi? for example router, hifi system, external monitor at the same time?

 

It's ironic that they use the name Bigfoot, when their marketed performance is also a myth.

 

Not in the slightest. It has multiple internal antennas to increase the amount of overall dB gain, but it has nothing to do with multiple connections. It's still only one radio, so it can only connect to one access point or adhoc/wireless direct device at once. Having multiple antennas only increases range and signal strength because it allows the radio (chipset) to pull in more from the air and have increase gain in the signal. Fewer antennas don't pull in as much of the signal and it's harder to separate out the noise - thus lower ranges and slower speeds at range.

Bottom line, unless you're using a proprietary solution like Intel's "My Wifi" that allows you to connect to an access point AND up to 4 other devices via ad hoc simultaneously - you're limited to one device per wireless chipset, and the multiple antennas will only help with lowering the amount of noise to increase range.

 

Having more antennas allow you greater bandwidth. I don't believe multiple antennas give you increased range. Rather, each additional antenna allows for an additional spatial stream between your laptop and the router. The limiting factor is the device with the least number of antennas. For example, if I have a 2x2 router (two transmit and two receive antennas), and a laptop with a Centrino 6300 (with 3x3 antennas), my Centrino 6300 will only be able to use two of its receive and transmit antennas, as my router only has two available with which to communicate.

Each additional antenna allows for an additional spatial stream (to a maximum of four antennas), in general, translating into a linear increase in bandwidth.

 

I currently have a Intel 1000 b/g/n in my Asus K52f and my router is a Linksys E3200. A friend bought the bigfoot 1102 but sold his laptop before the card came in. I can pick it up for $25 from him, would this be worth the money over the Intel 1000?

 

I'd say grab it, even if you don't participate in LAN parties. For 25$ it's a steal.


As for the real life performance, the card shines in LAN gaming and generally in LANs. It can't magically fix your internet issues, there are always bottlenecks (ISP, wiring, router, etc) If there's a single weak link along the endless segments to the destination server, - the connection will be poor.

 

I don't have any internet issues, but I transfer A LOT of big files around my network..
For $25 I'll grab it, can't really go wrong for the price.

 

I can see the Intel 6300 for 29$ on eBay with free shipping, so can't say 25$ for used one is such a steal =)

Anyway, sorry if my question was answered somewhere in the thread (just some opinions differ or not very clear), but I would appreciate if you would advise me if I should buy the Intel 6300 in my case or not..

Just got myself Asus N73SV-V1G-TZ416V. Unfortunately, it goes with Atheros AR9285 which supports only up to 150Mbps (totally doesn't fit this high-end laptop).

I use the laptop at home, where I have D-Link DIR-655 - 3 antennas, 5Ghz. My internet connection is 60mbps download. At home I have a great signal everywhere, except one spot, the signal becomes low and unstable. I also travel a lot and walk from one office to another. Sometimes (especially in the hotels) the signal is bad, like very bad and unstable.
I also transfer big files between PC's and between my NAS at home.

What I would like is to boost my signal strength also at the weak spot at home and most importantly in the hotels and places with bad signal (as an outcome more stable and faster connection). And also to boost the transfer speed inside my network.

Should I get the Intel 6300? Money is not a big issue, question is if it's worth the hassle..

 

I can't speak for your wifi model as I'm not familiar with it. However, in regards to the 6300, it's the fastest current internal card out there. 3x3 internal antennas and 450Mbps. If your router only supports 300Mbps, you may not see the full benefits of the card. However, the extra antennas will stabilize your signal at range (it won't extend the signal, but you'll see less degradation and dropping).

If you've already got N set up, you may try changing a few settings to see if it helps before getting a new card. Namely, control panel > network and sharing center > adapter settings > right click your wifi > properties > configure > advanced. Make sure that channel width is auto, not 20mhz, n mode is enabled, and transmit power is max. Changing the channel width if it wasn't already will greatly boost the speed.

 

I checked that the settings are at max. Also in the specs it says that it's up to 150mbps, so I'm quite sure about that.. stabilize the signal at range sounds good already. Thanks.

 

While I agree to the technical analysis part, I have to note that the most important PRO of the Killer is its software side and the convenience of management, especially useful to gamers. Let's say I have a clan clash and absolutely need to isolate the game to not only give it the max channel access but also block all of the sudden attempts of the OS/apps to access the web during my session. Of course, with some tweaking you can do almost everything manually, but it would take longer even for a pro. Killer Network Manager greatly simplifies the process. I only played with it for 5 min today and got better results than from half an hour of brushing through the firewall/router/NIC/OS settings to achieve similar results.

As for the price, 5$ extra is nothing compared to the time I save but to be honest, I'm also a little biased towards Bigfoot.

 

Hey Guys,

Please see here for some real world performance numbers. (Please note I'm not bumping this because they are using our laptops, but because people always want non-bigfootnetwork numbers =)

AnandTech - Bigfoot?s Killer-N 1102 Wireless Networking vs. the World

 

I think I have crow to eat.

 

OK, hate to bump an older thread, and while I don't own a Clevo any more, I do have the Killer-N card.

Has anyone else been having trouble with the Bigfoot management software randomly crashing? It will just quit with an error, and stupid me, I didn't take a screencap of it. It's also been causing some other weird problems, such as barring access to my Steam games. I know it is the Bigfoot software because upon installing generic Atheros drivers, all problems went away.

 

Thank you, this was a very useful link. I've been bouncing back and forth on this decision myself before placing my order soon.