Thinkpads Forum

Hi all. I'm in my dorm room now and the Atheros 11b/g miniPCI adapter III is getting me two bars out of five. I am not experiencing any disconnects but I'm wondering if there might be a better card out there for me??? I'm not sure how it'll be in classes tomorrow yet but I'm thinking I'd want a better card in this T400 anyway. TIA.

The 5300 would be three antennae rather than (I think) the two on the Atheros.

emeraldgirl08 wrote:I am not experiencing any disconnects.

If it works, why bother?

For whatever it's worth, I upgraded from the Intel 5100 to the 5300 because the 5100 was demonstrably slower compared to multiple friends computers, including another Lenovo using a 5300, a Dell using a 5100 and a MacBook.

Anyway, the modest cost was worth every penny because the 5300 has been great, especially once I added a N-capable router at my house. Do you know whether your dorm uses a N-capable router? Assuming your Atheros isn't N-capable, perhaps you may want to ask a couple of your friends who have N-capable wi-fi cards whether your dorm is running that spec?

Keep in mind that you're going to have to order the correct Lenovo part number 5300 card because your computer will not automatically recognize it if it's not a Lenovo-spec card (I learned that lesson the hard way). I ended up ordering mine from CDW, which cost me about ten or fifteen bucks more but their customer service is great, they'll support the purchase, and they won't dork you around if it needs to be replaced.

Good luck and study hard!