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Want to upgrade my laptop's wireless card


hlw_rocer

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I currently have the lenovo Y510p and the wireless card it came with (intel n2230) is really unreliable from my room, and requires me to be much closer to the router for a stable connection. So, I was wondering what card would be a good choice to replace it with? I was looking at the intel 7260AC, but I have still not decided. Any ideas/opinions on cards is much appreciated and will help in my decision.

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The 7260AC looks very good, I am thinking about that too. Equally important is your Access Point, that needs to be a 802.11ac AP as well, right now I am eyeing the Apple Airport Extreme AC edition. The new 802.11AC has beam focusing technology and within the AP there may be as many as 8 antennas.

Another option is to use an external USB dongle with high gain antennas (For 2.4Ghz) or a good 5Ghz (Which can reach 450Mbps) which will work extremely well because not alot of users in that spectrum (less interference too, from Microwaves, Wireless Keyboards...etc.). I am using a Edimax EW7733UnD which is working quite well.

Another tip about Wifi networks are check around you who is using the same channel, if there are more than 3 networks in the same channel (e.g. 11) and their signal is stronger than yours, your network will slow down significantly. Think about moving to another channel or going to 5Ghz.

Have fun!

Zen

I currently have the lenovo Y510p and the wireless card it came with (intel n2230) is really unreliable from my room, and requires me to be much closer to the router for a stable connection. So, I was wondering what card would be a good choice to replace it with? I was looking at the intel 7260AC, but I have still not decided. Any ideas/opinions on cards is much appreciated and will help in my decision.
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  • 1 month later...
I currently have the lenovo Y510p and the wireless card it came with (intel n2230) is really unreliable from my room, and requires me to be much closer to the router for a stable connection. So, I was wondering what card would be a good choice to replace it with? I was looking at the intel 7260AC, but I have still not decided. Any ideas/opinions on cards is much appreciated and will help in my decision.

There's a better than good chance that changing your base station in some way will have a greater impact. It could be moving the location, changing to a better model (with a better radio chipset), or adding some higher gain antennas. If your base station doesn't have dual antennas, definitely go to a model that does.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm in the same situation! :) I have a y410p, and I'm planning on replacing it with the AC7260 from Intel. The only issue we have is that Lenovo has a whitelist of supported cards in the BIOS. That leaves you with two choices: Flash the stock BIOS with a modded version and swap out the cards, or buy a USB Wireless adapter. :(. Personally I'm going to flash because I could use the extra ports on the computer :P

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  • 4 months later...

Guys, the Y series from lenovo only has a 2.4GHz tuned antenna. If you use them with a radio capable of 5GHz operations line 11a, 11n in 5g or 11ac the performance on long distances will suffer. Just an FYI. close range is ok.

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The intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205, does NOT have Bluetooth built-in.

That is what im using... had a VERY hard time to get it to work a 300mbps tough!

IM not familiar with your laptop, but keep in mind when selecting a N WLAN card, is its a 2x2 card meaning you will need 2 antennas to have the full 300mbps and yes they are 2.4ghz tuned if you have them already.

I have 2.4ghz antennas and I see a GREAT range improvement while on 5ghz network. (my router is a dual band so it support the 5ghz).

As for your current situation, as they other suggest, download a network WiFi scanner and it will tell you what is being used in your area... what channel they use... and then pick one not or barely used... give it a try and if not, upgrade to 5ghz.

My two cents.

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  • 2 months later...
On 7/8/2014 at 1:37 AM, nnatski said:

Guys, the Y series from lenovo only has a 2.4GHz tuned antenna. If you use them with a radio capable of 5GHz operations line 11a, 11n in 5g or 11ac the performance on long distances will suffer. Just an FYI. close range is ok.

 

Yikes! Thanks for the info! I'm looking to upgrade my y500. While I don't have many issues with distance (I live in a small place), this is still good info...

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18 hours ago, hbar98 said:

 

Yikes! Thanks for the info! I'm looking to upgrade my y500. While I don't have many issues with distance (I live in a small place), this is still good info...

I upgraded my y500 with modified bios and it was worth all the work. It's lot faster rigth now.

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12 minutes ago, lol_xxx said:

I upgraded my y500 with modified bios and it was worth all the work. It's lot faster rigth now.

What card did you upgrade to? I have a 7260 waiting for an install.

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On 2/3/2016 at 6:08 AM, hbar98 said:

What card did you upgrade to? I have a 7260 waiting for an install.

 

Did you install the 7260, and how did it go?  I ordered a used one and it should be here Monday. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

If you need to reach a far router, well, you need an external radio with very high dpi antennas. Built-in cards and similar are pretty much the same in every notebook.

Consider also to change router, move furnitures to optimize the reach.

 

Edited by diegomelch
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