The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Dell Wireless options

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by ccoleman88, Mar 30, 2008.

  1. ccoleman88

    ccoleman88 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    74
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hello, I am trying to choose form the following wireless options, could someone please advise which i should choose?

    Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card [Included in Price]
    Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card add $0
    Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card [add $25 or $1/month1]
    Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card [add $35 or $2/month1]
     
    ccoleman88, Mar 30, 2008
    #1
  2. SoundsGood

    SoundsGood Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    188
    Messages:
    3,251
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Just listening in (I had the exact same question).
     
    SoundsGood, Mar 30, 2008
    #2
  3. dirtytricks

    dirtytricks Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    When I asked awhile ago I was told to go for the intel cards over the dell ones. Unless you have or plan on upgrading to wireless N the Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card should work just fine.
     
    dirtytricks, Apr 1, 2008
    #3
  4. Herbie

    Herbie Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    28
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I just bought a Vostro 1400 and it came with the Dell 1505 and I had nothing but trouble with it so I called Dell and they sent me the Intel 3945 and it has worked perfect from the start. hope this helps!
     
    Herbie, Apr 1, 2008
    #4
  5. Amol

    Amol APH! NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    1,832
    Messages:
    1,850
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I have a 4965n on my m1330 - works so well =}
     
    Amol, Apr 1, 2008
    #5
  6. hsbrar

    hsbrar Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    159
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I have opted for 4965n on my new XPS 1530 which is arriving tommorow .

    What are advantages of this 4965n over the other wireless cards ?

    Thanks
     
    hsbrar, Apr 1, 2008
    #6
  7. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

    Reputations:
    1,988
    Messages:
    5,253
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Nothing really, except that the mainboard, wireless & CPU all have the same vendor. That can improve performance, but very slightly.
     
    Thomas, Apr 1, 2008
    #7
  8. Amol

    Amol APH! NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    1,832
    Messages:
    1,850
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Well for starters, draft n has a much better range. That's the only main thing, really. But considering the fact that the Dell cards all have Broadcom chips (at least, 90% of 'em), I'm staying the hell away.

    Hence, Intel was my choice. Of course, if there was an Atheros card lying around, I'd swap it out instantly. Atheros g, even.
     
    Amol, Apr 3, 2008
    #8
  9. IIIM3

    IIIM3 Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    88
    Messages:
    994
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I have the Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card, and i have had no problems with it.
     
    IIIM3, Apr 3, 2008
    #9
  10. MikeS.

    MikeS. Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    13
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have the Intel 4695agn in my new Dell 1720 and it is working great with my current D-Link 802.11b/g router. That router is several years old. This week I'm going to install a new d-link dir-615 router. We'll see then how it does with 802.11N (draft 2.0)
     
    MikeS., Apr 7, 2008
    #10
  11. blue68f100

    blue68f100 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,020
    Messages:
    3,439
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    I'm getting tired of some miss information that keeps been said. 11n has better distance than 11g. In reality if you had a old 11g yes. But the actual fact is that its all based on path loss of the freq being used. NOT the spec that the wireless is using. 2.4 will out distance 5 ghz. It has less path loss when penetrating walls.

    Here is an article discussing pass loss. If you note it only refers to the freq, 2.4ghz. g or n does not matter. Radio sensitivity does. And I think a lot of the 11n hardware are using the latest and greatest radios, which have better sensitivity with less noise. Again 11g or 11n spec does not matter its freq. http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30124/98/

    What I suspect is that the users that say they got a distance increase is based on the quality of the equipment the moved from. I know my 11g penetrates 4 walls 55' and I still get 54mbps speed, and the AP is not turned up to full power. I see no need for full power, since it does my needs and I don't want to cause problems with other wireless networks in my area.
     
    blue68f100, Apr 7, 2008
    #11
  12. Agent Zero

    Agent Zero Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    21
    Messages:
    62
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Intel-N Next Gen has worked awesome for me.
     
    Agent Zero, Apr 9, 2008
    #12