Hello-
I constantly see advertised laptops from manafacturers that say "Wireless
built in to _some_ models." I understand for the models that do have
wireless built in, there is some sort of antenna in the chasis. So, to
ask the question, do most manafacturers include the antenna in all models,
and simply omit the MiniPCI card? As in, should I be able to buy a laptop
sans "built-in ethernet" and add the MiniPCI card to take advantage of a
built-in antenna? Also, would this antenna be better than the
typical flat diversity antennas on a PMCIA card? Thanks.
Not all models have miniPCI (the Dell L400 that I'm typing on, for instance).
For the models that do have "built in wireless", yes, there is at least one,
and normally two antennas running to somewhere inside the case. The Dell
models that do have built-in wireless have a small PCB with a U.FL connector
and a solder pad for the antenna(s).
If you upgrade it yourself, you have three things to be concerned about:
1) You'll have to source the U.FL - U.FL jumper
2) FCC compliance
3) Getting the right card. The Lucent/Agere miniPCI cards come in two flavors
onboard diverity and off-board diversity. All of the Prism2.5 cards
I've seen support diversity on-board. If your laptop supports off-board
diversity, you'll want the right Lucent/Agere NIC.
You might want to just contact the manufacturer for an upgrade.
Yes, the internal antennas are typically better than those found on a PCMCIA card.
Jim
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