Wireless Cards, what is the best.

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milesrbruce · #1 Post by **milesrbruce** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:56 am

I have just purchased a great T41P. I so happy with it. It runs cool. The fan is so quite you cannot here it.

The machine has an Intel Pro Wireless Lan 2100B card in it. Can anyone tell me if I can change this wireless card out and install a better one?

What is the best wireless card? And why? I know Is Intel or IBM cards better? If you change to a IBM card, does that mean the machine will no longer be a Centrino machine? If that is the case, I will stay with an Intel card, but need to know which card is the best.

Thanks for any insight you can give me.

brainpicker · #2 Post by **brainpicker** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:13 am

1) You can easily change the card.

2) There is no "best", only opinions. If there was a clear best for everybody the other provider sure wouldn't sell many.

3) Most folks here prefer the IBM cards in their Thinkpads due to less problems being reported and more frequent driver updates. I agree with this.

4) If you replace the card with an IBM card your initial screen on boot will show Pentium M and not Centrino. Why is having a Centrino machine important? Other than "claiming" to have the best combo for power consuption I see no advantage. Maybe you could enlighten me here?

Good luck with your choice. I remember IBM selling an a/b/g card not too long ago for $45 plus shipping. Great deal to me.

Yak

#3 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:10 pm

First, make sure you buy an IBM branded card. It can be Intel, Cisco, IBM, etc., but it needs to have an IBM sticker on it someplace, otherwise you will have booting problems.

Following is a list that you should be able to choose from. Look under item #14. Note that IBM considers T4X 14.1" laptops to have customer replaceable WiFi cards, but not the 15". Evidently the card is harder to get to in the 15" model. System service parts - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p

kyrotech · #4 Post by **kyrotech** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:30 pm

get the Intel PRO Wireless 2200BG Mini-PCI Adapter for G high speed wireless transfers.

DIGITALgimpus · #5 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:11 pm

I'm really not convinced the IBM cards are any better.

The Intel cards are much more tested, since they are so common in many brands. The reports of problems with a Linksys box isn't really worth much. I had the 802.11b IBM card in my A31... systematically crashed my old linksys Access Point. Linksys products aren't known for compatibility. They are known for low price, and widespread availability since they are sold in every store.

Bottom line is only use *Certified* 802.11a/b/g devices, If it doesn't litterally have "certified" on it... it's likely pretty pathetic.

I've now got one with an Intel 802.11a/b/g due to arrive this week. I've got a Netgear Access point, and most others that I'll be connecting to are Cisco AP's... so I'm not to concerned about problems.

#6 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:21 pm

When I bought my T42 I was not thrilled that it had the Intel 2200BG card and I planned on replacing it soon. So far it has been rock solid in both Windows and Linux with many different Linksys access points. I have a Linksys WRT54g at home and it never drops. I guess I'll keep it for a while.

sugo · #7 Post by **sugo** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:42 pm

The 2200bg (xp sp2, no access connection, driver v8.1.0.28 ) here also works much better than I hoped for. It has been over a year. It gave me no excuse for an ar5006 purhase even though I kind of want one.

DIGITALgimpus · #8 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:17 am

intel got a bad reputation as their very first 802.11b devices were aweful. But have since improved.

the 802.11x devices for laptops are now so widespread in the industry... if they were anywhere near as bad as people here make it sound... there wouldn't be a market for them.

keku · #9 Post by **keku** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 1:00 pm

here is my true Story.

I tried IBM a/b/g and intel A/B/G cards

What I found is ... no matter which card I used speed was almost same,
connected on G.

The place where Intel never received more than 70% signals (atleast that's what Access connection showed)
IBM a/b/g card received 93 to 95% signals (again that's what Access connection and windows showed).

Another thing I noticed ... with Intel Card Access connection or Windows Nevers Showed speed below 48Mbps, even it says 48% signals.
But IBM card goes to even 11 mbps when signal goesa down t0 40%.
But interesting thing is speed on 11mbps showed by IBM card feels equals to 48Mbps shown by Intel card.
(here I would like to clear one thing I'm not talking about Internet connection. because no matter you are at 54 or 11 Mbps, you can't measure it coz it's based on your DSL Modem. I tested it with my Home Network where I've a Server. so the connection speed will be 54 Mbps with wireless network and 1000Mpbs when connected through wired LAN)

Main thing was signal at the same spot Intel can't get good signals while IBM is at excellent signal level.

beeblebrox · #10 Post by **beeblebrox** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 2:33 pm

keku wrote:here is my true Story.

I tried IBM a/b/g and intel A/B/G cards

What I found is ... no matter which card I used speed was almost same,
connected on G.

The place where Intel never received more than 70% signals (atleast that's what Access connection showed)
IBM a/b/g card received 93 to 95% signals (again that's what Access connection and windows showed).

Another thing I noticed ... with Intel Card Access connection or Windows Nevers Showed speed below 48Mbps, even it says 48% signals.
But IBM card goes to even 11 mbps when signal goesa down t0 40%.
But interesting thing is speed on 11mbps showed by IBM card feels equals to 48Mbps shown by Intel card.
(here I would like to clear one thing I'm not talking about Internet connection. because no matter you are at 54 or 11 Mbps, you can't measure it coz it's based on your DSL Modem. I tested it with my Home Network where I've a Server. so the connection speed will be 54 Mbps with wireless network and 1000Mpbs when connected through wired LAN)

Main thing was signal at the same spot Intel can't get good signals while IBM is at excellent signal level.

I suggest you check the package rates, and how many have to retransmitted on the Intel card. You can have a great 11 Mbit line that has a higher throughout than a 48 Mbit line with so many errors, so that the line is more busy with fixing bad packets because the signal strength is too low.

it is just phsysics...

DIGITALgimpus · #11 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 3:38 pm

beeblebrox wrote:
I suggest you check the package rates, and how many have to retransmitted on the Intel card. You can have a great 11 Mbit line that has a higher throughout than a 48 Mbit line with so many errors, so that the line is more busy with fixing bad packets because the signal strength is too low.

it is just phsysics...

Beat me to it.

Wireless Cards, what is the best.

Wireless Cards, what is the best.

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