[Clocks]

So, one of the modifications I wanted to make was installing an Intel wireless card because i have a REALLY bad history with broadcom drivers on several OSes.

I couldn't find anything on these forums that would indicate real performance gains from installing an Intel card and going the extra mile to replace the stock antennae with 3 Tyco Antennae. Mine is the camera-less Mini 9 version so I could put the third antenna in the top-middle placement above the LCD

Using WirelessMon, I ran a baseline with completely stock hardware under Windows 7.

802.11g network
AP is a Actiontec GT701-WG with no additional antenna
Channel 3 (Only AP in range on that channel)

AP placement is in basement with servers. Connection point is office. Shortest straight line distance between the testing points transfixes a floor, two interior walls, and a hollow aluminum HVAC vent.

Stock Broadcom Wifi with Stock Antenna:


"Intel 5300" with 3 Tyco Antennae:


Both were weeknight tests, albeit with slightly different local times. As you can see the new card/antenna configuration yields approximately 15% or so signal gains on average. Note that this is pretty much apples to apples signal improvement using 802.11g, not even using 802.11n or something. My MIMO 802.11n hardware arrives tomorrow



A word on caution buying New Laptop Wifi Cards via Ebay
I am a computer professional (as are many of us here) with experience including consulting in information security. I say this so you understand that I am FAR from a novice deal with both online purchasing and network/internet based threats and scams.

I went out to buy an Intel 5300. I was careful.
US based sellers only.
Seller with 99.5% feedback or higher only.
Seller with No feedback of any kind mentioning keywords like counterfeit, wrong MAC, not recognized, etc.
Seller with other non-intel and non-computer-hardware listings in addition to the auction I am interested.
Seller with multi-year history on ebay.
Buy from an action somewhere mid-range on the price point. Avoid the low balls.
Carefully inspect auction picture to ensure is non-professional-looking picture of actual intel 5300. Compare to known-good sources.

Even so the wireless card I received I suspect to be counterfeit. MAC address on label does not match reported MAC. I checked right after installation. They at least set the right vendor ID but the device ID portion is a mis-match. I then got out some software and played with it. Some register mis-matches.

Drivers recognize the card as does Intel's identification utility (not the web based one but the offline GUI). Hardware placement (chip size, orientation, positioning) is identical to expected. So far functions as expected. It could be on the level but there are enough signs here that it makes me suspicious. Ill know within a couple days. Some more tests and a few phone calls pending.

Be careful out there. There are so many ways to get scammed these days (including US based fences for Singapore or hong kong produced knockoffs as I suspect could be the case here) that if you aren't careful and don't know what to look for, you might not realize in time to seek recourse.

[holmes4]

There are a fair number of us who installed the Intel 5100/5300 and saw signfiicant wireless performance gains. I certainly did - the stock Broadcom card was almost unusable for me whereas the Intel 5300 is fine.

I agree that there seem to be a lot of suspicious Intel cards out there. I got lucky and managed to order one from Amazon while they still carried it, and it is fine.

[anguish]

Interesting results. I'm looking at going with an Atheros card though, due to certain work related requirements. Still good to see those results. Not really surprising.

[Clocks]

Originally Posted by anguish

I'm looking at going with an Atheros card though, due to certain work related requirements.

Out of curiosity, if you can say, is it related to the driver support on other OSs, better promiscuous/raw RF mode, or just workplace helpdesk/support related?

[anguish]

Promiscuous. And packet injection if it supports it (I haven't checked yet). If it helps limit what I have to lug around with me, I'm all for it.

[Clocks]

Originally Posted by anguish

Promiscuous. And packet injection if it supports it (I haven't checked yet). If it helps limit what I have to lug around with me, I'm all for it.

Get the AR9285 chipset or something RALink based.

Remember that much of packet injection capability is driver/manufacturer based

[SlvrScoobie]

so how can you tell if the one you got is a real intel chip or not?
i have 2 i got off ebay i thought were legit, but i had no idea if the card worked, it still might not be a true intel chip

[Clocks]

Originally Posted by SlvrScoobie

so how can you tell if the one you got is a real intel chip or not?
i have 2 i got off ebay i thought were legit, but i had no idea if the card worked, it still might not be a true intel chip

In addition to verifying register responses, in my case, I have some contacts I can ask about listed serial numbers, etc.

[Heed]

An easy way id to see if the MAC address on the bottom of the card is the same as the one shown in your OS. My card has just arrived from China and the MAC is different. Hence it's a fake. It works fine with good range but won't work in Backtrack 4 which is why I bought it. Good job it was cheap!

[anguish]

What'd you end up nabbing, Heed? I've got one on the way from China as well, and I'm suspecting the same, but it's also going to be cheap as well.

At least I've got my Alfa, which isn't.