compatibility with 802.11n at 5.0GHz frequency [ Editado ]

[SARORA]

Is Thinkpad W701 (2541 CTO) compatible with 802.11n at 5.0GHz.  I tried, it can not find the network  at 5.0GHz frequency. please advise

[bananaman]

Hi SARORA, and welcome to the Lenovo User Community!

To help the community answer your question, can you provide 1. the operating system you are using, 2. the exact type of wireless card you chose for your W701, and 3. the brand and model of wireless router/gateway/access point you are trying to connect to.

[SARORA]

Card: I am quite sure it is 11b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter II

OS: Windows 7

Access Point: Aruba AP 125

[bananaman]

Windows 7 and the Aruba AP 125 support 5GHz. I don't know if the 11b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter II supports 5GHz. Is there anything in Device Manager which shows the actual wireless chip manufacturer and model (RealTek?)?

[SARORA]

The wireless card manufacturer is ReAltek Semiconductor Group.

The drivers  and the version details are as below

rtl8192se.sys -  File version 2007.1.1002.2009 built by WinDDK for Realtek Group

vwifibus.sys   -  File version 6.1.7600.16385 (Win7 - rtm.090713-1255) by Microsoft Corporation

[Jimbo · Accepted solution]

No, unfortunately, it does not support any operation at 5 GHz:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=21&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=...

Frankly, I don't understand why Lenovo even sells such an expensive laptop with anything less than the Intel 6300 or 6250 WiFi cards. And when you go to configure a W701 for purchase, the "Help me choose" link for the WiFi cards:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/systemconfig.runtime.workflow...

tells customers absolutely NOTHING about the "ThinkPad bgn Wireless" card that Lenovo is offering for sale with the machine. The closest they come is to discuss the "ThinkPad 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III" which is a completely different card having different capabilities. Nor do they mention anything about the Intel 6300 or 6250 cards offered with the machine. But they do discuss the Intel 4965AGN card, which was sold 2-3 years ago and is no longer offered.

In short, Lenovo's "Help me choose" link is totally useless, and this has been a continuing problem on Lenovo's configuration pages. Apparently, Lenovo has no one who is capable and willing to proofread their configuration pages, and I see frequent complaints in ThinkPad forums about this.

The Intel 6300 and 6250 DO support 802.11n operation at both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. You can replace your existing card with one of these, but instead of paying $30-50 or so to buy the card from online retailers, you have to pay extra (usualy $150-200 for WiFi cards) to instead buy the card directly from Lenovo, because otherwise the computer won't boot.

For best WiFi, buy the Intel 6300. If you want WiMAX, which is a 4G service offered in some areas, instead buy the Intel 6250, although the 6250 has poorer WiFi performance than the 6300.

Moderator edit: Fixed formatting, link.

[Jimbo]

I see the ability to edit one's own message has disappeared from the Options menu in the forum.

Anyway, the new forum software didn't like my browser and munged the formatting of my above message and the link to the "Help me decide" page, and that link is here.

Moderator edit: Fixed link.

[bananaman]

Hi jimbo and SARORA!

Thanks for providing the information and checking the specs of the card out, and clarifying the main differences between the wireless card choices!

The information on wireless adapter choices in the online store is insufficient to choose between them. I've submitted feedback to websales@lenovo.com on this.

We are waiting for "Edit reply" to be fixed.

[Jimbo]

Thanks, Bananaman, for notifying Lenovo about the WiFi "Help me choose" problem, and for de-mungifyng my posts!