Upgrade wireless card or stay stock?

After much research and indecisiveness, I've got my NP9150 build ready to order, except for one thing - the wireless card. I have no idea if I should bother upgrading it, or keeping it stock. I do plan on gaming with my laptop online, and it will be over wifi 90% of the time - so I don't want to be unable to play due to my wifi card.

The 4 options (including stock) available in my build config. are:

-Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module +CA$0.00
-Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module +CA$25.25
-Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module +CA$35.35
-Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 802.11 A/B/G/N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Module +CA$50.50

I don't really want to shell out an extra 50$ for the Killer card if it is honestly not going to give a significant boost compared to the stock card, or if one of the Intel cards are going to be a close 2nd to the killer.

(also, I have no intention of using the bluetooth ability, so that is not important at all when choosing the card)

Is it worth it to upgrade to one of the Intel or Killer Wifi cards, or just stay with the stock Internal card?

 

When I make mine I think I am going to go for the 6235. I value bluetooth but not losing $50 for upgraded range/throughput. I hear higher options have better range.

 

It kind of depends on the network too. A good card doesn't help with a bad network, it just helps you take advantage of better networks more effectively and switch between routers in multiple router networks quicker.

A better card, like the Killer, would help with ping (The time between when you tell the computer to do something in an online game and the time the server recognizes that you are doing something and acts on it) which can be a game changer depending on what games you play.

 

I have mentioned this issue couple times on this forum. It depends on your Wireless Router and your DSL speed. If you get a free router from your DSL company, you will not get any benefit from upgrade the Wi-Fi card. If you shares with your Wi-Fi routers with a lot of users, please do not upgrde your wi-fi.

Router is like a gate door. One road going out built by your DSl and the other road going in built by your Wi-Fi bandwidth. All 3 of them must be fast enough to increase the performance.

 

Thanks for the quick responses. I will mostly be using the wireless connection in my apartment (with a router given by the company - Bell) and on my university campus. Looks like I may be sticking with the stock card after all

 

The thing with the Killer N1202 is that it comes with a bandwidth control tool, if you are left with little Bandwidth and you still want to have multiple programs connected to the internet, you can divide the available bandwidth and assign the allowed bandwidth for those programs individually and avoid constant disconnections due to the agressiveness of bandwidth usage by certain programs.

And if you want to do this with stock wifi/Intel Wifi you have to do it through 3rd party software.

 

Also keep in mind that as long as the antenna wires are there, a DIY wireless card upgrade should be cake later on if you feel its needed.

 

I would suggest either going with the Intel 6235 if you want bluetooth, or the 6300 if you dont. The upgrades are so cheap you might as well do then, and you never know if it may be useful in the future.

 

Piggybacking on this thread -- what do you guys recommend I get as a college student? Do the three antennas on the 6300 show that much of difference compared to the 6235? Will I be able to get a decent connection with the stock card? Bluetooth isn't that important to me.

 

I would avoid the 1103 unless your absolutely set on having a Killer-N branded card. I have one and Ive been experiencing random disconnects every hour or so, for which I end up having to reset the WIFI (FN+F11) to get it working again. I've tried a few different recent drivers with no success, apparently it's a known issue.

 

Weird because so far with the N1103 I have had 0 disconnection issue since the end of May (absolutely 0). And the issue you are seeing happened on my G73JW's Intel N6300 every 7-10 days. It might also be your Wifi router's IP renewal service messing it up. I suggest you go to a friend's house or try out other router and see if you still get the disconnections.

 

In addition to the above as it's not already been mentioned... If you have network storage and a capable fast wireless N access point then the upgrade is well worth it. I went Intel 6235.

 

If your router is dual-band (supports 5 GHz), definitely upgrade to at least the 6235. The 2.4 GHz band tends to be rather crowded in apartment buildings, resulting in slower speed.

I only got 72 mbit out of the stock card and the 2.4 GHz band is not even particularly crowded here. With the 6235 I get 144 mbit on 2.4 GHz and 300 on 5 GHz.

The stock card is garbage, but depending on the conditions, it may not be worth the upgrade.

 

Yeah I have 2 wifi AP's at home, one for 2.4Ghz and one for 5Ghz, I can get 300Mbit on 5Ghz pretty much ALWAYS, and there is basically nobody else using 5Ghz. I get surprisingly good coverage too. I would say the 6235 or the 6300 are the best choices.

 

All I can recommend for college students who live on campus is to NOT buy stock. Literally any upgrade is better than stock. The more antenna's the better, too.

 

Yeah I would go for the 6300 for sure if you dont care about bluetooth. I wanted bluetooth as I have a BT mouse and some other stuff and figured the 6235 was a nice compromise.

 

I made the same choice for the same reasons.

 

I love my killer 1103 and have had 0 issues. The issues the person above is experiencing is the first i have heard of it. I would reseat the card and perform a clean install of drivers if i were him.

regardless choose any upgrade. it is one of the best upgrades you can make on your laptop. better signal range, steadier connection, better latency, it is worth every penny

 

x2 on this. These are very cheap upgrades and there is no reason not to get them really.

 

How easy is it to replace the card yourself? I have the stock card, but if its a fairly easy swap out, I'll buy a new one and install it myself.

 

extremely easy. uninstall old cards drivers. unscrew old card. screw in new card. attach antennas. install new cards drivers. just make sure you have the right number of antennae built in to your laptop for the card you order

 

It's pretty easy, it is right under the keyboard.

 

I have had 0 issues with my 1103 in about a months use.

I have a old linksys g router and it improved my ping over my old Atheros AR9285 card by almost 100%.