Gigabit network options for old laptop?

[Hardball]

I have an older Dell laptop (Inspiron 4150: 10+ years old) and it has an onboard 3com 10/100 ethernet adapter. I recently switched to a Doccis 3.0 modem from Comcast and the laptop doesn't seem to get along with it too well. Are there any options for me to be able to get a Gigabit ethernet adapter for this older laptop? As far as the expansion slots go, the laptop has a Cardbus controller (Texas Instruements 1420 Cardbus controller) and as far as the PC Card connectors go, it has 2(supports 2 Type I or II cards or 1 Type III card with the PCMCIA being 16 bits and the Cardbus being 32 bits).

Is there such thing as a Gigabit ethernet pc card that this laptop would support? If not, what other options are there?

 

[drebo]

Neither USB2.0 nor CardBus (aka PC Card aka PCMCIA) operate at a speed which can sustain gigabit speeds.

That said, if there's an electronic incompatibility (which is possible with older 10/100 NICs) that could potentially be fixed with a USB gigabit NIC. You will NOT get gigabit speeds out of it, though.

 

[Arcanedeath]

cardbus ie 32bit PCI for laptops works fine with gigabit nic, it's just hard to fine one nowadays but they still make them. the 16bit slot is like ISA which is dead and they don't make anything for that anymore.

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833156156

Something like that would work. Good luck finding one.

Edit: Hey, lookie here. ~$8?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Netgear-GA511-Cardbus-Gigabit-Network-Notebook-Laptop-LAN-Card-/221008346958

 

[JackMDS]

I know what this means "doesn't seem to get along" when talking about family relation, I have No idea what it means for a Laptop connecting to Network.

If the issue is slow performance of Internet and Network Activities, I doubt that any thing can help. These type of old Laptops in reality perform like Mid range P-3 Desktops and they simple can not cut the "Mustard" anymore.

 

[Hardball]

When I attempted to connect the laptop to the new modem, nothing happened. I previously had a Motorola 5100 cable modem that I could connect to the desktop or laptop without issue. Comcast recently increased speeds in the area and the Moto 5100 was Doccis 2.0 and could not get the new speeds. I swapped that out for a Ubee DDM3513 Doccis 3.0 modem. The desktop worked fine, but when I connected the laptop to it the ethernet light went out on the modem and there was no connection. I tried resetting and power cycling the modem, but no dice. I wondered if it could be the new patch cable that came with the modem. The desktop worked fine with it but maybe not the laptop? I got a different cable yesterday and connected it and got service with the laptop, sort of.

The Ethernet light on the modem is blue when connected to the desktop, but turned green when connected to the laptop. Blue indicates 1000Mbps, green is 10/100Mbps. I get the upgraded speed with the desktop, but not with the laptop. The desktop has onboard Intel gigabit ethernet while the laptop has the onboard 3Com 10/100. I don't know why the patch cable works with the desktop and not the laptop, unless the patch is Cat6 and the laptop doesn't recognize it?? How do you tell Cat6 from Cat5e visually? It seems that gigabit ethernet is needed to accept the newer speeds from Comcast (50Mbps/10Mbps) and the laptop's 3Com 10/100 can't do it?

 

[Madwand1]

It seems that gigabit ethernet is needed to accept the newer speeds from Comcast (50Mbps/10Mbps) and the laptop's 3Com 10/100 can't do it?

Hardball, if you have a cable which gives a working connection to the modem/router, then I suggest leaving it at that. The modem's Internet speed is less than 100 Mb/s, so the 10/100 link is just fine, and you won't get any performance improvement for Internet with a gigabit NIC on the laptop.

You could get somewhat faster large file transfers between the laptop and the desktop with gigabit, but unless you're doing that often, it's probably not worth getting a new NIC.