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Dell Wireless Better Than Intel

post #1 of 27
3/10/05 at 1:43am
Thread Starter 
If anyone here is getting ready to order a Dell with an intel wireless vs a dell wireless, order the Dell (both are priced the same). I have a control test that supports my conclusion.

My Inspiron 8600 (built in October 2003) had a 1.7 pentium centrino with the Intel wireless. My son has an IBM thinkpad with the same chip and wireless.

I have had my 9200 for 6 days now and it has the 1450 Dell wireless. On the very same wireless network in my house, the intel wireless in both my Inspiron and my son's notebook loses the signal in my master bedroom. For almost two years, I could not use my notebook reliably in my bedroom.

The 9200 with the Dell wireless has never lost the signal in the same bedroom. I even set the 8600 and the 9200 side by side and sure enuff the 8600 went in and out on the signal and the 9200 always kept it.

I had read someone post before that the Dell had more range, but to me this is pretty good controlled test.

And its enabled me to read the news/ surf the net etc in bed next to the ol missus rather than duckin out to the other end of the house.

I posted this b4 buried inside a thread, but i figured it might be useful enough to make it its own post. It sure made this 9200 upgrade worth it for that alone. I had bought a repeater and done all sorts of things before to solve this problem, all to no avail til now
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post #2 of 27
3/10/05 at 1:56am
One possible way to test it is pop out the intel mini-pci card and put it in the 9200. Because it is possible that the 9200 may just have a better antenna.
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post #3 of 27
3/10/05 at 3:28am
Your results might be a bit hastey. I think the 9200 uses an external antenna like the 9300 does. It plugs into an antenna that is routed into your screen bezel and up the side, hence better position for receiving signal. That's probably the contrinbuting factor to your better reception.
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post #4 of 27
3/10/05 at 3:55am
This one I do know for sure; the 9x00 series and the XPS 2 do use the external antenna like mbman says, you can even see it in shots of the service manual. That is a much better antenna than the built in one in the 8x000 series.

I'm not advocating one over the other; I prefer my D-Link USB wireless anyway. I just don't think it's an issue of one chip being better than the other.
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post #5 of 27
3/10/05 at 4:05am
Does the i6000 use a external antenna too ?
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post #6 of 27
3/10/05 at 4:18am
Yes, the 6000 series does also. It appears to be common amongst the "new" styled dells.
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post #7 of 27
3/10/05 at 5:28am
With Dell's card it cannot be called Centrino anymore, right? here Intel said

Intel Centrino Mobile technology includes the following components:
Intel® Pentium® M processor
Mobile Intel® 915 Express chipset family or Intel® 855 chipset family
Intel® PRO/Wireless Network Connection Family

Get Dell's wireless card instead of Intel's one and your notebook will not belong to "Dell Centrino Based Notebooks"... Sure it's just a game of words. I do not really understand the new structure of forums on the board...
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post #8 of 27
3/10/05 at 5:39am
Centrino is a marketing gimic, to use the intel chipset, the intel 'm' processor, and the intel wifi. lots of manufacturers use an aftermarket wifi card though. It doesn't effect system performance compared to a 'true' fully centrino system by only having the cpu and chipset, so most people consider their system a centrino even if it has aftermarket wifi.
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post #9 of 27
3/10/05 at 10:37am
Yeah, I took the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG out of my 700m last night, and put in my trusty Dell TrueMobile TM1450a/b/g card. No more connection issues, no more dropped remote control sessions. I'm going to get Dell to replace the Intel card with a Dell one, since I'm still within my 21 days.
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post #10 of 27
3/10/05 at 11:38am
On my last purchase I went with Dell's 1400 adapter. However now that the newer Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 is out I believe this may be the better option. It is supposed to contain many refinements over their older adapter which I pulled from the following site http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx...ar1=172&var2=0:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Intel Centrino mobile technology with Intel®PRO/ Wireless 2915ABG Network Connection provides industry standard wireless LAN security support (such as 802.1X, WEP, WPA, WPA2, 802.11i, and AES)

Support for Cisco Compatible Extensions (such as LEAP, EAP-FAST and CKIP)

Intel® PROSet/Wireless software version 9 with:
• Intel Smart Wireless Solutions
• Improved network adapter user interface
• Single sign on
• Security Assistant
• Wireless troubleshooter
• Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) support
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Also I believe that Intel produces many more wirelss adapters than DELL's proprietory versions. Therefore if there are issues with the driver/software/comaptibility I suspect they will be noticed and addressed much more quickly than with the DELL proprietory adapters. INTEL has a lot riding on the CENTRINO name which seems to be a good incentive for them to produce a very competetive adapter.

Anyway - just my 2 cents. . . .
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post #11 of 27
3/10/05 at 11:43am
Agreed with Anettis
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post #12 of 27
3/10/05 at 11:52am
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0mp.htm#toc_90

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...furbished=&fe=

Patiently waiting on the Dell Wireless 1370 WLAN Mini-PCI to become avail in order to upgrade. BTW this Dell proprietary card actually contains the Broadcom chipset which is also used much more widely in Linksys, DCOM and several other manufacturers WiFi equipment than any Intel wireless chipset.
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post #13 of 27
3/10/05 at 11:54am
Well, I disagree with him. The Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG I got supports all that, and it doesn't show any more wireless APs than the Dell TrueMobile 1450 I have. The Pro/Set 9 software is not exclusive to the 2915 adapter, and works on the 2200BG. I had TONS of issues with the 2200BG, and last night I finally pulled it out and replaced it with my TM1450. Guess what? No connection issues, no more dropped remote control sessions, and the surfing appears to be a little FASTER than with the 2200BG.
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post #14 of 27
3/10/05 at 11:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by somms
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0mp.htm#toc_90

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...furbished=&fe=

Patiently waiting on the Dell Wireless 1370 WLAN Mini-PCI to become avail in order to upgrade. BTW this Dell proprietary card actually contains the Broadcom chipset which is also used much more widely in Linksys, DCOM and several other manufacturers WiFi equipment than any Intel wireless chipset.
What's the 1370 got that the 1300 and 1350 don't? I couldn't see any differences, really...
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post #15 of 27
3/10/05 at 11:58am
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...mp.htm#toc_102

The Dell Wireless 1470 Dual Band WLAN Mini-PCI is right around the corner as well.
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post #16 of 27
3/10/05 at 11:58am
@somms: Yah, i didn't see any major difference other then it did not support "a" band wifi.

@hotstuff: That's awesome it works better for yah, maybe certain cards work better with certain access points/routers and such?
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post #17 of 27
3/10/05 at 12:05pm
I realize that DELL doesn not actually make there own wireless chipset and they are thus using a commonly avaiable one. However INTEL designed their new wireless adapter to be an integral part of the Centrino architecture. Sure a lot of that is marketing hype, but in reality their engenering team that designed the wireless adapter probably has clear access to the engenerring teams that designed the Dothan CPU and the Sonoma chipset. So one could argue that they may have a little bit of an advantage in the design process.

It may also have a lot to do with the wireless router you are connecting to - it seems that if the wireless router and wireless adapter are both using chipsets from the same manufacturer and even from the same product line - then that could lead to the most ideal configuration.
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post #18 of 27
3/10/05 at 12:05pm
When I had the i6000 (for a short time), I was getting regular drop outs. I was using the Intel 2200.

I then got the Intel 2915 inside a 9200. At this point, I have not had any of the problems associated with my i6000 configuration.
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post #19 of 27
3/10/05 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by somms
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...mp.htm#toc_102

The Dell Wireless 1470 Dual Band WLAN Mini-PCI is right around the corner as well.
But what's NEW in it? As opposed to the TM1450? I do not see ANY differences!
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post #20 of 27
3/10/05 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by anettis
I realize that DELL doesn not actually make there own wireless chipset and they are thus using a commonly avaiable one. However INTEL designed their new wireless adapter to be an integral part of the Centrino architecture. Sure a lot of that is marketing hype, but in reality their engenering team that designed the wireless adapter has much better access to the engenerring teams that designed the Dothan CPU and the Sonoma chipset. So one could argue that they may have a little bit of an advantage in the design process.

It may also have a lot to do with the wireless router you are connecting to - it seems that if the wireless router and wireless adapter are both using chipsets from the same manufacturer and even from the same product line - then that could lead to the most ideal configuration.
I posted the information below in another thread. No one has been able to answer it. When you directly compare the Intel cards vs. the Dell cards, there's not much difference.

-------------------------------------

In my i8500, I have the Dell TM1450; I got it from Dell for $29 shipped (called spare parts and that was the price they quoted me; it was a refurbed card, meaning it was a system pull. Works great.)

In my new i700m, I have the Intel PRO Wireless 2200. I mainly got it since I wanted the "Centrino" certification (sticker + boot BIOS logo)

From the Dell webiste, here's how they compare:

Dell Wireless 1450: TX peak: 1000mW; RX peak: 1200mW; Idle (associated): 740mW; Radio Disabled: 20mW

Intel PRO Wireless 2200: TX peak: 1450mW; RX peak: 850mW; Idle (associated): 80mW; Radio Disabled: 60mW

So, the Intel card has a higher TX peak, but also has a higher Radio Disabled. The TM1450 has a higher RX peak and Idle (associated).

Doesn't that mean that when the Radio is disabled, the Intel card will burn the battery faster?

But then again, which would use less battery overall? The numbers seem to say either will burn battery more in some cases, less in others. I thought the Intel cards, when part of a Centrino setup, enabled longer battery life?

I don't really like the Intel wireless utility, I prefer the Dell one. Plus, the icon for the Intel looks funny (little "fan shaped") vs. the Dell "bars of power", which are easier for me to read.

I'm debating pulling the Intel card and installing the TM1450 in my 700m...I just want the one that gets the best signal, while using the least battery life.
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