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    Intel 6205 (2x2) and 6300 (3x3) wifi cards have similar signal strength

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by sniper_sung, Sep 7, 2012.

  1. sniper_sung

    sniper_sung Notebook Evangelist

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    By chance I have two T420s'es by my side. One is equipped with the Intel 6205 (2x2) wifi card, and the other with the 6300 (3x3).

    Putting this pair of laptops side by side, I got very similar list of wifi SSIDs, with almost identical signal strengths.

    Swapping the physical locations of this pair of laptops did not change the result.

    To further confirm this conclusion, I swapped the wifi cards between these two laptops (to avoid any antenna biases), and still got the same result!

    I begin to wonder what advantage does the 6300 (3x3) card provide, while it uses an additional white antenna in addition to the black and gray antennas used by the 6205 (2x2) card?
     
    sniper_sung, Sep 7, 2012
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  2. gaidin43

    gaidin43 Notebook Evangelist

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    Do they both have the third antenna installed?

    I get 300 Mbps on my 6300 with N speeds.
     
    gaidin43, Sep 7, 2012
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  3. sniper_sung

    sniper_sung Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes they do. But the 6205 card only has two connectors.
     
    sniper_sung, Sep 7, 2012
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  4. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    For typical usage at short/equal distances from a router which has 2 antennas, the Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 and the Centrino Advanced-N 6205 provide the same level of performance and reliability.

    The 6300 supports triple stream (3x3) and up to 450Mbps (3 x 150Mbps per stream) whereas the 6205 supports dual stream (2x2) and up to 300Mbps (2 x 150Mbps per stream). Both support dual band, 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

    Now, if your router happens to be a dual stream, dual band router, your WLAN adapter can select one of the two channels, then operate within the dual stream limit. In such a scenario, a 6300 performs just like a 6205.
    ____________________

    There is also the Centrino Wireless-N 2200 which supports dual stream and single band @ 2.4GHz.

    Avoid the Realtek/ThinkPad/Lenovo 1x1 card. In certain configuration pages, the upgrade from the default Realtek 1x1 to the Centrino 2200 2x2 is free. This is a no brainer.
     
    Kaso, Sep 7, 2012
    #4