VPC-Z: WiFi/BT -> Upgrades/Alternatives

As some of you may know I have had a lot of trouble with Bluetooth on the VPC-Z. A month or two ago I replaced my Microsoft BT Keyboard 6000 with the Sony BT keyboard. That fixed most of my problems, then with a driver update from Broadcom I was finally able to get A2DP working also. The problem is that the latest driver from Broadcom bombs out every once in a while and I have to restart the computer to get Bluetooth back. I find this very annoying because I use a BT mouse and keyboard almost all the time.

So I never stopped looking for alternatives. Well I think I found a good one. I decided to get an Atheros BT/WiFi combo card and the new Intel 6230 BT/WiFi combo card. I though the Intel one would be great, but it is not. The drivers were a huge pain to install and once I got it all going the A2DP audio would drop out every time I moved the mouse, lame. So then I tried the Atheros BT/WiFi combo made by Azurewave I am delighted to report that it works really well. No A2DP audio drop outs, everything installed quick and easy, WiFi Signal is great.

The other interesting part of this deal is that I now have a left over antenna, this might be helpful for the WWAN upgrade I am working on.

I know that I'm not the only one with bluetooth issues on the Z, this might be the fix... it hasn't withstood the test of time yet but I have a good feeling about it. Atheros has never let me down before, but I've had problems with Intel and Broadcom Wifi and Bluetooth.

I'll post back if I run into any problems but so far it is great.

I am disappointed that the Intel 6230 performs so poorly, I was hoping to have Bluetooth 3.0 out of this deal also. Maybe I'll try it again after a driver update. I think the 6230 is still pretty new.

 

Hello!I have a question for you ComputerCowboy i've seen that you spend more time with WIFI/BT investigations so what I want to know does Z has realy IEEE 802.11n?cuz mine i've entered in the connection manager to make some settings for the wifi and i seen that there are settings only for IEEE 802.11g to set but there is no IEEE 802.11n?!What are the optimal settings to increase the wifi power to it's maximal performance?And one more question which one does consumes more battery the BT or the touchpad? (so I will know which one to keep enable when i'm on battery because i have also a BT mouse ).Thanx in advance for your answer..

 

I don't know about optimal settings for the 6200 for N, I no longer use the 6200 so I can't really help you there. I do know that your Bluetooth mouse must use more power than the track-pad.

If you really want to get the best connection they replace your 6200 with a 6300 and add an antenna! There are some post about doing that on this forum

 

care to provide a link?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/481385-vpc-z11-intel-wifi-ultimate-n-6300-agn-upgrade-pics.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/574337-help-3rd-antenna-install.html