Mini PCIE N Wireless card?

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First of all I would like to say hello to the community! I just got a couple AA1's last week (1 for me, 1 for the wife). Both of us have the XP version and are loving them so far...So far i've stripped all the crap programs and have upgraded the RAM and have noticed a marked increase in performance. After taking these little units apart and seeing the guts it seems like it would be really easy to upgrade the network card. So I went to tigerdirect and found this: h t t p ://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3955290&CatId=2697

Has anyone tried this upgrade yet? If so what do you think? :D
 
well....just to let everyone know, I went to intel's site downloaded the drivers, went to CompUSA bought the card, installed without the third antenna (couldn't find one for sale locally), and I'm now enjoying 130 Mbps. connection! So anyway, I highly recommend this upgrade. :)
 
Congrats! I figured this would work. Glad you were able to confirm it. The card is pretty inexpensive, and is easy to do. Not to mention that Ubuntu have drivers already for it. With the built-in Athros, we have to fiddle with the drivers to get it to work. Not a huge deal.

I wonder if the Intel AGN eats up more power than the Athros. And does the little wireless switch work on the Intel AGN too?
 
Great questions. It's unlikely the OP can tell us the differences in power draw without official specs of both cards but I'd also like to know about the WLAN switch. I'll probably do the upgrade too if the switch is able to control the new card.
 
you mentioned that you have the 120 HDD version.
Could you maybe take a picture of the back casing ??? and if you ever opened the AO some pics of the inner casing ?
I am interested in teh differences of teh case design of that model compared to mines thanx.
 
I don't notice any difference in the external casing, from pictures of the SSD version. They both have a little round bump on the bottom, that all I can think of.
 
Wierd... B/C looking at my SSD version i cant see how they fit a 2.5" had in it. w/o a different case or atleast thicker.

Btw whats the heat output of you changed out PCI-E and power draw ???
 
hummm intersting in that case u ma grind down the knobs completly of my ssd so i can fit padding for HD =) thanks for the links.

PS: i think the HD version has a thicker housing b/c if the had sit there like that it has to have a indeted buttom or thicker housong for the mobo not to flex.
 
I got a dell 1505 11n wireless mini-PCI to work on my aspire one...Works prettty good.
 
I'm just waiting on my 3rd antenna from oxfordtec now! soon i'll have full 300 Mbps connectivity! The difference in power draw is negligible same with the heat output.
 
I'd like to go with the Atheros A/B/G/N Card, such as this:

http://www.oxfordtec.com/us/p125/GIGABY ... _info.html

However, I'd also like to install the third antenna, as shown by lufcfan in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1443

That antenna seems to fit perfectly - it seems that most other antennas won't fit. I can't seem to find anything like it anywhere online. Any sources for an antenna like that, preferably in the US?
 
Subliminal said:
I'm just waiting on my 3rd antenna from oxfordtec now! soon i'll have full 300 Mbps connectivity! The difference in power draw is negligible same with the heat output.

The oxfordtec photos only seem to show the connectors, not the antenna itself. Have you confirmed that it will fit? Do you have photos of the antenna that you ordered?
 
i found the photo on the oxfordtec website somewhere i'll see if in can find a link to it, I think it was on the page for the 6" long antenna lead with U.FL connector
 
I think I am going to do this upgrade as well. Can anyone confirm that the switch on the front works with an Intel or Dell N adapter?

Also, I am looking into a usb-hub and gps mod and I'm wondering if there's room around the screen for the third wireless antennae and a gps antennae?
 
elBradford said:
I think I am going to do this upgrade as well. Can anyone confirm that the switch on the front works with an Intel or Dell N adapter?

Also, I am looking into a usb-hub and gps mod and I'm wondering if there's room around the screen for the third wireless antennae and a gps antennae?

Switch is just powering miniPCI ON and OFF. Then it must work... There is enough room to fit wireless antenna but forget about GPS :( GPS aerial is square and to big to fit...
 
Yeah, I am realizing now that all the GPS antennas I've seen look like they're square. I know NOTHING about gps signals unfortunately. Some USB devices are small though and have no external antenna. I wonder if anyone has had any success placing one under the wristpad like in the bluetooth mod by tnkgrl. Also, this one (http://www.wi-sys.com/products/antennas/WS1357.php) is only 13mmx13mm but is nearly 6mm thick.
 
elBradford said:
Yeah, I am realizing now there all GPS antennas look like they're square. I know NOTHING about gps signals. Some USB devices are small though and have no external antenna. I wonder if anyone has had any success placing one under the wristpad like in the bluetooth mod by tnkgrl.

No chance - the gap between case and mainboard is not big enough to put GPS antenna there - also to prevent antenna from loosing GPS signal it suppose to be in unobstructed place. I'm looking for any way of placing GPS in there but at the moment I'm stuck...
 
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