Intel 4965AGN performance?

Hi

I'm thinking about upgrading my wireless network to draft-n (with a Netgear WNR854T) due to all the NAS'ing I do. but before I do I thought I'd ask if any people have had good experiences with the Intel 4965AGN (which is in my Dell Vostro 1700)? or any dell-used wifi module for that matter...

thanks

 

Dunno what you mean about "good experiences", but I have that wifi adapter in my Lenovo X61; and well, I have not had any bad experiences...

 

I have one and it works excellent. I have no problems with it at all. I am getting 130Mbps between my X205 and my brand new D-Link Xtreme N gaming router.

-J.B.

 

Well, I suppose I mean good throughput. Is it nice?

 

Oh, that's NICE. I have a big 1TB NAS drive and always play around with all the files on it. It's currently limited by both "fast" 100Mbit ethernet and 802.11g.

cool!

 

that's basically what I'm getting also w/ a dir-655. I have read other threads saying the card only has 2 ant. or we would get even better performance.

I was using a dwa-643 express card in some other laptops and getting the full 300mbps

 

The max throughout put on the 4965AGN is 130 Mbps.

Like nobscot6 said, you need a 3rd party card to achieve the desired speeds.

 

By throughput do you mean actual physical throughput, or theoretical? (as silly as that question sounds)


Edit: wow, I'm a notebook enthusiast! cool. nice avatar by the way

 

I achieve 130Mbps with a D-Link DIR615. The only thing I don't like is that Vista actually says the card is using 802.11g instead of 802.11n. I'm picky, so that bothers me. Hopefully a fix will be available sometime...

 

Not so. Just found this out. I have a Sony VAIO CR220E with the 4965AGN and connected at 300 Mbps. Just open Device Manager, Network adapters, and in the Wifi adapter's properties under Advanced, select Wireless Mode and change it either to a, a/g or a/b/g... I set mine to a/b/g and connected to a Time Capsule running in 802.11 n only at 5GHz.

Edit: Though now I'm having to change this setting EVERY time I reboot. Why doesn't it remember the setting for the adapter? ARG!!!! I just spent nearly a full day trying to figure this thing out and now it's resetting to 802.11 b/g...

Edit 2: Found out why it was resetting. Only the 2.4 GHz option was enabled in Wireless Device Switch (the LAN symbol in the taskbar. It was hidden because it was inactive and I didn't think to look for it.) So I checked both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and now Windows itself set the Wireless Mode to 6. 802.11 a/b/g, and it is connecting when I reboot too. Though I've noticed my router has to be set to 5 GHz for my VAIO to achieve 300 Mbps.

 

That sounds nice, thanks for that info. Will try it when I get my router.

 

Originally posted by Snork, in another thread:

Some very good, factual information!!!! In other words, to get 300mbps with this card, you need a dual band router

 

yeah the wrt 300n I am on runs at a buck thirty as well and I think it has to be at the higher freq to run at the 300 ..I may be wrong though..I hope I am actually so I can get mine to run that fast...

 

Crap. + the WNR854T doesn't even have 5GHz either! Looks like I'll be returning it straight back to Amazon and getting the D-link DIR-855. I guess this is what we get for a not-completely-established spec.

Can I ask one other question (and thanks for the information people! Goes to show a lot of people don't really know what's going on, including me up until now) - There's some 802.11g-only PCs in the house. Can the router have WPA2 for the 802.11n and WEP for the 802.11g at the same time, with no worries?? (or is that not even needed, my house mate's laptop is some old Sony Vaio with g only...not sure f it supports WPA2)

 

no, to the best of my knowledge- you can only have 1 security setting-- it's either wpa2 for all, etc or WEP(which you def do not want- to insecure). I bet if the drivers are updated for that older G card that it will support wpa2, but not sure.......

 

Max connection i've gotten with mine paird with my DIR-615 is 130mbps

 

Well if my PDA phone can support WPA2, I'm sure that other laptop will.

Annoyingly, I'm in London, and the DIR-855 is only out in US right now. It doesn't come out in UK until May. I guess if I really want this now, I'll have to pay the price. Can I just get a UK AC adapter, making sure I have the right Amp/voltage and right connector size?

...I just looked at Netgear's current two best offerings (again, only in US at the moment), the WNDR3300 and WNR3500. One has dual band but NOT gigabit, and the other has gigabit and NOT dual band. D-link to the rescue! I usually perfer netgear but not this time.

 

For you guys quoting the "connected" speed, how about some real numbers?

Actual throughput to/from my wireless router (DIR-655) transferring files with my wired desktop is 6-8MB/s. That's megabytes per second, and it equates to 48-64Mbps. The quoted "130mbps" means nothing and its not the actual speed you are moving data. You will never get that high.

That is the best test I have...and of course wired is much faster still even at only "100Mbps" connected speed.

 

Yeah, which is why I'm making sure I get the highest possible "connected" speed.

 

I have the WRT600N Dual Band Dual radio and i cant get 270mbps consistent it drops to 130 or even lower everytime i restart does anyone have any suggestions??

 

You need to be running in 40hz band width, WPA Personal AES. If your using WEP or TKIP it will not connect at the higher speeds. 11n is know to drop off a lot faster than 11g as you increase distance. Also 5ghz does not penetrate walls as well as 2.4ghz. Also since 11n is draft mfg has been doing there own thing on speeds greater than 130mbps. So the only way to ensure you get the higher speeds is with matching hardware.

 

Thanks for that extremely useful info. Will take it in mind. Well, unless there are any intel routers (shudder), don't think there's much I could do, (who'd want an awkward USB adapter anyway)!

 

alright...i just bought a linksys WRT310N router and i'm not able to connect any higher than 130mbps even though in the router configuration i have the N transmission rate set to 270mbps, 40 mhz wide, WPA personal (though i can do wpa2 personal), AES encryption, wide channel is set to 9, standard is set to channel 11 2.462 ghz, wireless mode set to N only.

with the device advanced properties, it only gives me the choice of auto or 20mhz only for 802.11n channel width. i have it set to auto, N mode enabled, ad hoc channel 802.11b/g set to 11, ad hoc power management set to disabled, ad hoc QoS mode set to wmm disabled, fat channel intolerant set to disabled, mixed mode protection set to RTS/CTS enabled, roaming aggressiveness set to highest, throughput enhancement enabled, transmit power highest, and wireless mode set to 6. 802.11a/b/g.

can someone tell me where its wrong and what i have to change?

 

Oh no...you need a dual band router my friend. I luckily realised just in time to return a netgear router back to amazon.
I'm also assuming you are using the 4965AGN.

 

that would be correct. although, i rarely use wireless anyways unless i'm on the go. at home, with the nature of my job, its a desktop replacement.

 

try wpa2...i did wpa with my d-link and only got 54...and with wpa2 i got 130. The thing about the advertised speeds is that its only really capable of doing it for sure with the matching linksys adapter. so you may never get 270 with yor current configuration.

 

i'll figure something out...like i said, i dont really use wireless, so i'm sure ill be fine with only being able to connect at 130 mbps if i choose to use wireless at home, otherwise ill just stick to my gigabit ethernet connection

 

man i cant seem to get a stable connection always jumping around i start at 270mbps then go 162mbps then down to 130mbps and sometimes lower. I have linksys WRT600n Dual Band Dual Radio and my settings are WPA2 & AES for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz with the 2.4GHz set to Mixed BGN (wide 40mhz channel) and "N only" on the 5GHz (wide 40mhz Channel) I did notice if i open up wireless properties and put my router code in it jumps back to 270mbps is that the possible reason for unstable it changes the password?

 

The WPA2 spec is only suppose to use the key to start the encryption process. It is suppose to be changing it regularly. The reason it's a better security. I think what you are experiencing is, Firmware bugs or possiable interference.

 

I have the latest firmware and i have tried just about everything any hints or tips would be much appreciated!!

 

bmwnick

You only tell us about your router, not your card/adapter..... what type card do you have?? That makes all the diff........

i can only suggest trying N only, instead of a mixed signal-- that should improve things if you have a card that runs N.

It sounds like firmware/router problems to me.......

 

are we not in the....Re: Intel 4965AGN performance? Thread, obviously that is my card and just to be clear i have WRT600N and it has the newest firmware and card has the latest drivers

 

You know, this linksys WRT600n has caught my interest because it's available in UK now unlike the D-link 855, which I would have to wait 8-9 weeks for!
so bmwnick I'm interested, and probably others too, for you to see if you can get success with the Intel and the Linksys. It sounds like you might be too far away with the 5GHz signal. Have you tried getting within good range?...

...ok, so can I get a few things straight - in order to get 270Mbps between a dual band router and my 4965AGN, I need/should:

- give the 5GHz band an SSID x, which will be used ONLY for my 4965AGN
- give the 2.4GHz band SSID y, for all other G devices in my house, laptop and PDA.
- Set the 5GHz band to 40MHz channel width, and use WPA2 AES encryption
- Make sure my 4965AGN is in good range of the 5GHz signal


OR, will my 4965AGN only operate at 270Mbps if it's using BOTH bands at the same time? Isn't that what "dual band" wireless-n is meant to be anyway - two streams in order to get the faster speed?


OR, maybe the router would have to be set to 5GHz only? I wouldn't like that because I want my other devices to have access too...but I doubt this is the way it's done.
Hopefully we can figure all this out and make things clear.

 

"OR, maybe the router would have to be set to 5GHz only?"

so far thats the only way i have been able to get it stable 270, but that doesn't work for me either other devices are all G

 

Yeah, I've realised now that the only current way is to have the 5GHz as a separate "router" for 802.11n, and the 2.4GHz for b/g. Also, dual band merely means that the two separet bands allow for each band to go to its maximum throughput without any interference/clogging

Here's some ideas

- Why set 2.4Ghz band to 40MHz band? It is too congested on 2.4GHz and virtually no devices are made to operate at wide band in 2.4GHz. It may be causing unnecessary load. In fact, if you can ONLY have the 2.4GHz band set to b/g, and NOT n, that might improve things. Edit: oh, and try giving the two band completely different SSIDs!
- Try setting a different form of encryption on the 2.4GHz band (like WPA), since it is only the 5GHz band you need the WPA2 encryption on the full 270 speed.
- I think the problem lies in the router settings. Because I now know that both it and the 4965AGN are properly 802.11n Draft 2 compliant, they're not pre-n. They should be able to work together at 270 consistently.

I found some very helpful comments by a reviewer on newegg:
"Most problems with this router are because people don't understand how to set it up correctly (and i don't blame you, its pretty tricky)...." http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124262
That might help clear things up.

 

tried naming each there own and it did the same thing starts at 270 and drops to 130 or lower

 

C'mon man, I need to know you've tried all those things! Like setting 2.4GHz to b/g only (disabling n on that band altogether), and to 20MHz only. Also, have you tried going right up close to the router? And lastly, setting WPA (not WPA2) encryption for 2.4GHz band?
For your sakes, you should try it all out!

 

frenchglen,
I know you're just rtying to figure things out but you have made some assumptions....... lol

maybe you should go to the smallnetbuilder site and read the reviews on the dual band routers, esp the WRT600N.......... some very good information about it and it's perfomance...... WRT600N Review Link

 

Hey French I have tried every combination under the sun and it still is not stable i understand u are trying to help but c'mon man urself dont be so quick to assume we haven't tried certain settings i am looking for informative positive feedback not bashing, basically waiting for the right person to post there settings that are working i try new settings everyday but still no luck at anything stable above 130mbps

 

Sorry guys, I was getting impatient. Sorry bmw.

I guess I should just get the linksys, and if it doesn't get full speed with my 4965AGN, I'll consider a different wireless card. I'm starting to think the Intel might be the problem after all. There's a gigabyte pci-e mini card that's only $60, and
people on this thread have been showing how it gets full 300Mbps with a variety of 802.11n routers.

However post No. 10 on this thread showed that it was possible in his Vaio. Maybe driver/software could be the problem then? Wonder if we can get some sortof driver/software from sony...

 

anyone with this wifi card please list settings speeds and router gotta be a way to get high speeds and still run dual band dual radio router

 

hey bmwnick!!!!!!!!

I have the card, but not your router. I'm limited to 130mbps on my dlink 655. I get 300mbps on my other laptops w/ dlink n adapters. So, I'm not going to give more advise. except to look to the linksys forums for help

here's a thread to help you get started..........

http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/b...s_Routers&message.id=275&query.id=289911#M275

let us know what you come up with and be sure and post your own questions there if you don't find an answer....

ann

 

Thanks nobscot6, you've been very helpful! What you said in the other thread, that these routers may be firmware-upgradeable to full spec, is very interesting and could be good news in the long run. After reading all (three) threads I could find on their forums regarding 4965AGN + WRT600N, it seems that they're wanting firmware/driver updates for both/either the Linksys or the Intel card.

 

thanks frenchglen

i imagine it's the same everywhere--> if you don't have the same manufacturers adapters to match the router, you're not going to get 300mbps at this time.... maybe after the final N spec comes out in 09, the hardware will start playing better together............

 

Except maybe devices with the same chip, like atheros or something. Or, if you're lucky. Well so it sounds like most decent equipment would be worthwhile investments for now, but I don't think I can wait that long! I want 300Mbps now (which equals about 10MB/s throughput in the end anyway)...so I have to find something that works...

Another finding: this post shows that someone's thinkpad with the 4965AGN works at 270Mbps with WRT600N! So sony, and IMB laptops work. It MUST be driver issue. Or maybe an x64 driver issue, since both bmwnick and I are on x64 (IIRC). (bmw, maybe you could try installing an earlier intel driver and seeing that changes anything? OR find a branded driver or soemthing)

The other thing with me is I'm still deciding whether to even go with the Linksys or not...because I'm such a heavy user...I don't know if it would be better to wait for the d-link.

 

Look Plain and simple its the card not the router('s)......the card doesnt automatically go to 40mhz it switches back and fourth Intel or someone needs to make a firmware update/hack forcing 40mhz and we can get up 300mbps
and really when that happens this card can channel bond at 40mhz channels which basically means it can double to 600mbps

THIS IS THE ISSUE:
802.11n Channel Width:
Default setting = Auto
Other setting(s) = 20 MHz

The Auto setting will use 20 or 40 MHz depending on the wireless access point or router to which the router is connecting.
(HENCE THE UNSTABLE SIGNALS)

 

Don't you need more antennas for that though? And the certain dell laptops don't have enough antennas (Vostro 1700 has only two, I think...and it needs at least three...I think.could be completey off mark of course )
Gee, we live in the ice age of 802.11n, what a hassle if you want to try to get a decent speed!

 

WHAT???

I think this is actually what we need-->

 

what is that in the picture?

 

The firmware may help but if there are other networks in the area. It is required to play nice, so the 40mhz forced may not actually happen even if you tell too.

It's like a CB radio trying to reach some one who has got out of his range. So he hooks it up to a 2000w amp to over come the other signals. He over shoots is buddy but picks up someone up 2000 mi away. The FCC does not like this. Since the bandwidth is used by all, all must play nicely with each other.

Now he can hookup a beam antenna and concentrate the signal like the can photo above. These device do work and the distance will surprise you if a beam on each side is aimed correctly. Which can be done with laser these days.