need to upgrade internal notebook wireless adapter

[Bandit1911]

Seems that the wireless N internal network adapter on my XPS 16 dell, that is a year old has begun to act up. It seems to work fine on b/g mode.

I'd like to put a new one or better one in. Which one should I go with?

The one I currently have is an intel centrino wireless N 1030. the laptop is a win 7 64 bit core i5 processor.

[JDay]

You'll need to order one from Dell. OEMs use a wireless card whitelist that only allows you to use cards that identify as coming from them. If the laptop has 3 antenna cables in it I would go with an Intel 6300.

[the86d]

Really they (Dells) are compatible with proprietary cards exclusively?!

[JDay]

Really they (Dells) are compatible with proprietary cards exclusively?!

The cards aren't proprietary, they just report to the system that they are OEM branded. If the system doesn't see an OEM card from the system manufacturer it will not allow you to use the card. You can find OEM cards on eBay for cheap, just make sure you get one that is an option with your system.

[bg]

I didn't know Dells were like that. I replaced an Atheros wifi card
that was in an Acer 5315 with an Intel 4965AGN. Loaded the driver and
it works pretty well. Too bad you couldn't go for one. Got mine new
from eBay for like 12.00 or so..

[the86d]

The cards aren't proprietary, they just report to the system that they are OEM branded. If the system doesn't see an OEM card from the system manufacturer it will not allow you to use the card. You can find OEM cards on eBay for cheap, just make sure you get one that is an option with your system.

I will not recommend a Dell to ANYONE ever again... WOW!
Industry standard cards, or no sale is how I see it.

With all the HP notebooks that I see from my user base (we check employee's rigs out for free...), HPs seem to die AS SOON AS THE WARRANTY IS UP on the economy notebooks they all seem to buy, and this is for the last few years!

[shooterfpga]

ive never recommended dell or hp. its always been fujitsu, ibm or acer.

[the86d]

ive never recommended dell or hp. its always been fujitsu, ibm or acer.

Fujitsu drives are the 1st to fail, always.

I have personally had better luck with Gateway. Hell, I have some PIII, and 1st gen P4 Gateways that still chug away running Slackware Linux, and other distros.

Dell and HP in the past few years tend to loose function of the mainboard with no rhyme or reason. The last Acer I looked at for a friend, had the same "just won't power on" issue too.

The Lenovo notebooks we have are pretty solid, VERY few issues.

[shooterfpga]

Fujitsu drives are the 1st to fail, always.

I have personally had better luck with Gateway. Hell, I have some PIII, and 1st gen P4 Gateways that still chug away running Slackware Linux, and other distros.

Dell and HP in the past few years tend to loose function of the mainboard with no rhyme or reason.

everything i own has to have linux on it. even my phone has linux within linux running the distro off my sdcard via vnc. =)

[JDay]

I will not recommend a Dell to ANYONE ever again... WOW!
Industry standard cards, or no sale is how I see it.

FYI, the cards are all standard but EVERY major OEM uses these blacklists. So unless you do not want to own a laptop in the future there is no way around this. However, if you look on the MyDigitalLife forums you may be able to find a firmware for your laptop that has the whitelist removed. If you cannot find one on there you can request it.

[the86d]

Maybe I am just lucky, and have never dealt with this issue...

Then again, I own no newer notebooks.