I also installed the a/b/g card into my T40. The install was pretty easy, just follow the maintenance manual. Once you remove the screws the keyboard and palm rest come off with ease. The card was a bit harder to get into the slot than I would have liked (it sure as hell won't ever come loose), but it wasn't too bad. The antenna wires were a bit too long, but there is room to push them aside.
I've only tested it with an 802.11a network and it works great, I'm using it right now
.Would I see an increase in speed if I switch to 802.11g? I am on 802.11b, but was going to upgrade to the IBM a/b/g mini and upgrade my router with a Netgear WGT624. I mostly cruise the internet. So will I see a speed increase on the internet?
T40p
T40p
Most broadband connections at home are under 1Mbit in speed. Some are as high as 3Mbit. Your 802.11 AP gives you 11Mbit now-which is faster than the pipe you are getting in to your dwelling.
802.11g would be faster if you were transfering a file of a Share on another computer attached to your immediate LAN/local network. In other words any other computer you have conected wired or wirelessly through your switch or AP.
Plus... Here's the reality. 802.11g DOES NOT provide you 54Mbit of throughput. Not by a long shot --even though you may see driver applets reporting it.
Here's why.
1. Both b and g reside in the 2.4 Ghz frequency range. Light fixtures, phones, and other sources on the same spectrum will cause interference on both standards and cause degradation to bandwidth.
2. In practice, on most AP's 802.11g and 802.11a limit you to roughly 22Mbits per channel. Since you can only be on one channel connecting to the AP, you'll never see 54Mbit.
3. However... the combined bandwidth of multiple computers/clients connecting and concurrently sucking bandwidth will utilize the built in overhead of the ap having multiole channels -->delivering more than 22Mbits combined.
SO.... That said... Save your money. You will not see a speed increase by getting a new 802.11g ap or router and card for your laptop. The internet WILL NOT be faster.
I have an X31 which came with the Intel Pro/2100 Centrino 802.11b MPCI card. FWIW, in Windows, I
had pretty good luck with this card - performance was pretty good, I had no problems with dropped connections. The connection manager software (IBM's software) was decent. Range was better than any of the PCMCIA/USB adapters I've tried (D-Link USB (not so hot), USR PCMCIA, SMC2532 PCMCIA (great card if you use an external antenna(s), Intel PCMCIA), probably because of the built in antennas.
Because of the lack of Linux support with the 2100, I decided to get a Cisco 350 series - with 100 mW (20 db) transmit power and greater receive sensitivity ratings, I thought I'd get better range out of it as well. Well, I don't get better range, and so far I haven't been able to get it to work with any Linux drivers - 2.6.1 kernel, and the drivers off the Cisco website. Hopefully after spending more time on it, I'll have better luck. At any rate, the WinXP Cisco software is great for this card. It allows you to adjust all kinds of parameters, including specifying diversity/pri/secondary for transmit AND recieve, and all kinds of low level wireless settings (power, rts/cts settings, etc). But range was a dissapointment.
I don't really care about the WiFi speed, as DSL/T1 is usually the bottleneck in my WiFi connections - and without downloading DiVX, who cares about 1 mbps from the Internet... If I really need to transfer files quickly, I can always go wired - hasn't been a problem yet tho.
I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on the Atheros based IBM MPCI cards range compared to the Intel Pro/2100 and/or Cisco 350 series? Anyone noticed a significant difference after upgrading? Like I said, G isn't really much of a selling point - and A is even less of one for me, but range is a big issue... anyone whose upgraded care to comment on that?
FYI if anyone is considering PCMCIA and wants long range, I can highly recommend the $58 (@ Amazon) 200mW SMC2532 PCMCIA w/ a detachable antenna + an external $16 5.5 dbi antenna (Ebay RP-MMCX - make sure it's reverse polarity!!!) - it's a potent PCMCIA combo for cheap. The Senao's sound great as well, but you have to either go external antenna or built on antenna, can't do the same on one card. In a perfect world I think I'd go with the Senao 200 mW MPCI, but IBM has to be nazi's with their BIOS... There's a $125 15 dBi omni 40" antenna I've been eyeing (Hyperlink) which I think would be great fun to attach to the roof of my jeep along with the SMC... mmmm free internet
Rob
had pretty good luck with this card - performance was pretty good, I had no problems with dropped connections. The connection manager software (IBM's software) was decent. Range was better than any of the PCMCIA/USB adapters I've tried (D-Link USB (not so hot), USR PCMCIA, SMC2532 PCMCIA (great card if you use an external antenna(s), Intel PCMCIA), probably because of the built in antennas.
Because of the lack of Linux support with the 2100, I decided to get a Cisco 350 series - with 100 mW (20 db) transmit power and greater receive sensitivity ratings, I thought I'd get better range out of it as well. Well, I don't get better range, and so far I haven't been able to get it to work with any Linux drivers - 2.6.1 kernel, and the drivers off the Cisco website. Hopefully after spending more time on it, I'll have better luck. At any rate, the WinXP Cisco software is great for this card. It allows you to adjust all kinds of parameters, including specifying diversity/pri/secondary for transmit AND recieve, and all kinds of low level wireless settings (power, rts/cts settings, etc). But range was a dissapointment.
I don't really care about the WiFi speed, as DSL/T1 is usually the bottleneck in my WiFi connections - and without downloading DiVX, who cares about 1 mbps from the Internet... If I really need to transfer files quickly, I can always go wired - hasn't been a problem yet tho.
I'm curious if anyone has any feedback on the Atheros based IBM MPCI cards range compared to the Intel Pro/2100 and/or Cisco 350 series? Anyone noticed a significant difference after upgrading? Like I said, G isn't really much of a selling point - and A is even less of one for me, but range is a big issue... anyone whose upgraded care to comment on that?
FYI if anyone is considering PCMCIA and wants long range, I can highly recommend the $58 (@ Amazon) 200mW SMC2532 PCMCIA w/ a detachable antenna + an external $16 5.5 dbi antenna (Ebay RP-MMCX - make sure it's reverse polarity!!!) - it's a potent PCMCIA combo for cheap. The Senao's sound great as well, but you have to either go external antenna or built on antenna, can't do the same on one card. In a perfect world I think I'd go with the Senao 200 mW MPCI, but IBM has to be nazi's with their BIOS...
There's a $125 15 dBi omni 40" antenna I've been eyeing (Hyperlink) which I think would be great fun to attach to the roof of my jeep along with the SMC... mmmm free internetRob
Can this IBM miniPCI card do 108mbps SuperG with my D-Link DI-624 router?
I think the IBM is based on the Atheros chipset? Anyone tried it?
I think the IBM is based on the Atheros chipset? Anyone tried it?
Which card do you have?
I have the a/b/g one which is made by Arcadyan (Philips/Accton) but it uses an Atheros chipset.
I guess this would apply to IBM T30s as well? I was planning to get the intel minipci 802.11g from newegg but now it's unlisted and looks like I'll have to get it from IBM .
.TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 21K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter