Notebook/Laptop 11.b upgrade to 11.g

polkatese · May 2005

Polkies computer gurus,

I have a Compaq x1000 that has 11b built-in, that I am looking to upgrade to 11g. I have the service manual, and it looks very straight forward. But, before I do that, I have a couple questions:

Is it worthed? ie. replaced the built-in one, instead of getting the PC Card (PCMCIA) route? (btw, one major turn-off is having to remember to take it out every time I packed the notebook, since it is protruding on the side)

Do you have a good source of these parts? most of the regular computer outlet don't carry adapter parts for notebooks. I need one that is compatible with Intel 2100 B3 mini PCI version (this one is a b standard.

TIA

masanz1 · May 2005

i didn't really notice that much of a difference when I changed from b to g. Actually my b setup seemed to have less issues

gregit · May 2005

Be sure that the g-card is compatible with your laptop. My wife bought a Belkin Pre-N router and network card for her desktop PC so I got a Pre-N notebook card for my Dell Latitude D600.

Seems that the Dell locks up every time I insert the network adapter...both Belkin and Dell say it's an incompatability issue and there's nothing to be done.

The new router still makes a heck of a difference using my internal b-card. 4.5 - 5 Mps as opposed to the 2.5 - 3 I was getting.

btw...this TCP optimizer program seem to increase speed somewhat. http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

polkatese · May 2005

thanks for the feedback, guys. Unless I can get an OEM g mini PCI that's compatible, I guess sticking out with the built-in b would be ok. I was just trying to see if I can enabled WPA-PSK security, and whether it's really make any difference, compared to WEP 128.

gregit · May 2005

fwiw....., i was unable to use WPA. i had to stick with WEP 128.

polkatese · May 2005

that was what I am afraid of. So far, wep 128 is very stable, but with all the hoopla and hype about WPA-PSK supposedly better encryption, I was tempted. I am running the router mixed-mode, since the desktops have been upgraded to 11g. thanks!

nadams · May 2005

Well, since you upgraded the desktops to G, you might as well upgrade the notebook to g, because your desktops are not seeing any improvement due to the fact that if one device is "B" on a "G" router, it pulls all the devices on that router down to "B".

Just a thought...

I have found that G is faster, but I think the range is adversely effected.

polkatese · May 2005

hence what I was thinking. I do need to wait for an upgrade firmware for my printserver to do WPA-PSK, though. Thanks for the advice.

gregit · May 2005

Originally posted by nadams
Well, since you upgraded the desktops to G, you might as well upgrade the notebook to g, because your desktops are not seeing any improvement due to the fact that if one device is "B" on a "G" router, it pulls all the devices on that router down to "B".

Just a thought...

I have found that G is faster, but I think the range is adversely effected.

not true, at least for the Belkin Pre-N product.....my wife's g based desktop connection is now is much faster than my b notebook. Her speed is not affected by the notebook being online at all...I even disabled the dual mode in the setup to dbl. check.

nadams · May 2005

Do you have the belkin pre-n with the three separate antennas? Each antenna distributes a separate network, one for b, one for g, and one for n

gregit · May 2005

yes I do...i did not know that. thx for the info.

Notebook/Laptop 11.b upgrade to 11.g

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