what's the difference between Wireless Cards?

I see there are options for Wireless Card choice, like Dell Wireless™ 1510 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card, Intel® WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card, Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card. So what's the main difference? Thanks!

 

Ok. The Dell 1397 supports only b/g bands of wireless. The Dell 1510 supports a/b/g/n. The Intel cards are considered by some to be higher quality than the Dell cards, but it can go either way, in my experience. The Intel 5100 also supports a/b/g/n. All 3 of these cards have 2 antennas. The Intel 5300 is like the 5100, but has 3 antennas - that can mean better reception in some cases. If you have no specific requirements, the Dell cards should work just fine.

Also, if you care, the requirements for a complete Centrino "package" are an Intel processor, chipset, and wireless. That means your laptop would have centrino "technology" with the intel cards, but it doesn't really make any difference - except what sticker you'll get on the notebook.

 

Dell Wireless™ 1510 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card -
Dell branded, usually Broadcomm Chipset, supports WiFi bands A, G and N.

Intel® WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card -
Intel manufactured card, supports bands A, G and N (up to 300 Mbps)

Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card.
Intel manufactured card, supports bands A, G and N (up to 450 Mbps)

 

How does this work? Isn't the limit of the 802.11n draft specification 300Mbps?

 

"Up to 2X greater range enabled by 3x3 Draft-N implementations with 3 spatial streams. Up to 450 Mbps of Bandwidth based on the theoretical maximum bandwidth enabled by 3x3 Draft-N implementations with 3 spatial streams in
combination with a 3 spatial stream Access Point. Actual wireless throughput and/or range will vary depending on your specific operating system, hardware and software configurations."

http://download.intel.com/network/connectivity/products/wireless/319982.pdf

 

How widespread is this N band for wireless? Is it supposed to replace b/g (for like in-home DSL or whatever), or is it just a "premium speed" offshoot? I intend to buy a new laptop soon and I'm wondering if I should consider the upgrade to a N band wireless card or if it won't really matter?

 

N would be useless if your router is not N series. if you're router is just b/g, then an "N" laptop would not transmit on N.
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most N routers has already presence in homes. i for one uses an N router. but the benefits is not that great interms of speed, maybe on distance since it can penetrate walls compared to a b/g rout

 

If widespread you mean cafe's, hot spots, hotels etc then your very unlikely to find draft-N out there - most are still G and some even A and B. Presumably over time many will move to N but not at the moment.

But there's nothing to stop you having a draft-N router at home and have a home network running at 450Mbps providing all your equipment is equipped. Makes sharing, transfering and streaming over your home network much faster. Also gives you much better range (my Intel 4965 draft-N card gets much better range on normal G networks too).

 

I see. I hope to have whatever new notebook I get to last about 4 years, so do you all think it'd be a good investment to just get a "N" card now in anticipation for any widespread adopting of the "N" band?

 

i hear the 1510 is better with latency issues as well. i have it and it works fine...just like my sisters 5100 to tell you the truth. i wonder if the upgrade to the 5300 is worth it.