Upgrading wireless laptop card? +rep

[Infiniti]

So I want to upgrade the wireless card in my laptop. I was planning on just buying a new laptop over Black Friday/Cyber Monday; but my car was totaled in a crash (their fault) so I had to use all of my extra money on a down payment for a new one (no regrets, my Infiniti is nice AF). Thus being, I don't have the extra money for a new computer and seeing as I mainly just use this one for homework, I don't NEED to go out and buy a new one.

My only complaint with this laptop is the internet speed. I pay for 75mbps and can usually get 70-90 with my phone and my brothers laptop, but I can only get 30-45 with my laptop. I came to the conclusion it's probably the wireless card and I saw they don't cost much compared to a new set up.

So my question is, which card is compatible with my laptop?

I've did a little research, but figured I'd ask here since a lot of you guys know your shit when it comes to this stuff.

My current card is the Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n and my laptop is a Dell M5030, AMD Athlon(tm) II P360 duel-core processor, 4gb ram, win7 (Don't hate, it works still xD)

I really want one that can support my 5ghz router and can also take advantage of Xbox One's new Wireless Display feature (Miracast). I stream content often on my laptop, but it only has a 15pin vga and not an hdmi port, so I don't hook it up to my tv (I'd buy an adapter, but I was told it wouldn't transfer the sound and I'd need a more expensive adapter, which at that point I'm at the cost of the wireless card).

Anyways, sorry for the long thread for a likely simple answer, just trying to give you guys a good description of what I have and what I'm looking for. Any and all help is appreciated :)

[VitaminX]

The maximum throughput (speed) possible for this wireless network adapter is 150 Mbps. Agreed, Atheros isn't the best network card available, but tweaking your router will probably do the trick.

Did you try changing the frequency on your router for example?

[Infiniti]

The maximum throughput (speed) possible for this wireless network adapter is 150 Mbps. Agreed, Atheros isn't the best network card available, but tweaking your router will probably do the trick.

Did you try changing the frequency on your router for example?

Not entirely sure what you mean. I have the 2.4 and 5.0 options (obviously) but I'm not sure how to tweak them. I'm also wanting to do the wireless streaming as well which is another reason for the upgrade.

[VitaminX]

Not entirely sure what you mean. I have the 2.4 and 5.0 options (obviously) but I'm not sure how to tweak them. I'm also wanting to do the wireless streaming as well which is another reason for the upgrade.

Well, you could try Googling ''how to change channel of X-router''. X router being the brand/model you have at home.
''If you and your neighbor are both using the same or nearby network channel for your wireless network, your wireless signals can clash, resulting in interference that can slow down your network.

To make matters worse, many wireless products in the U.S. ship with a default Wi-Fi channel of 6. This means there’s a strong chance that your wireless network is using the same channel as all of your neighbors.''

What you could do, is download InSSider, check which channels are used in your area, and try to use a different one. Usually this should work for quite a bit.

For wireless streaming, I'd say upgrade, but I don't have a good suggestion on which card to get, so I can't help you on that. Good luck!

[Infiniti]

Well, you could try Googling ''how to change channel of X-router''. X router being the brand/model you have at home.
''If you and your neighbor are both using the same or nearby network channel for your wireless network, your wireless signals can clash, resulting in interference that can slow down your network.

To make matters worse, many wireless products in the U.S. ship with a default Wi-Fi channel of 6. This means there’s a strong chance that your wireless network is using the same channel as all of your neighbors.''

What you could do, is download InSSider, check which channels are used in your area, and try to use a different one. Usually this should work for quite a bit.

For wireless streaming, I'd say upgrade, but I don't have a good suggestion on which card to get, so I can't help you on that. Good luck!

Thanks for all of that. I switched channels, but haven't ran a speed test yet. saw no difference. +rep for you good sir for helping though :)


I am still interested in knowing what upgraded wireless card will work in my laptop. Or at least some more insight other than basic googling that can get me in that direction. lol

[raithi]

I use some awesome external wifi adapters for pen testing, the alfa awus036h and nha, they are bgn, with an atheros chip set and are capable of pushing raw packet data. It comes with some crazy drivers where you can pump the txpower up to 30dbm. I built a bi-directional antenna and got an effective transmission range of just over 2 miles on a clear day with no obstruction.

[Infiniti]

I use some awesome external wifi adapters for pen testing, the alfa awus036h and nha, they are bgn, with an atheros chip set and are capable of pushing raw packet data. It comes with some crazy drivers where you can pump the txpower up to 30dbm. I built a bi-directional antenna and got an effective transmission range of just over 2 miles on a clear day with no obstruction.

Definitely not looking for that range in a 2 bed room apartment. xD I like the idea though. I assume using an external would allow me to use the wireless display feature on xbox? Or would that still be transmitted through my original card? It's a cheaper alternative so I'm all for that. :)

[raithi]

An external is its own separate entity from your internal card, with its own channels and drivers and such, the alfas are very function rich in the amount of settings you can fuck with. You can run them in either infrastructure or ad-hoc mode, but yes I would assume the wireless display feature would work.