What are the reasons why internet on a laptop could be slower than it should be?

This guy in the video talk about how t440s internet is very slow.
02 - Reviewing my Lenovo Thinkpad T440s (VEDA 2014) - YouTube

This would have never occurred to me about this device until I saw this review. I also thought about looking through the t440s 100+ page long thread but I quickly got lost. Alot of terms in it that I don't know.

All the reviews I read about it before was very positive. I'm looking at this laptop because it looks like the only kind with this large of a screen and such long battery life+replaceable battery.

1. What are the reasons why internet on a laptop could be slower than it should be?


2. What does average joe need to look for in a laptop specifications/descriptions to make sure the internet will not be slow? What terms do I need to understand?

 

Wireless card?


Sent from Space Gray design marvel of 2013

 

Make sure you are not far away from router and that wifi signal is good.

Sent from my C1905 using Tapatalk

 

Alright, first off, this is the "What Notebook Should I Buy?" section. If you want to ask about hardware, or software, or networking, we have subsections on NBR for those topics.

Anyway, onto the topic on hand. Disclaimer, I'm using cellular data on my phone right now and can't watch that video since I'm near my data cap. That said, some basic factors that could contribute to wireless issues on a laptop (and in general) would be the distance between the router and the wireless card in the laptop, any obstacles between those two (walls, rooms, etc), possible interference from other devices that emit EM radiation (microwaves, cordless phones, etc), what band you are using (5GHz has major problems going through walls, which 2.4GHz doesn't. Also, 5GHz's range is shorter), possible driver issues on the wireless card, possible firmware problems with the router, how many antennae the router and wireless card have (1x1, 3x3, etc), the channel that you're using could be crowded (channels 1, 6, and 11 are common defaults that people rarely change), and the last one I can think off before sleeping tonight would be how many devices are trying to use the same router.

 

Thread was moved to the networking and wireless section.

 

When you buy a laptop, what do you look for in the technical specifications that tell you the wireless internet will be good?

The only way I've found out wifi was bad was by chance through an odd review.

In other words I'm not asking about causes for slow internet after you've bought the device.

I"m asking when you are asking yourself "What notebook should I buy" how do you first buy a laptop that doesnot have wireless problems in the first place?

 

Alright, now that I'm using WiFi, I watched the link in the OP. I think the guy is exaggerating quite a bit here and extrapolating his experience (a sample of one) to "every laptop sold in the last few months or so". Also, that video was made in April, it's almost June, and I'm fairly sure newer drivers have been released since then. It could also be possible that he has a lemon wireless card and should get IBM (IBM handles Thinkpad X/T/W support) to replace the card for him.

As for researching a laptop's wireless, I'd look up the model of wireless card it uses (like "Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300") and then look up the specs from there (in that example, I'd go to Intel's website). As far as how it'd work in a certain laptop like the Thinkpad T440, I'd check out both user reviews and reviews on major tech sites (if they're out there) and see what people say, keeping in mind that people with negative experiences are more likely to post than people with positive experiences. Though if you're still somehow worried about Intel's wireless cards and/or drivers (personally, I never had a problem with any of them), there's always Realtek/Atheros cards (usually generically named such as "Thinkpad 1x1 wireless").

 

As far as I know this notebook uses Intel's 7260 card which is indeed a troublesome on 2.4GHz range. It works well on 5GHz but not on 2.4GHz.
Everything this guy says is indeed true - and even more than that because he never gets to throughput issues and dropping connections.

We have a good thread on this card in this very sub-forum.

 

Bummer.

So if I get this device I might have to open it up to change this thing called a "card" that has something to with internet?

Was really excited about this device too. Does anything else compare to this device in terms of battery life + swappable battery and 13+ inch screen and easy to read/view screen ports and at least an i5?

I just been looking around. And looking. There are so many ultrabooks out there but don't have swappable battery and ports or screen space.

 

the t440s can come with different wifi cards, if you bought it through lenovo website you should get the option to choose between few wireless cards other than the 7260

the choice are

1. Intel Single Band Wireless 7260BN with Bluetooth 4.0
2. ThinkPad Wireless 2 x 2 BGN with Bluetooth
3. Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AN with Bluetooth 4.0
4. Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AC with Bluetooth 4.0