Replacing PCIe laptop wireless card

[VegasIP]

I need to replace my wireless adapter in my laptop. My current card is an Intel Wifi link 5100 agn, which is a PCI express half mini card.

How can I tell which replacement card will be compatible? My computer is:

Dell Studio 1555
Windows 7 Home Premium x64

 

[DELL SudheerK]

Hi VegasIP,
My name is Sudheer K and I work for the Social Media and Community Team at Dell.
Here are the few compatible cards for Studio 1555 which I can recommend you :
1. Dell Wireless 1397, 4312BG, Half Mini Card
2. Dell Wireless 1510, 4322BG, Half Mini Card
3. Dell Wireless 1515, Half Mini Card
4. Wireless 5100 Half Mini Card
5. Wireless 5300 Half Mini Card a/b/g/n
Please let me know if any information required.

Thanks
Dell_Sudheer_Kota
Dell Social Media Responder

 

[whs]

You can also use a WiFi dongle. That's less hassle.

 

[VegasIP]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I'm wondering, more generally, if there is a way to tell from the item description/specs whether a particular card will be compatible or whether I need to stick to a list generated by Dell such as the one Sudheer found for me.

 

[VegasIP]

Like for example the Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030:

Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 - Network adapter - PCI Express Half Mini Card - 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Bluetooth 2.1, Bluetooth 3.0 HS, Bluetooth 3.0 at TigerDirect.com

Problem is, I've been trying to fix problems with wireless by updating the driver for my Intel 5100, but this process is failing. So I thought it might be better to get a card that uses a different driver. Also, I'm of course looking for an option with a good value.

 

[BomberAF]

Like for example the Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030:

Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 - Network adapter - PCI Express Half Mini Card - 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Bluetooth 2.1, Bluetooth 3.0 HS, Bluetooth 3.0 at TigerDirect.com

Problem is, I've been trying to fix problems with wireless by updating the driver for my Intel 5100, but this process is failing. So I thought it might be better to get a card that uses a different driver. Also, I'm of course looking for an option with a good value.

You will find that the wireless adapters use different drivers.

You will want to use the latest card available as older mini cards were not designed for use with faster bb speeds, and they suffer from drop off is speeds.

They are also pretty easy to replace, if you go to the Dell website you can download a printable version of the instructions on how to replace each individual component in your laptop.

 

[VegasIP]

Thanks for your response. So are you saying that a wide range of adapters will be compatible (i.e. ones that are not on a list from Dell?) so that whatever is newer will be better?

 

[BomberAF]

Thanks for your response. So are you saying that a wide range of adapters will be compatible (i.e. ones that are not on a list from Dell?) so that whatever is newer will be better?

I am not saying that any will be compatible that are not specified as being compatible by Dell. What I am saying is get the latest card that Dell say is compatible, some of the cards have been around for many years, and don't work very well with fast BB connections. Their speed drops off, so is you have say a 50mb BB connection then you may find that you see it dropping off.

 

[DELL SudheerK]

Hi VegasIP,

I can also recommend you with the latest PCI express half mini card which is avaialble for now.

Card name: Wireless 1520 (11agn) WLAN Half-Height mini-Card
Technical specifications:
1. Interface (Bus) Type : PCI Express Mini Card
2. Data Link Protocol : IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n
3. Data Transfer Rate : 300 Mbps

If you find any updated card with the same form factor of PCI Express mini card, you can definitely try with that as well.

[FONT=&quot]Thanks[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Dell_Sudheer_Kota[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Dell Social Media Responder[/FONT]