Jsut checking if everything is okay with my laptop equipped with intel 5300 wifi card

[kevindd992002]

For these type of cards installed in a laptop, there are three antennas to it right? Three wires connected to it right? How will I know if all the wires are working? If I'm able to connect to my router at speeds greater than 54mbps (wireless N), can I assume that all three antenna wires have no defect?

Because when I opened my laptop I saw that one of the wires is designed such that it is sandwiched by the fan screw, making me think that it might be defective.

I just bought the latest version (v5) of the belkin n1 wireless router, and like my old linksys wrt300n v1, I'm being suddenly dropped of the network (although I'm still connected to it, just not receiving any packets, I can't even ping the router IP) when copying big files over the network. When I do surfing only (without any copying in the background), all is well, no disconnects and all.

When I'm connected at G-mode, everything is also fine even when I'm transferring files. Can this be related to the wire issue I've explained above?

Please help me. Thanks.

 

[thiggins]

The Intel 5300 card has three antenna connectors. Some notebooks, however, have only two antennas. But the card will work fine and operate at draft 11n speeds with just two. Just connect the two antennas to the two outer connectors on the card.

You problem is probably not related to the number of antennas, but an incompatibility between the Belkin router and Intel card. You might try enabling throughput enhancement (packet bursting) in the 5300's properties. Sometimes people also find that disabling WMM in the router helps.

 

[kevindd992002]

Ahh. So what is the use of three antennas?

If this is due to the incompatibility with Belkin, why do I also experience this exact problem with my old Linksys WRT300N?

Linksys told me that the throughput enhancement is for an environment for an environment where equal upload access between wireless clients is not desired. So does this mean if I turn on throughput enhancement, my upload will be higher than others?

Also, about the linksys wrt300n I've been using before, when I turn of the WMM setting in the router setup page, my laptop will be connecting up to 54mbps only, it won't have speeds greater than 54mbps even when actual transfers occur. This is when using dd-wrt though.

 

[thiggins]

Ahh. So what is the use of three antennas?

There is no simple answer for this. Draft 11n products can use many combinations of transmitters, receivers and streams. Suffice it to say that the third antenna is not required to get > 54 Mbps connect rates.

If this is due to the incompatibility with Belkin, why do I also experience this exact problem with my old Linksys WRT300N?

I didn't mean to imply that the problem was specifically with the Belkin router. 802.11n is still a draft standard. Despite what all the product manufacturers would like you to believe, all products still do not play wonderfully together.

Linksys told me that the throughput enhancement is for an environment for an environment where equal upload access between wireless clients is not desired. So does this mean if I turn on throughput enhancement, my upload will be higher than others?

Perhaps. Or perhaps it will cause frequent disconnects. You can only experiment and see what works best.

Also, about the linksys wrt300n I've been using before, when I turn of the WMM setting in the router setup page, my laptop will be connecting up to 54mbps only, it won't have speeds greater than 54mbps even when actual transfers occur. This is when using dd-wrt though.

WMM should have nothing to do with connect rate. But who knows what DD-WRT is doing.

 

[ynohtna]

I need to turn on WMM on my wrt610N router to acheive a 300mbps network connection.

Some deep searching I did found some linux guys talking about WMM and how it's required for 300mbps N.

 

[thiggins]

I need to turn on WMM on my wrt610N router to acheive a 300mbps network connection.

Some deep searching I did found some linux guys talking about WMM and how it's required for 300mbps N.

WMM is a form of wireless Quality of Service. It was around before draft 11n. It is not required to achieve draft 11n connect rates.

 

[kevindd992002]

Well, WMM "should" not interfere with the connection rate, but who knows what real world experiences might it give us. Besides, it's what we see, WMM turned off wouldn't let us connect at N speeds.

 

[kevindd992002]

@thiggins

how will I know if I'm utilising the three antennas that came with my laptop?

also, I've read that you've made the 5300 as the standard test module for some routers. When you are connected at N speeds, were you never disconnected from the network for any reason, did you not experience the same problem I was experiencing above? The thing is that I'm connected to the network but with no network access or whatsoever. I have to reconnect to the wireless network to achieve access again, and after a few hours it happens again.

 

[kevindd992002]

I just lost one of my antenna wires because it got cut off because it was sandwiched between one screw of the laptop fan. What can I do?

So should I just connect the two other wires to TR1 and TR2 (two outside connectors of the module)?

Currently, the one connected to the two antennas are TR2 and TR3 (middle connector of the module), and I am still able to connect to the network. Are the three antennas built in the laptop all of the same kind?

What can I do to repair the wire that had been cut off? Is it still necessary?

 

[thiggins]

I think I have already answered the question about two antennas.

I have not experienced any problem with disconnects. But I don't use the products over the long term. I do run a one hour minimum full-speed test in both directions simultaneously before I start testing. I have not seen disconnects.

I have seen reports that say setting the router to a fixed channel instead of Auto can stop disconnects. You might try that.

 

[kevindd992002]

My N speeds reaches only up to 144 Mbps now that I've lost one antenna. Before the wire got cut, my speeds were averaging at 270 MBps and max at 300 MBps, so I can say that three antennas really have an effect.

What can I do to repair this?

Are antenna wires two-wire (with tip and ground) or just one simple stranded wire?

Because I tried to re-splice both ends of the cut wire using a solder but it did not work.

 

[ynohtna]

WMM is a form of wireless Quality of Service. It was around before draft 11n. It is not required to achieve draft 11n connect rates.

I know, it confuses me too but it's what I needed to do to get 300mbps sync.

I wish I kept that link that gave me this clue... Not to prove you wrong or something but more to understand better what's really going on!

 

[kevindd992002]

I just received the replacement antenna/antenna wire. I am quite doubtful that this is the correct replacement, could someone confirm it for me?

 

[jdabbs]

The replacement antenna doesn't have to look exactly like the original to function. You should primarily be concerned about whether the antenna fits in the laptop, and if it uses the correct connector.

 

[kevindd992002]

Even though the antenna seems to be slightly bent, is it OK? From communications, I know that the spacing from each metal part of the antenna and the size of the metal (corresponding to its wavelength) is very very important and crucial for the design of the antenna right? Can someone confirm this for me?