need a solid 802.11n adapter for my X220 laptop

Discussion in 'Networking & Security' started by PersianE46, Mar 8, 2015.

  1. PersianE46

    PersianE46 n00bie

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    I have a great signal from my asus rt-ac68, however, my x220 doesn't support N. Any suggestions for wireless usb adapters? I would just bridge another router but I really don't see a point when my signal is already great.
     
  2. diizzy

    diizzy 2[H]4U

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    https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thr...BIOS-1-39-3G-WWLAN-removal?pid=60248#pid60248
    http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/videos/pd022685

    That said, all X220 do support 11n
    http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/videos/pd022685
    http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X220

    ...so I'm going to assume that you mean 11ac (well, in my experience the Intel Centrino adapters are pretty bad if signal is slightly weak but they still do 11n). The only decent (at least for now) adapter that fits (you have the small form factor only) is the rather old Intel 7260 11ac card. Some swear by Intel's wireless cards but I'm not really that impressed in general. If you want a solid 11n go for Atheros AR9382, works great and did perform at lot better than the Intel Centrino card I had earlier in my laptop.
    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro....TRS0&_nkw=atheros+ar9382&ghostText=&_sacat=0

    miniPCIe cards works a lot better than USB adapters in general unless you're getting some industrial grade stuff ;-)
    //Danne
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2015
  3. /usr/home

    /usr/home [H]ardness Supreme

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    Do note you can't willy-nilly stick in any PCI-E card in Lenovo laptops. They use a BIOS whitelist to only allow certain cards. You either need to get a USB adapter, a PCI-E card that is whitelisted, or mod the BIOS to allow any card.
     
  4. PersianE46

    PersianE46 n00bie

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    I really appreciate all the help. I've discovered that my 802.11 b/g/n wireless adapter does not detect 5ghz networks, only 2.4ghz, which is why I was confused. My issue is my wireless security camera system interferes with the 2.4ghz channels, but not the 5ghz channels. I'm looking for a compatible PCE-E card or usb adapter that allows me to connect to 5ghz channels. Thanks again.
     
  5. diizzy

    diizzy 2[H]4U

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    @ /usr/home and PersianE46
    Read the first link? :)
    //Danne
     
  6. PersianE46

    PersianE46 n00bie

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  7. GotNoRice

    GotNoRice [H]ardForum Junkie

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    I'm not familiar with that particular adapter, but one thing you might consider is looking for an 802.11ac adapter. 802.11ac is a 5Ghz-only specification, so ALL 802.11ac adapters are guaranteed to work on 5Ghz, and not as an afterthought either. Most if not all 802.11ac adapters can work with 2.4Ghz also, but all connections on 2.4Ghz are 802.11n.
     
  8. diizzy

    diizzy 2[H]4U

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    @ PersianE46
    If the BIOS is patched correctly and as I understand only Wireless LAN cards so yes, that should work but as I haven't tried I cannot guarantee it works. Be aware that flashing your laptop may render it bricked if done incorrectly or if the bios is bad.
    //Danne
     
  9. PersianE46

    PersianE46 n00bie

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    successfully removed the whitelist from my bios, now just awaiting the wireless card. crossing my fingers it'll work
     
  10. diizzy

    diizzy 2[H]4U

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  11. PersianE46

    PersianE46 n00bie

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    works flawlessly. there's a dramatic improvement in performance. thanks for all your help diizzy
     
  12. diizzy

    diizzy 2[H]4U

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    Good to hear that it turned out better than before
    //Danne