VGN-560P22 PCI Mini or Half

I have a Vaio VGN-560P22 and would like to change from the 5100 wifi card to the 5300. Does anybody know how I can look up the spec so I can purchase the correct card. I do not know if it uses a PCI mini or the half card. Is there a take apart tutorial or a video available also.

 

Its PCI-E btw since they are very different. The 5300 is usually a fullsize card, not sure if they ever made a half. The 6200 and 6300 are half. I just upgraded to the 6200 from the 5100 and bought a bracket off ebay.

As far as the 5300 goes do you have a 3rd antenna to take advantage of it? If not the 6200 might be a better upgrade. I also believe the 6300 runs for the same price as the 5300 in the US.

EDIT - As rachel points out there are half size 5xxx cards. Ive seen pictures never seen actual cards. Wasnt sure.

 

Your model is the Sony BZ, most people won't be able to identify it by the model number you gave.
Can you go into the device manager and click the properties of your wifi card and go the details tab and look for the device node strong name and paste what it says here.

Mine is a half mini 5300 for example and says-
oem25.inf evice.NTamd64.6.1:Install_MPCIEX_GEN_5300_AGN_3x3_ HMC_WIN7_64_MOW2:
13.0.0.107 ci\ven_8086&dev_4235&subsys_11018086

which is a half mini card

 

Correction, DRIVER NODE STRONG NAME.

And at reb1
Regardless of it being half-height or not, if you're going to be looking on eBay (or anywhere else for that matter), be wary of counterfeit cards. I know for a fact that eBay is loaded with them. Which is one reason why I'm hesistating on buying one myself. Though if you know where to get a genuine one (and they ship overseas), I'd love to know. They'd usually sell for around US$50. Anything less, I'd be questioning it's 'genuinity'.

@ClutchX2
The 5300 comes in half-height variants too. Japanese CTO had the 5300 half-height options for the VGN-Z and the VGN-TT, and I'm sure for others too. Though the 5300 option never made it to the States or elsewhere, exclusive only for Japan...

 

I opened the device manager and looked at details and did not see driver node strong name. I was looking at Newegg and Amazon or provantage for the 5300. My 5100 is getting slower to connect lately. I hear the 5300 is more dependable and I was concerned with chip support so did not look at the 6200 card. I am considering adding a third antenna.

 

It should be there, use the property drop down box and look carefully through all the listed id's and you should find it.

 

Here is all the info in the wifi card properties.

Device Instance ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4232&SUBSYS_13018086&REV_00\4&2A117DF6C&0&00E2

HARDWARE IDS:
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4232&SUBSYS_13018086&REV_00
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4232&SUBSYS_1301808
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4232&CC_028000
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4232&CC_0280

COMPATIBLE IDS:
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4232&REV_00
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4232
PCI\VEN_8086&CC_028000
PCI\VEN_8086&CC_0280
PCI\VEN_8086
PCI\CC_028000
PCI\CC_0280

MATCHING DEVICE ID:
pci\ven_8086&dev_4232&subsys_13018086

SERVICE: NETwNx32

ENUMERATOR: PCI

DEVNODE FLAGS:
DN_DRIVER_LOADED
DN_STARTED
DN_DISABLERABLE
DN_NT-ENUMERATOR
DN_NT_DRIVER

CLASS INSTALLER: NetCfgx.dll.Net/ClassInstaller

Device Coinstallers:
NETwNc32.dll.ClassCoInstallerEntryPoint

Current Power State: DO

Power Capabilities:
PDCAP_D0_SUPPORTED
PDCAP_D3_SUPPORTED
PDCAP_WAKE_FROM_D3_SUPPORTED

 

That odd that you don't seem to have that id.

It's always best to try and confirm what parts you have. Can you confirm that your laptop is the Sony BZ? The motherboard that the BZ uses is the MBX-193. I've looked at pictures and it seems to take a mini card.

Sony VAIO VGN-BZ MBX-193A1542723A Motherboard Tested - eBay (item 280527192606 end time Feb-23-11 04:30:10 PST)

 

There should be zero support issues with the 6200 or 6300 in comparison with the 5xxx unless you have a built in Linux OS or something that you cant update the driver for. I actually had that

As far as Centrino 2 goes the card is compatible with all the power saving operations etc, its actually a part of the newer generation. Centrino is more of a marketing gimmic then an actual system as the same chipset is used in non centrino notebooks. The intel proset drivers ship with the card from reputable sources.

Yeah my 5100 which worked okay for web browsing most of the time sucked for trying to game. Lots of drop outs. I was going to get a 5300 a long time ago never did and its probably still a good card too. Im running both the 5100 and 6200 on seperate antenna's for my linux built in os.

Once you get a router capable of it the 6200 will do 2x2 MIMO which is all that is supported anyways the third antenna models do have a shot at better reception. But the 3x3 is a bit useless.

 

My Sony TT came with a 5100 and at first i upgraded to a 6200. The 6200 did not work with the Sony software smart network for my model. It is possible though to just control the wifi without the Sony software. Also, at times it would freeze forcing me to reboot my computer. I then purchased a 5300 and that worked with the Sony software and i had no issues.

The 5300 that you purchase might work with the Sony sofware. I'm not sure if the issue i had with the 6200 has been resolved.

 

Oh okay Rachel I didnt realize there was a software issue on the sony. While I use windows for the connections the ASUS software worked fine and the enable disable switch still works. I have not installed the Intel Pro Set disc that came with it because I already had the latest Pro Set installed.

So I guess there is room for concern.

Anyways my bracket came in today while paying 5 bucks might have been a bit much the shipping was free anyways here is the bracket i bought if you end up needing one - http://cgi.ebay.com/Wifi-Mini-PCI-E-Half-Size-Full-Size-Bracket-Screws-/300511640497 Just installed it (card was laying in slot for 24 hours) and fits fine, woulda rather had the same style black screws some people sell em with.

 

Thanks for the information. I am going to wait a few days before I pull the laptop apart.