Replacing Realtek WLAN

Hi,

I'm looking to replace the Realtek RTL8723BE WLAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC in my notebook.

What replacement would be my best option?

I had an Intel 7260 before in my Acer V7 laptop and it seemed to work well.

Thanks.

 

Well if a 7260 worked fine in your setup (with your router at home and/or work etc) than I see no reason to experiment with different cards.

I wouldn't normally recommend a 7260 (even though - or rather because - I own one) but if you know for sure that it causes no problems in places where you used to use your v7 than I would stick with it.

 

Is there a card out there that is recommended highly?

I know of the 7260's issues as a former owner, but yes, it never did affect me much if any at all, but I would like to see the other options out there.

 

There's nothing really interesting among new cards but Intel 6200 (mind you - not 6230) is an extremely good card.
Dual band 300mbps 802.11n, extremely stable and reliable.

Intel 6300 is as good as 6200 in that respect but it makes no sense unless you have three antennas and a three stream router - which most people - don't making 6300 effectively a 6200 (so you might as well buy a 6200 to begin with).

 

I'm going to try out the Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac half mini card that I purchased yesterday at a slightly cheaper price than the 7260AC. ($30 against $33) I don't have an AC router yet but I wanted to get the Broadcom Bluetooth 4.0 to support newer Bluetooth devices since the original Broadcom 2.1 that my laptop has don't support the newer devices well. Intel Bluetooth installs a bunch of services and startup programs needed for functionality while the Broadcom only has 1 process and it only takes ~5 MB RAM.

 

Did you get the AzureWave AW-CE123H
Amazon.com: AzureWave Broadcom BCM94352HMB 802.11/ac/867Mbps WLAN + BT4.0 Half Mini PCI-E: Computers & Accessories

BTW,I have a Netgear R6300 LNIB if you're interested

 

Yep. I'd like to test this card at 5 Ghz N and more importantly, Bluetooth 4.0. How much do you sell your R6300?

 

Hi,

I took a look at the Intel 6200 that you mentioned. I like what I see from the specsheet on the Intel ARK website, but I would like to retain the option of bluetooth functionality.

In that case, I've been looking at the Intel 6230 and the Intel 6235. Is there any reason the 6230 is not a good card? That's the interpretation that I got from your previous post.

In addition, are there any differences between the 6230 and the 6235? The only difference seems to be that the 6235 has support for Intel Smart Connect.

This is the 6235 that I'm currently looking to purchase - G¸¶ÄÏ - [´çÀϹ߼Û]Intel Centrino Advanced-N6235ANHMW£¯ÀÎÅÚ¼¾Æ®...

In addition, another ad with similar price - http://item2.gmarket.co.kr/Item/detailview/Item.aspx?goodscode=525387499

Could any of these be fake judging from the pictures?

Thanks

 

Intel 6230 has unsolved issues that Intel blames on notebook manufacturers at the same time claiming they can't replicate the issue.
6230 has very limited throughput at times - probably caused by Bluetooth (that uses 2.4GHz band just like Wi-Fi).

Nothing that I said about 6200 applies to 6230 - to the contrary - I wouldn't recommend it.

As for 6230 vs 6235 there are indeed almost no differences between the two.

 

Hmm, so in that case, my best option is probably the 6200 for strictly WiFi? What would you suggest for both WiFi and BT?

I'm currently leaning towards the 6200 since I only use BT once in a blue moon, but it was just a function I would like to have incase I ever needed it. However, I guess I could simply get a mini-BT USB adapter down the road.

What's the difference between 6200 and 6205?

Would that compatibility translate to different performance speeds?

 

It's hard to tell, honestly. You could indeed use a USB adapter for BT but it's not a neat solution - you'd have to remember to take it with you and I'm sure the day you'd actually need one would be the day you forgot to take it with you...

Intel 6230 is a bit of a gamble - quite a lot of people have no issues at all with it while others do suffer all the time. These are different notebooks and drivers - nothing that would make it easy to pin-point. You might take this gamble if you feel like it - preferably from a seller that allows returns.

 

In this case, I think I'll just get the 6200 or 6205.

Would that compatibility translate to different performance speeds?

EDIT: Judging from the photos in the ad, is this a genuine 6205? http://item2.gmarket.co.kr/Item/det...ord_seqno=4787592944&search_keyword=????+6205

I looked up the PN number and it looks to be Lenovo branded. My only concern is the location of the 23S and SPS code written on the front. Google shows versions where it's located differently on the front.

 

I didn't see any significant differences between 6200 and 6205 in terms of performance.

On another - important - note. Do not buy a card meant for Lenovo notebooks. These cards work only in Lenovo notebooks or in any notebook as long as it's working under Linux.
Don't ask me why - I never got around to checking it - but the fact of the matter is that Lenovo cards won't work (unless you have a Lenovo notebook to begin with)

 

Oh, I see. I totally didn't notice it in the ads.

Have you had any experiences with engineering samples? One ad for a 6205 states that it's an ES, but free exchange if it doesn't work well.

All the regular 6200/6205s seem to be over $50, whereas ES'es are about $35. Regular 6235s are $35.

Since my choices are limited, I might end up biting for the 6235 and hope the throughput issues don't show up if I have BT disabled.

 

Why would 6200 be more expensive than 6230? I know it's better but hardly anyone knows that - most people would assume 6230 is better since it has BT on it

I'm not a fan of ESes - it might work fine, it might not. I'd rather buy a finished product myself.

Going with a 6230 that you can return seems like a good idea. Just be sure you put it through its paces in the time you have to decide if you should keep it - issues don't always show at first glance.

 

Thank you. I'll let you know how it goes when it arrives in the mail.

Reception right now with my RTL8723BE is horrible..