Thinkpads Forum

I currently have a 9465AGN in my system but I want to get the most out of RANGE and WIRELESS N.
Im also running Middletons Bios.
What would be a decent upgrade?
MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IS RANGE!!!!
I have 3 Antenna cables in my T61. [1 added later on manually]
I really need a better range! [for hotspots]
Although 300MBPS sounds good, 450MBPS sounds even better for ADHOC/Local Networking.
Anny suggestions?
I was looking at the Intel 5300 but it seems like it's already multiple YEARS old.
Im shure there must be some newer hardware out there with better range.
any suggestions?

I've used the Intel 4965AGN, 5300, and 6300 in my T61p. The 5300 and 6300 kill the 4965AGN in weak-signal performance. I didn't find much difference between the 5300 and 6300, and I had stability issues when pegging the 6300, so I'm happily using the 5300. I have extensive experience playing around with these three both at home (mainly with a WNDR3700v2 and E4200v1), as well as when wearing my Meru engineer hat at work, with big manly industrial-strength access points.

I should mention -- I used to "see" more networks available with the 4965AGN, but if I managed to hook up to one, they'd be near unusable. Generally with the 5300, if I can "see" something, I can use it.

I am thoroughly satisfied with the 5300. Use the latest drivers.

If one were to buy a 5300 card, what is the best way to go? Looking around sources, there seem to be about four options online from Ebay and other vendors:

1) New one from china (OEM or a copy)?
2) Pulled from later model Lenovo
3) Pulled from other Dell/HP/etc.
4) NOS from HP purchases.

To my mind, 2 and 3 sound a bit less dodgy. Between them is there a reason a non-lenovo oem board-sourced card would not work? Or is #1 actually a safer way to go? Or does the middleton BIOS allow you to not worry about the non-Lenovo origin?

Atheros consistently beats Intel on range and sensitivity in Wi-Fi. I suggest you look at recent Atheros cards, both from Lenovo ("ThinkPad" brand cards) and unbranded.