Dell Vostro 1500: Upgrade Network Card

HEY FRNS
I've got dell vostro 1500 laptop with intel pro/wireless 3945 abg card. I want to upgrade this to wireless n standard. can anybody tell me wether it is possible to change an internal card, if yes which is a good replacement and how to do that. can i do that on my own or i need to go to some technical guy for the same. please help..
rgds

 

It's quite easy to upgrade the wireless card inside your Vostro. Buy an Intel WiFi Link 5300 card (I think Vostro 1500 is using full height wireless card, so get the full size 5300) from eBay for $20-something and install it by your self. Just follow the guidelines available on Dell's website:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/vos1500/en/sm/minicard.htm#wp1180289

 

Thanks for the quick response buddy. btw i know that g card have two antenna cables connected to it and i've heard that n card have 3 antenna cables connected to it. so if there are only two cables right now, what will happen to the third antenna connection in n card?? sorry if i'm being silly..

 

Dell usually has put 3 antenna wires inside although the notebook is configured with 2 antennas wireless card. But better visually check it for sure. Just pop-off the wireless cards bottom cover and look for spare WiFi antenna wire (grey one).

Never the less from what other posters have mentioned, WiFi Link 5300 card will be just fine using only 2 antennas. Especially that current wireless N router/access point can only utilize 2 spatial streams for up to 300Mbps connection which matches the 5300 condition with only 2 antennas.

 

Thanks n one more thing i'm buying belkin n+ wireless modem router, any network card keeping that in mind or this intel 5300 is/ will be good enough..

 

I don't know whether other wireless card manufacturers have come out with products which capable of 3x3 spatial streams for up to 450Mbps connection like Intel with 5300. So, it's regarded the best wireless card currently available. And in a way it's also future proof since wireless router available in the market can only do 300Mbps.

 

Hi guys,

I joined the fourm just so I can discuss this topic. I am in the same boat and I am looking to update my wireless card with a N card.

the Intel 5300 looks good but there seems to be two versions for the chipset thats in the Vostro 1500, one is a half size and one is a mini card. The mini card is the fullsize from what i understand.

My question is that does the vostro 1500 accept the half size? I opened up the back and looked at the slots and there are 3 locations but where the mini 1390 G is installed i dont think half size will fit.

Can someone clear this up for me, I would appricicate it.

thanks,
Ken

 

Yup, Vostro 1500 uses full size mini PCIe wireless cards (WLAN, WWAN & WPAN).

Although half size WiFi card has the same contact points, still it needs to be screwed down properly. Half size card's screw holders should be located half way, which are not there in case of your Vostro. You can secure it down by pressing it with the compartment cover (and maybe fill the gap with something to make it more tight), but still it's not as secure as having it screwed down. Remember, heating and cooling process will cause it to grow and shrink (there might be slight movement). Morevoer shock when the notebook is carried might loosen the contact points.

So if you wanted to upgrade your wifi card, it's best to buy the full size one. There are plenty online sellers which have full size 5300 on stock.

 

awesome thanks appriciate it!

 

Hey buddy i was lookin at different forums and found that intel 5300 is having dropout and other connectivity issues with laot of routers including belkin n+, what shud i do. shud i go for belkin n+ & intel 5300. i'm a bit confused.

 

None of my notebooks which use WiFi Link 5300 cards (I have 2 installed and another one soon to be) suffer the same problem. I'm pleased using WiFi Link 5300 with Linksys WRT310N wireless router at home and access points which brand(s) that I don't know at the campus.

I used to have drop out and other issues when still using Engineering Sample version of 5300 which I bought when it was still hard finding the non-ES version. But after changing to the real one, none of those issues happen anymore.

 

Yeah i just ordered this card today. I also read the drop out issue but also read the user found a fix for it. Dell customer support told him to update something on the router setting to fix the issue. I think it was swtiching to WAP2 encryption from WEP or something like that.

From what I read this card seems to have issues with a certain motherboard, not sure if there is a fix for it now but it seems to work ok wtih the board thats inside of the Vostro 1500.

Aidil: How do you know if its a ES model or not?

Good Luck!

 

Engineering Sample words are written clearly on the label.

Just watch out for fake labeling. I don't know about those drop-out issue reports if they came from factory installed 5300s, but if they were the ones purchased from online sellers, then there might be possibility that those cards are ES version but relabeled without ES words.

And FYI, I use WPA2 AES.

 

Hi guys,

I just installed the 5300 in my vostro 1500. I have 3 antennas so i connected all three but i am not confident if I connect the correct wires to the correct points on the card. There are three wires; black, white and grey but its not clear as to which one connects to which number on the intel 5300. The 5300 card only says TR1 TR2 TR3 on it. Below is what Dell says about it but its not the same as whats on the card.

PLease advice!

 

TR1------TR3------TR2
White----Grey-----Black

 

Great thats very helpful to confirm. I had the wiring right.

So afterwards I installed the latest drivers from intel and the proSET utility. I ended up uninstalling the dell's wireless utlity because it wouldnt work anymore and I couldnt find one that would work with vostro 1500 and the intel 5300 card. If you guys know if there is one out there I would like to know.

The connection speed has varied greatly from any where in between 5 mbps to 300 mbps. It almost seems like when the pc is in idle the connection speed drops but seems to come back up once i start surfing the web etc. I was wondering if this is normal or by design? Why is it that it doesnt always show 300 mbps connection speed? Also I've noticed the wifi light seems to blink more often now, maybe with network activity?

thanks,
Ken

 

I yesterday downloaded latest driver for my intel 3945 abg card, it shows 2 signals where i used to have 3 to 4 signals but once i'm connected it gives 4 to 5 signals..i'm not able to get this intel 5300 card at my place. i put up at such a place where its very difficult to get new upgrades/ producst. i've ordered a belkin n+ modem router for last one week orso, still there r no signs of getting it for another 15 days or so..

 

Intel driver would be just fine. I use all Intel driver instead of OEM modified ones.

Oo ow... Which WiFi light blinks? The on screen network activity animation icon on the right side of the task bar? Or... Physical WiFi light/LED on the notebook body?

Hopefully not the WiFi LED that blinks, cause it's a sign of Engineering Sample card. At least that was what used to be in my Studio 17 when still using ES version of 5300. After changing to non ES version, the LED stays lit as long as WiFi is on.

 

hummmm scary. Well my battery had gone bad too so that light was bilinking too. I just replaced my battery. I am gonna keep an eye on the light now and see whats happening.

Does that explain the fluctuating connection speed though?

 

Yes, the ES version card did that. But it's hard to judge what makes connection speed fluctuates, cause it's normal for connection speed to fluctuate, even for the real version wireless card such as WiFi Link 5300. Connection speed depends on many things happening in the air which we cannot see.

At least in my case, the ES version fluctuated more and often dropped connection although located next to wireless router.

So, let me confirm, is it your notebook's WiFi LED that blinks?

 

Yes i checked and it is the wifi led that blinks, not all the time but it blinks almost with network activity. I googled for it as well and it seems like there are others that seem to say their wifi led binks with network acitivity.

My wifi card didnt say anything about ES version and I even emailed the seller before buying it to ask if it was a ES version and he replied back with he doesnt know what ES version is but his cards are tested and working well.

My card doesnt seem to be dropping the network connection because i dont get that disconnected message and then reconnected message in my taskbar I also seem to be getting 300mbps at times but most of the time it seems to drop down to 24mbps and then go up agian when i start using the network. So its hard to tell if I have a ES version with a fake label on it.

Is there any way to be a 100% what version i have from the hardware info?

 

Sorry I don't have other info besides the LED thing. I've taken out the ES version out of my Studio 17 for months. At least mine clearly has label with ES writing.

Out of curiosity, can you peek what color the backside of the label? Some seller put pictures on their website mentioning that if it's not yellow, it's fake.

 

Ok I will check the back label and let you know. I already emailed the seller on ebay that this is a ES version and shows all the signs of it. I am waiting to get a response and see if he will take it back as advertized. I dont have much hope with the ebay sellers but we'll see.

Sad part is that I dont know who to buy from now. The guys that are selling from china and hong kong are gonna take 15 days for me to get it. I would even pay more for it but i cant find any where in the USA someone is selling it which is not a ES version.

 

I say just use your current card, cause at least you don't have drop connection issue.

In case you're willing to spend ±$20 for ordering from that Hong Kong seller mentioned in the other 5300 thread, just put your order ASAP. 15 days will pass.

 

Hey Buddy
Can u please post a link to the hongkong seller, if he is selling a genuine intel 5300 wifi card.

 

Look at this post from the other 5300 thread which mentioned a seller from Hong Kong:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4968497&post4968497

But yesterday I checked, he seemed to have run out of full height 5300.

 

Look at the pictures and read the info to see if they are selling engineering samples or not.

 

If you have read other threads about 5300 you know these days the pictures and info on eBay pages are not reliable.

 

It worked for me.

 

my seller was good enough to responed and gave me a address to send the product back. He didnt say if he is gonna replace it or refund me but mailed it back today. I am sure he is gonna send me a new card. We'll see how that goes...i kinda feel safe cause paypal will help me out if i get ripped off. Ebay has some protection so its cool...plus worst case i am only risking $20.

keep you guys updated.

 

Hey buddies
my vostro 1500 has got an intel pm965 chipset, can anybody please tell me wether intel 5300 wifi will be compatible with it or not. any link to some source confirming this would be very nice..

 

They are compatible. A lot of us are using that kind of setup. Look at my signature, not only 5300 is compatible with PM965 generation chipset, it can also be used with 945GSE which is popular as netbooks' chipset.

 

Thamks for the reply buddy. It was really dumb on my part that i didnt have a look at your signature.