I have a Samsung R480 and want to replace the Atheros AR9285 so I can get 5GHZ

Hi there,

As the title says, I've got a Samsung Laptop R480 i3. I bought it 6 or 7 years ago when wireless N was fairly new so I thought I was doing myself some justice by getting the upgraded R480. Well after reading many articles today I found out that I cannot get onto my 5GHZ router because it does not have the good old "A" included in the formula...

SO. I'm wondering if you brainiacs out there know of a replacement I can just bolt on and install a driver for. I've searched and I cannot find a replacement for my laptop. I guess I could have searched for a USB solution but I don't want to resort to that. Any help?

Thanks:hi2:

 

The "A" you speak of has nothing to do with the 5 GHz band. 802.11 a is an old WiFi standard that was superseded by b then g, n and now AC. If you want to use the 5GHz band, you would need a wifi card that can receive and work with the 5GHz band, not a different WIFI standard. They all support the 5GHz band.

I don't think mini PCIe (that's the slot your wifi card fits in for the laptop) wifi cards for the AC (newest) standard are available. At least I didn't find any on Amazon. eBay might have people that have those in their laptops selling them. The Intel Centrino 6300 is a good wifi card that should let you use both bands and has 3 antennae each for receive and transmit which translates as a good signal and (possibly) more data transfer.

All this said, the 5GHz band isn't really very helpful. Theoretically, it is supposed to allow for faster speeds but the ADCs inside of these cards prevent a large gain in throughput. The higher frequency means they are more susceptible to signal loss which means you won't receive a 5GHz signal from the same router as far as you would a 2.4GHz signal.

EDIT: I was wrong about one thing though. The statement in bold isn't exactly true. I thought b and g were backwards compatible with "a" which is not true - those two don't allow for the 5 GHz band - "n" does.

 

maverick1989,

you are out to lunch (sorry; but I've told you this already...).

That is exactly what the 'a' stands for: 5GHz band.

B,G,N is exactly; 2.4GHz ONLY.

Add the 'a' and you get 5GHz 'dual band' coverage too.


OP; if your notebook doesn't restrict which cards you use (and it has ideally two antennae leads already) I would suggest the Intel 6235 abgn wireless card with Bluetooth 4.0 for ~$20-$30.


See:
Intel Centrino® Advanced-N 6235 802.11a/b/g/n, 2x2, Dual Band Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.0 Card at Memory Express


Not sure if it fits in your specific system; but the performance of the Intel cards are head and shoulders above the Atheros oem wireless 'solutions'.


Good luck.

 

Tiller, it does not matter what you have told me. You are incorrect. Here is the 802.11 n standard's wiki. It CLEARLY states that the n standard allows for the 5 GHz band. Please stop spreading misinformation around this forum. The "a" is a standard. It is not AC and while it was designed to work in the 5GHz spectrum, it is not the ONLY standard that supports this spectrum. b/g/n is NOT 2.4 GHz only. Right now I am connected to the 5GHz band on the "n" standard. Please explain to me how that is possible. The 5 GHz band requires hardware that has band pass across the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. If they do not have a filter passing the 5 GHz band, you don't get the 5 GHz signal. It has nothing to do with the "a" standard. Please show me something documentation from IEEE that states that ONLY the "a" specification works with the 5 GHz band. The 802.11 specification or rather its technical specs are open so you should have no trouble finding it.

EDIT: Here is another article. I mean the "a" standard was implemented in 2000/2001. I can't believe that you, above all, who goes for "new and improved" all the time thinks that something 13 years old is the only thing that supports the 5 GHz band and if one needs to use it, we have to revert to over a decade old technology.

 

Maverick1989 is right on this one- 802.11n allows both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

802.11a is an old standard that actually worked on 5GHz band but it was limited to 54mbps (as everything up until introduction of 40MHz channels with 802.11n)

802.11n working on 2.4GHz is backward compatible with 802.11b/g and 802.11n working on 5GHz is backwards compatible with 802.11a so it stands to reason that 802.11n cards that support only 2.4GHz would show b/g/n while those that also support 5GHz would also advertise support for 802.11a.

 

That is so long as they are dual band, I don't think they all are. This is where some older cards only list b/g/n and are not a/b/g/n. Also you are best to be sure you have a dual band router as well.

 

Okay, apologies all around. I have not conveyed properly what I know to be true.


Points:
A wireless card can be b/g/n and still be single band (usually 2.4GHz).

The 'n' standard does not mean a wireless card is constricted to 2.4GHz - but unless spec'd otherwise; it usually is.

For wireless cards: 'a/b/g/n' immediately shows that both 2.4GHz and 5GHz operation (dual band) is possible.

The newest AC standard is ONLY 5GHz if you want all the benefits that are promised from 'ac'. However; all routers currently available also support ALL the lower standards - including 2.4GHz mode (but note: that is NOT 'ac').


So; while we are both right in our respective arguments - the fact remains that as the OP has learned first hand: if the wireless card isn't spec'd as dual band (or includes the 'a' specification rating...) - then it is only usable at 2.4GHz.


(And will never be able to fully utilize the 'ac' standard ever).


Dual band is the requirement we are looking for here. The 'a' designation signifies that.

'N' in and by itself does not guarantee 5GHz operation - actually the opposite: it is usually a cheap card that operates at the 'n' spec - but only at the 2.4GHz band.


Here is the newest example of a 'throw away' wireless card that supports 'n' specs - but only at the 2.4GHz band:

See:
Intel® Wireless-N 7260 Plus Bluetooth*: Product Brief



And the one with the 'a' or 5GHz band included:

See:
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 with Bluetooth*: Product Brief


And the latest 'ac' version which includes support for implicit beam-forming among other 'ac' features:

See:
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260: Product Brief



Note that all the above also feature Bluetooth 4.0 - just to keep things consistent.


Also note (next link) that their Wifi-Certified status properly reports the 'specs' as the proper combination of 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n standards - depending on the model.


See:
http://ark.intel.com/compare/75439,75174,75440


The 'a' designation is not as obsolete as you seem to think. It is still relevant and even more important today (with the 'ac' 5GHz only standard) than ever.


And... just to keep things interesting... the entry level and top end cards support Intel Smart Connect Technology - but the middle dual band card does not. Sigh...


Hope this clears this up?

 

The "a" is an old standard. Hardly anyone uses it today. If you want to use the 5 GHz band, you use the n standard. AC has NOTHING to do with "a". NO ONE uses 5 GHz "a". Just because both use the 5 GHz band does not mean anything. So now today "b" is VERY important simply because "n" uses the same band 2.4 GHz?

And there was no clear up needed.

 

I see you're still confused. Please re-read what I posted previously.

Instead of accepting you were partly wrong (as I was...) you are continuing your inane argument. Sigh.

You do realize that even 'old' standards get updated as time moves on, right?

 

I did agree I was partly wrong. Read my first post and its corresponding edit. However, I am not wrong about the "a" standard being old. You have been shown enough proof. I really don't care whether you want to believe it or not so long as you don't go around spreading nonsense. The AC standard is a new standard. It has nothing to do with "a". The only similarities between the two is that they are both using the 5 GHz band. So just like b g and n are different, so are a and ac. ac is NOT an update of a. It is a different 802.11 standard. The only thing you were right about is that marketing a wifi card with the a standard means it can definitely use the 5 GHz band. However, the a standard is not the only standard that uses the band like you said. I can make a router that does NOT support "a" and still can work on the 5 GHz band under "n". Furthermore, lack of the a standard does not imply that the card is a cheap card. It only implies that it does not support the infrequently used 5 GHz band.

 

Yeah; lack of a standard is the first sign of a cheap card (cheaper to manufacture (no need to get it certified) and cheaper performance almost guaranteed; because it doesn't need to conform (exactly) to anything).

Sorry, I don't usually re-read a post - and since you've just informed me of that (your edits) now... without a link... I guess I won't go searching for the changes you're alluding to now either.


For the record: I never claimed that the 'a' had anything to do with the 'ac' either. Just that in the wireless cards specifications; it indicates that 5GHz operation was possible (even if 'ac' operation wasn't - just like the Intel Dual Band 7260 (non-'ac') I've already linked to).

And once again: the 'n' specification does not require 5GHz operation as you seem to think. It is optional as per the specifications.

See:
IEEE 802.11 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Both quotes above from the wiki link.


No problem, we both know what we're talking about (okay?) and I am now (once again) excited about the near future 802.11 'ad' specs that promise 7Gbps throughput at 60GHz - meaning some new Tri-Band routers are being developed and tested as we speak.

Good bye Gigabyte Ethernet - hello WiGig!

...

 

Here is a less wall of text version ~~

popular dual band card are intel 6200 (also 6205), 6235 (with bluetooth), atheros ar9382 (or use search term AR5BHB116 ), the card should cost around $10 depending where you get it, 6235 is a lil more expensive.

Never heard Samsung have a white list so it should be just a drop in/switch upgrade. you can get intel driver from intel site, atheros is more tricky but first google result of "atheros driver" lead to to a unofficial site with all of them.

P.S. If you getting the intel card, avoid the ones claim to pull from lenovo or lenovo compatible

 

I don't see what all the fuss was about. One of the easiest ways to check if a wireless adapter or router supports the 5Ghz band in N mode is to see if it supports 802.11a.