Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message
Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
-
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 12:10 am
- Location: Ithaca, NY
Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
Note: I'm using Windows 7 Pro x64, and because I am in the majority who can't stand Win8.1, and can't get Win10 to work well on the W500, Win 7 is where I stay for the foreseeable future.
So I hooked a USB 3.0 external HD to my AC1600 speed wifi router and was unimpresssed by the speed. Turns out the bottleneck is the circa 2009 wifi card that came with the W500. 144MBits/sec seems to be the most the Intel Wifi Link 5300 AGN can do on this 2.53GH system.
So, which faster/newer Mini PCIE wifi cards play well with the W500 and Win7 x64? Ideally the card should offer BlueTooth support as well. Should handle sleep/hibernate/etc. correctly. Should coexist peacefully with external wifi devices like the Alfa.
I'm assuming/hoping that the driver will abstract things so that the Lenovo's software like Access Connections, etc., will work correctly.
So I hooked a USB 3.0 external HD to my AC1600 speed wifi router and was unimpresssed by the speed. Turns out the bottleneck is the circa 2009 wifi card that came with the W500. 144MBits/sec seems to be the most the Intel Wifi Link 5300 AGN can do on this 2.53GH system.
So, which faster/newer Mini PCIE wifi cards play well with the W500 and Win7 x64? Ideally the card should offer BlueTooth support as well. Should handle sleep/hibernate/etc. correctly. Should coexist peacefully with external wifi devices like the Alfa.
I'm assuming/hoping that the driver will abstract things so that the Lenovo's software like Access Connections, etc., will work correctly.
-
- Admin Emeritus
- Posts: 23809
- Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
- Location: Loch Garman, Éire
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
You'll need a modded BIOS with the wifi-whitelist removed and Slic2.1 added.
T500 and W500 use the same BIOS, so consider that in your search.
Best option would be a PCIe AC-7260 Intel card, model 7260HMW.
T500 and W500 use the same BIOS, so consider that in your search.
Best option would be a PCIe AC-7260 Intel card, model 7260HMW.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.
PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine.
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.
PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine.
-
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 12:10 am
- Location: Ithaca, NY
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
How do I mod the BIOS (and does it matter which BIOS I am [currently] using?)? What it this whitelist you speka of and where do I get this modded BIOS? And what's Slic2 do and were do I get it?
-
- Admin Emeritus
- Posts: 23809
- Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
- Location: Loch Garman, Éire
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
You use the likes of DuckDuckGo to get the general idea.
You also do some searching on this forum, where you'd find stuff like this: viewtopic.php?t=127334
You also do some searching on this forum, where you'd find stuff like this: viewtopic.php?t=127334
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.
PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine.
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.
PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine.
-
- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 3810
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:49 am
- Location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
Seems like you're connecting to the 2.4GHz band. On my X61 with Intel 4965 AGN (which is older that your Intel 5300 AGN), I get link speeds up to 270Mbps on my AC1200 router on the 5GHz band. Maybe your router is set up such that the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands are set to the same SSID (which is the default for most of them).
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
-
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 12:10 am
- Location: Ithaca, NY
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
The 2.4GHz SSID is Bob. The 5GHz SSID is Bob-5G. Is that different enough? i'd think it would be. I'm hoping to get as fast a wifi connection mostly becuase of the USB 3.0 drive \\readyshare thing.
-
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 12:10 am
- Location: Ithaca, NY
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
I don't really like the high noise to signal ratio on search engines. It gets worse every year. I prefer to go to specialty sites, like this one. At such sites, presumably, people are knowledgeable and willing to share what they know.RealBlackStuff wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 3:00 amYou use the likes of DuckDuckGo to get the general idea.
You also do some searching on this forum, where you'd find stuff like this: viewtopic.php?t=127334
I tried the link but found it nearly useless. It would be more useful to those who are already know what's what regarding BIOS, the T500, whitelists, etc. Now, maybe if there were a FAQ on W500 BIOS issues, mods, whitelists, etc., to get us noobs up to speed... then that thread might make more sense to me.
-
- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 3810
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:49 am
- Location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
Yeah, that's different enough.SaganAndroid wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 10:53 pmThe 2.4GHz SSID is Bob. The 5GHz SSID is Bob-5G. Is that different enough? i'd think it would be. I'm hoping to get as fast a wifi connection mostly becuase of the USB 3.0 drive \\readyshare thing.
So you're trying to connect to Bob-5G but only get 144Mbps max link speed? How far is the laptop from the router and are there any obstacles between them?
5GHz range isn't as good as 2.4GHz, and easily affected by obstructions. Then again, it could be caused by other things like a broken wifi antenna or cable in the laptop.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
-
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Thu May 20, 2021 12:10 am
- Location: Ithaca, NY
Re: Fastest mini-PCIE Wifi Bluetooth Combo-card W500 Can Handle?
No more than 14 feet with one thin wall between us. I tried line of sight at about 8 feet and no change. The speed I quote is what the W500 states when it connects or when I hover the mouse pointer over the wifi connections icon on the taskbar.axur-delmeria wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 5:51 am
Yeah, that's different enough.
So you're trying to connect to Bob-5G but only get 144Mbps max link speed? How far is the laptop from the router and are there any obstacles between them?
5GHz range isn't as good as 2.4GHz, and easily affected by obstructions. Then again, it could be caused by other things like a broken wifi antenna or cable in the laptop.
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
-
What is the fastest CPU upgrade for W520 without modding
by James1138 » Sun Oct 15, 2023 6:14 pm » in ThinkPad W500/W510/W520 and W700/W701 Series - 1 Replies
- 6719 Views
-
Last post by TPFanatic
Sun Oct 15, 2023 6:29 pm
-
-
- 2 Replies
- 1625 Views
-
Last post by Gonzaleitor
Thu Nov 30, 2023 10:21 am
-
-
Square tip + usb-c combo charger?
by ThorOfAsgard » Wed Oct 18, 2023 5:41 am » in Thinkpad - General HARDWARE/SOFTWARE questions - 0 Replies
- 2189 Views
-
Last post by ThorOfAsgard
Wed Oct 18, 2023 5:41 am
-
-
-
Wifi Card upgrade suggestions?
by babysheegoth » Thu Jan 11, 2024 1:32 pm » in ThinkPad T60/T61 Series - 11 Replies
- 3876 Views
-
Last post by axur-delmeria
Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:47 pm
-
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 46 guests