The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    atheros wifi card for SZ series

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by rubiks24, Apr 15, 2008.

  1. rubiks24

    rubiks24 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    -3
    Messages:
    189
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    rubiks24, Apr 15, 2008
    #1
  2. SPEEDwithJJ

    SPEEDwithJJ NBR Super Idiot

    Reputations:
    865
    Messages:
    3,499
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Good find. I'm interested to know as well. Wonder whether it works in Vista & whether there are updated drivers for Vista...
     
    SPEEDwithJJ, Apr 15, 2008
    #2
  3. rubiks24

    rubiks24 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    -3
    Messages:
    189
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    anyone.....anyone....bueler.....bueler?
     
    rubiks24, Apr 16, 2008
    #3
  4. bejand

    bejand Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    25
    Messages:
    152
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    If you are wondering if it will fit the answer is yes. Will it work? With the appropriate drivers it should. Drivers should be available with the unit or online. Only issue I can think of is that 3rd antenna. Not sure where the end of the antenna needs to go but most wifi antennas go up into the screen part i believe. Could prove to be a difficult task considering that I'm pretty sure the Vaio will only have 2 antennas pre-wired in there. Let us know what happens!
     
    bejand, Apr 16, 2008
    #4
  5. rubiks24

    rubiks24 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    -3
    Messages:
    189
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    oh really? the vaio only has 2 antennas pre-wired? I thought N ment they would have 3 wires. So does that mean that the intel 4965AGN only has 2 places for antenna?
     
    rubiks24, Apr 16, 2008
    #5
  6. bejand

    bejand Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    25
    Messages:
    152
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Not sure if N needs a third wire or not. I will look into it a bit more and let you know.

    Edit: Looks like you are right, it should have that 3rd antenna in there for MIMO. Let us know. Just out of curiosity, whats benefits of the atheros card?
     
    bejand, Apr 16, 2008
    #6
  7. RogeR1

    RogeR1 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I just bought the off SparkLAN WPEA-124N, which uses the AR5008E-3NX chipset (Atheros) from oxfordtec:

    https://www.oxfordtec.com/us/p126/S...-Atheros-AR5008E-3NX-AR5418/product_info.html


    Got it working with Vista, but the drivers provided by the maker on their website won't work. The latest drivers on the site listed below did work though.

    http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14833

    The card you posted isn't the exact same chipset as mine, but those drivers do support it also. With those drivers though, the card will work :).
     
    RogeR1, Apr 16, 2008
    #7
  8. rubiks24

    rubiks24 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    -3
    Messages:
    189
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Well from what I hear, you get better range, and better connection stability. Though I also do hear that it runs hotter. Also if you are into network "security" and poking around, atheros chipsets support packet injection where as the intel's chip set doesnt.
     
    rubiks24, Apr 17, 2008
    #8
  9. rubiks24

    rubiks24 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    -3
    Messages:
    189
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    alright guys, I just installed the "GIGABYTE GN-WI06N 802.11N a/b/g/n draft 2.0 miniPCI EXPRESS wireless -Atheros AR5008 chipset AirCruiser N300 Dual Band Mini Card" from Oxfordtec, its working great. Installation was a piece of cake, drivers can be found on the Gigabyte website. Oxfordtec is a great place to purchase, really fast shipping, great prices.

    Only problem that I have ran into. which is really minor is that vaio smart network doesnt work with the card, at least not properly configured, so I cant select to turn off the card, actually wifi isnt even an option any more after I installed the new card, maybe I just need to do a fresh install of the software, who knows, I'll update later.

    I'll also probably write up a review of the card, if no one else has done so already.

    My intel 4965AGN card will be up for sale in the for sale section here on NBR soon, so if you are interested, let me know, make me an offer, it works great, and I was very careful with it.
     
    rubiks24, Apr 21, 2008
    #9