Intel 4965AGN

Can anyone comment on the power of this card as compared to the 3945ABG? I kinda want the Thinkpad Aetheros based card, but I'm not sure of the lead times, etc. Any comments?

 

This is the coolest running wireless card, if it's important.

 

It's also got MIMO technology, which considerably boosts range.

 

Hmm, I thought that the Thinkpad 11A/B/G/N had MIMO too?

 

I actually saw contradicting posts saying the thinkpad (broadcom) AGN is better on power.



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contradicting posts on this board?

 

http://forum.thinkpads.com/

Sorry i don't have the post.




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INtel uses 1.21 jiggawatts, but the Atheros only uses about .5 watts total.

 

So what happens if I take the Intel card, while it's running, in a Delorean going 88 mph?

 

GOOD ONE ! LOL



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A delorean60 or delorean61? you won't have enough power to get back on the 61

 

According to this test (temps taken with a laser infrared thermometer) the Intel 4965 abgn runs siginificantly cooler=uses less power than its Atheros counterpart:

Intel 4965 agn :--------------- 53 degrees (Max)
TP Atheros abg:--------------- 58.5 degrees (Max)
Intel 3945 abg :--------------- 60 degrees (Max)
TP Atheros abgn :------------- 63.4 degrees (Max)

 

Really? Wow, cool, glad I got the intel.. well that and I wanted AGN and Thinkpad didn't offer it when I placed mine

 

Are these C's or F's ?


who knows maybe because of this they will ship full copper heat sink




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Celsius
Yes, it can get that hot - a very common problem with the X61 ultraportable where the wireless card sits beneath the right palm rest.

 

The technical specs of the Intel card are near the bottom of this page:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12713_na/12713_na.HTML

Which makes the card seem worse then the old 5004 Atheros chipset. See these specs:
http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_34&products_id=126


I think the thinkpad N card is a 5008 Atheros chipset(the first generation N as they are up to 9001 now as their second generation card), not broadcom as mentioned earlier in this thread. Can't find any detailed specs though. Wish I could get one of the 9001 cards.

Just thinking, maybe the reason the cards are not currently availible is because Lenovo is swithing to the newer chipset

 

you are better off getting the wifi upgradeable option as all T61's have the 3 antenna's built in. The Gray, Black and White antennas are all on T61's. You can probably find the intel card cheaper from third party sources

 

In this thread someone said they didn't get a third connection on their G only laptop:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=154997

Are you saying you know that is wrong or are just guessing?

 

so anyone know what antenna comes with a laptop with only a G wifi card?

 

IIRC, not all Thinkpads come with the 3rd antenna built in. You need 3 antennas for Wireless N (draft). Some preconfigured T61s come with the 4965AGN wireless card but with wireless n being disabled. I assume that would mean they do not come with the 3rd antenna for wireless n to be disabled.

I would not take any chances if I wanted wireless n. Installing the 3rd antenna into the bezel may be more than novices can handle.

 

So, can anyone say for sure that all T61's come with the 3rd antenna built in?

 

There is also the other important question in that can any mini PCI-Express card be used in the slot? I know earlier thinkpads were locked in this regard, see:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~mjg59/thinkpad/wireless.html

 

is the "n" disabled on the 4965AGN? is it better than the 3945ABG?

 

Some 4965AGN have n disabled but it will be noted that n is disabled. Most normal 4965AGN have n enabled. The 4965AGN is supposed to run cooler and use less power than the 3945ABG.

 

From the HP site I mentioned previously:
4965AGN power comsumption:
Transmit: 2.3 Watts (average, with two spatial streams)
Receive: 1.9 Watts (average with three receive chains)
Idle mode3: 30 mW (average)
Radio off: 20 mW (max)

4965AG (n disabled version of the card so this is for G and I'm guessing the N version will use the same power in G as this too)
Transmit: 1.6 Watts (average)
Receive: 1.1 Watts (average)
Idle mode3: 30 mW (average)
Radio off: 20 mW (max)

Anyone find the specs for the atheros card? All debate here seems to be focused on just that one review taking the temp of the cards in the laptop

 

4965AGN - 11n enabled
4965AG - 11n disabled
Yes, the 4965AG is better than the 3945ABG

 

Enki, did you get a response to your question? I would like to know if any Intel 4965AGN can be put in. I can't seem to disassemble the bios.bak or the original Thinkpad fl1,fl2 files. Phoenix Bios Editor says invalid rom length. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Don't know which question your refering to but then none of my questions have been answered. I emailed atheros to see if they would say what their powe consumption is but no response yet. There are all sorts of reviews on wireless routers but seems like no one cares about the laptop end.

Sure the atheros gets hotter from that one review but them that doesn't directly mean anything about its impact on battery life. Not to mention it would be nice seeing which has better range and speed

 

Running temps is a good indicator of power consumption. Higher consumption=less battery life.

 

No, cause that doesn't factor in how well the components can get rid of the heat they produce. As they are two different cards their termal designs my be different. Plus that review didn't give much detail about the wireless connection espablished at the time, i.e. due to the router they are connected to the different chipsets may be doing different amounts of work since the router may have caused the atheros one to poll more then it should. The atheros card may also have a much faster connection which requires more power to keep up (this implies a future driver update could enable power savings that would cause it to use less power) All pretty hard to say.

Right now I tend to think the Intel one is better but I'm not that confident in that assumption. The main thing I'm wondering is the Atheros 5008 is Atheros's first 802.11n chipset and its been out for awhile having been replaced by the 9001. If you look at how they drastically chnaged the number scheme there is a chnace the new atheros is greatly improved over the 5008 chipset (plus it probably doesn't need as much general purpose parts as the standard is closer to final then when the 5008 came out)

 

Last time I checked, wireless cards don't have heatsinks attached, so their thermal dissipation properties should be identical or very similar.
All other factors being equal, the hotter it gets, the more energy it consumes.

 

The little rf sheild and the lcoationation of the parts on the top or bottom of the card can have an effect. But there was also the other factors I was talking about. Maining since 802.11n isn't done yet there could be some implamentation bugs that could be fixed in later firmware/drivers on the AP and wireless card that could be causing extra work being done.

Me overanalyze?

 

I think you already know the answer.

 

So I got an email back from atheros about my question of power consumption. They want to know what company I represent so I guess I won't get an answer from them

Thinking I'll order the T61 tonight with the Intel wireless since even if its not the best it will hold me till final 802.11n hardware is out and will guarantee the laptop has all three antennas.

 

Answer them and tell them you're not with a specific company, but you're working with a large group of consumers to collect data on their products. It'll probably work.

 

All T61P's have the third antenna built in (it is the white antenna).

 

So I ordered my T61 and on my specs sheet it says I have the 4965AGN card. Though it tells me in the conectivity part...it says nothing about N. So I assume that the N is just disabled....
Question is, am I right? Or way off in left field, and if I am right, how can I enable the N?

Thanks

 

Do you have a 11n router?

 

No, but when I get one, I would buy a 11n. Which will be when I get up to school here within the month....

 

How about, the hotter it gets, the more energy it consumes, the longer range signal and stronger signal it gets? Thinkpad ABGN card does better work than Intel AGN card, more people said that.

 

I have a T61, with the Intel 4965AGN. My system only came with 2 antenna, I installed the UWB antenna and UWB card, the "N" is currently enabled through the wireless configuration tab (see pic) I did not check to see whether the "N" was available before I installed the white antenna though..

 

So only 2 wires were plugged into the 802.11 card?

You have a 15.4" T61 to be able to install UWB, right?

Thanks

 

Does anyone have an answer for this? Thanks

 

Here's a picture of mine. I was wrong, looks like i have all three, UWB makes four. Check out page 77/170 of the manual..diagram shows all three conected w/ ABGN:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/42x3546_01.pdf

You get all three with all ABGN cards or it wouldn't be in service manual. ENKI: Yes I have 15.4" w/ 140M (6459CTO)

Here's a picture before I installed the UWB:

 

Anyone having any problems with their AGN? On my wireless b network I rarely get over 30KB/sec download speeds.

Wired I'm flying. And I do better on other people's networks in the area (g). I've got a new router on the way (I wanted a new one anyway) but I'm hoping that there's not some bigger problem, like drivers or something. I figured it'd either work or it wouldn't, and as of right now I have a 99% strength perfect connection.

 

It may be constantly trying to connect at a faster speed when doing b. Since most people stopped using b then they may not have optimized for it very well

 

Guess not.. I'll find out soon enough tomorrow.

 

I have not had any trouble with mine AGN card and my 802.11b router. And, my router is a real dinosaur (D-Link DI-713P). I have had it for about 6 or 7 years.

 

Well, I'm just going to bet that the netgear 11b router blew and all is good now with my buffalo 125 flashed with dd-wrt. I was getting about 200KB download with 2 torrents and DSLReports showed my download at 2.9mbps, which I'm very happy with.

 

I just got my Thinkpad with the 4965AGN wireless card, and I an unable to get "n" speeds when connecting to my Belkin Pre-N Router. The card has "n" speed enabled, but it only connects to my router at 54 Mbps. Is this likely a compatibility issue w/ my router, or am I missing something here? The 4965AGN claims it is compatible w/ the "draft-n" standard, which I figured would work w/ my Pre-N router, but I'm having problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated.