Upgrading to 802.11n, which NIC should I get?

I currently have a Vostro 1400 with the Dell 1390 802.11g NIC. I just got a new DLink DIR-655 router so I want to get a 802.11n NIC. I narrowed my choices to the Intel 4965AGN and the Dell 1505 because those seem to the be 2 officially supported NICs for the Vostro 1400.

I understand that the 4965AGN will never get 300Mbps speeds because my router only supports 2.4GHz and I'm totally fine with that. Aside from that, is there any reason why I would want to get the 1505 over the 4965AGN? The 4965AGN seems to be a lot cheaper than the 1505 on ebay.

Also, are there any other real life experiences you might have had that would cause you to tell me to steer clear of either one and just go with another brand? If so, which one?

Thanks!

 

Dell wireless cards are unlocked, so you can run any mini PCIe wireless card in them (HP & Lenovo are locked). Get the Intel one, the Dell 1505 wirless is either a cheap Broadcom chip or a Marvell one.

 

Personaly, Id go for the intel.

 

Thanks for the quick responses, I'm inclined to go with the Intel as well, but I'm still wondering why they are so much cheaper on ebay than the Dell 1505. I see a lot of 4965AGN for $19 when most Dell 1505 are over $30.

EDIT: After closer inspection, most of the Ebay $19 4965AGNs are being sold from China. Makes me a little wary of bidding on those auctions...

 

Why only Intel 4965? Why not straight to Intel 5300?

 

Because the 4965AGN and Dell 1505 are the only two that seem to be officially supported by the Vostro 1400 according to the driver download section on Dell's website. But if the 5300 definitely works with the Vostro 1400, and works well, I don't have anything against looking into that as well.

 

You definitely can use Intel 5300 for your Vostro. You don't have to rely on Dell driver, cause AFAIK, even if you eventually get 4965, Dell Intel driver for it is also from Intel. Currently my Inspiron Mini 9 is using Intell 5100 which is not on Dell Inspiron Mini 9 driver's list. I download it directly from Intel.

With 5300 you'll get the full potential of 802.11n with DIR-655 that you're about to buy.

 

The Vostro 1400 has the Mobile PM965 chipset which was originally designed for the Centrino Duo/Pro platform which includes the 4965AGN. The 5300 is part of the Centrino2 platform. I'm just afraid that there might be some hardware or driver incompatibilities between the 5300 and the PM965 chipset. I've read on other forums with fair certainty that the 5300 does not work with many (if not all) i945 chipsets. This could just be a driver issue, but either way, I don't want to get a 5300 and have it be incompatible with the Vostro 1400.

Has anyone actually used a 5300 on a Vostro 1400 or similar PM965 platform with successful results?

 

Look at my signature, I'm currently using Intel 5100 and 5300 for my Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Studio 1735 which infact none of their chipsets are part of Centrino 2. Mini 9 has Intel 945GSE and Studio 1735 has the same PM965 chipset as your Vostro.

Beside these two, I also own Fujitsu LifeBook S6410G which has Intel 4965AGN. And I'm planning to swap its wireless card with 5300 or maybe 5350 (WiMAX/WiFi card).

As for the driver, the same installation file which I downloaded from Intel website is actually being used for both 4965AGN in the Fujitsu and 5300 in Studio 1735. So, don't worry about any driver issue.

 

Well the intel 945 systems came with intel 4965 wireless cards before they were replaced with the intel 965. I know this because many HP's before the update to santa rosa came with 4965 cards for a permium price.

 

Word of advice do NOT get a i5xx0 card with a i945 chipset, you will most likely be dissapointed as they don't work together, as I have found out.

 

My Dell Mini 9 is using intel 5100 and it has 945 chipset. I don't have any major complaints or what so ever, only that it often drops speed from 270Mbps to 130Mbps. But from what I've learnt, this is not 945 fault. It's common for 5100, even when it is installed as part of Centrino 2 platform.

As for me, 130Mbps is still okay. At least I can have faster connection compared when still using stock Dell Broadcom b/g card.

 

Thanks for all the input. I just went ahead and bought a 5300 off ebay. I'll post my results if anyone is interested!

 

Speak of the devil, the 5300 came in the mail today. Installed it and it worked right away, this is with Vista32bit btw. I used the drivers directly from Intel's website.
One issue I had with my DIR-655 router is that I used to have my laptops MAC reserved for the DHCP server. I had to release the old MAC and enter the new MAC address in the DHCP reservation list. Apparently, this confused the hell out of the router and I had to power off and power on the laptop to get it connected to the router again. Disabling and Enabling the NIC didn't seem to do it.

Anyway, like I said, everything is working well, I've gotten connection rates up to 270Mbps. The wifi LED on the Vostro 1400 works fine as well. Unless something else crops up, I'd say that the 5300 works fine with the Vostro 1400.

 

Great, glad it works. Which one did you get, full-height or half-height card?

I'm planning to get another 5300, but this time the full-height version (the one that I've already had is the half-height one). I've browsed ebay recently and seems like 5300 full-height cards available are all engineering samples.

So, what's yours?

 

Just curious, if I were to upgrade to an Intel 5300 on my MSI Wind (similar stuff and specs to the Mini 9, as posted here), it should theoretically work right?

 

It should work. But it'll be best if you add 1 more antenna since 5300 requires three antennas and (I presume) Wind only has two. Without the 3rd antenna, I guess 5300 will not be any different from 5100.

 

I got the full height. The screw hole that holds the mini PCIe cards in on the Vostro 1400 is designed for full height ones.

The one I got looks like a production one, it has a Toshiba part number on it, but it works in my Dell. Just in case, how can you tell if it's an engineering sample?

 

It's written clearly engineering sample on its label.

Would you mind telling me which ebay seller did you get it from?

 

Mine apparently is an engineering sample I must have overlooked it because I saw the Toshiba part number and automatically assumed it wasn't. Any bad news about these engineering samples?

 

There are claims that those engineering sample cards are the final version. But who really knows?

I actually have 2 version of 5300 half-height cards. The first one is the engineering one. I don't have any complaints when using this card at the beginning, though it has a unique behaviour as it blinks the wireless LED on my Dell Studio 17 when wireless traffics occur. I thought it's a plus cause with this I could see the wireless activities. But later on, I experienced few unwanted disconnects and it needed to be reset or rebooted in order to work again.

The second card is the one without engineering sample writing. This 5300 half-height card is claimed to be Dell parts. It behave as the stock Dell 1510 wireless-N card, which doesn't blink the wireles LED during wireless traffics and for these few days it gives solid performance. But I have to give it more time to really blame the previous engineering sample card of having disconnects since the new card has just been installed for few days.