Intel WiFi 5300 vs Intel WiFi 6200

[RamGuy]

I'm about to move from a Lenovo ThinkPad T400s to a ThinkPad W510 which results in the move from a Intel 5300 Wireless NIC into the newer Intel 6200?

Considering that the 6200 uses "only" two antenna, and the 5300 uses three, will I see improved coverage and throughput because of improvements with the newer cards? Or will the loss of one antenna makes thing worse?


How hard would it be to simply replace the Intel 6200 with a Intel 6300 (does anyone sell the lose anyway?) and would it be worth it?

 

[thiggins]

How many antennas does the new Thinkpad have? If it has only two, you don't have anything to attach to the third terminal of the 6300 anyway.

I don't know what the difference is between the 5300 and 6300. I'll see if I can find out.

 

[overdrive31]

3x3 radios do not increase performance it is still dual stream, however a 3x3 does provide a little better coverage and stability of the dual streams.

Update: Intel Ultimate N 5300/6300 is a true 3x3(tri-stream) supporting 450mbps max, most all previous 3x3 radios would only support dual stream. Very interesting, but is there a 3x3(450mbps tri-stream) AP to match it with? Intel 6300, the 6200 is only 2x2

 

[RamGuy]

The ThinkPad comes with 3x antennas if it ships with the Intel 6300, and 2x if it ships with the Intel 6200 (like my W510 does) but if I order myself the Intel 6300 I will of course order an additional antenna to go with it.


So there isn't any throughput advantages between the two? As my Netgear WNDR3700 isn't tri-stream? So the last antenna will be rather useless?

Or does the added coverage and stability add some noticeable difference?


If not I could always go Intel 6200 and replace it with a Intel 6300 and install an additional antenna (if it's not that tricky) the moment we actually have some tri-stream routers to chose between?

 

[overdrive31]

No throughput advantage since the WNDR3700's radios are both 2x2. From what I gather on current dual stream 3x3 routers(DIR-855, DIR-655, TEW-633GR), the third antenna is just a supportive device to increase range and help maintain dual stream functionality. As for 3x3 clients, not sure if they provide same benefit if the AP is only 2x2. Tim has noticed great performance from the Intel chips, I would stick with the future proof 6300. Tri-stream routers were announced CES 2009, over a year and have yet to see one.

 

[RamGuy]

I would also stick with the Intel 6300 if that was possible, but unfortunately we can't configure our own ThinkPad specifications here in Norway, we simply have a few (2-5 normally) different models with different set of hardware specifications and have to go for one of them.

And sadly the only available Lenovo ThinkPad W510 without that overpriced multi-touch panel only has the Intel 6200 WiFi for some reasons, I find it quite odd as every other of the newer models (no matter if it's T410, T410s, T510 or W510) all have the Intel 6300, just not the one model I'm considering



But it seems to me that Intel 6300 is more future proof, but not really providing much of a benefit before we get some routers that are able to fully utilize it?

And we've got no clue on when those might arrive? So until then I guess I'm perfectly fine with the Intel 6200 and dual-antennas? And wont notice any decrease in performance compared to my current Intel 5300 with three-antennas?



If that's the case I can just wait and live with the Intel 6200 until some routers comes available and the change to the Intel 6300?

 

[overdrive31]

Reading about Tim's results with similar 3x3 clients, it is hard to explain the performance gains over 2x2 clients. It must be that 3x3 clients, just like the 3x3 dual stream routers, enhance the stability of the dual streams providing steadier performance. It is up to you, my guess is you could possibly see some improvement over the 6200, but at least the 6200 matches your routers 2x2 radios so there is no limitation. Once tri-stream routers are out though, most definitely you will want the 6300.

 

[RamGuy]

I see..
But how do you think it's compared to my current Intel 5300?
Are the enough improvements in these new NICs to overcome the lack of the third antenna?

 

[overdrive31]

The 5300 seems to be identical to the 6300 in terms of capabilities - 3x3 supporting up to 450mbps. The 6200 is 2x2 supporting only 300mbps, compared to the older Intel 4965AGN which was 3x3 as well but only supported 300mbps(dual stream) max. The 5300 will work with upcoming tri-stream routers, 6200 will be limited to 300mbps max if used with tri-stream router.

 

[thiggins]

All current N routers and APs are dual-stream, whether they have two or three antennas. The third antenna is used for receive only and has the effect of increasing gain, which can moderately improve throughput.

This Atheros whitepaper has a good comparison of 2x3 vs 2x3 MIMO systems. Note, however that you get the throughput gain only at the receiver that has the three receive channels. So a three antenna AP / router will have higher throughput only running uplink. You need a client with three antennas and three receive channels to get improved throughput running downlink, which is usually what you want for media streaming.

I have no information as to whether Intel will issue a firmware upgrade for its 5300 cards that turns on three-stream capability, when three-stream N APs become available. Or whether it's already enabled, just waiting for a three-stream AP to partner with. Same goes for the 6300.

Three stream N will provide increased throughput under strong to medium signal conditions. Demos I've seen show speeds between 250 to 300 Mbps, best case, i.e AP and client right next to each other.

Due to the additional gain of the third channel, you might see higher throughputs at farther distances than with two-stream N. But you're not going to see total range extension.

If you want to spend money, get the 6300 and three antennas. But there is no guarantee as to the improvement you'll really see when 3 stream routers / APs start to appear sometime later this year.

 

[overdrive31]

Tim, are we both right? My source was an Atheros whitepaper, stating that the 3x3 dual stream routers improve on the stability of the provided dual streams using that 3rd antenna. The OP also wants to know if the 3x3 client(s) will have a noticeable performance advantage over the 2x2 client with current 2x2 router.

 

[thiggins]

I'm not saying you're wrong, overdrive. Just providing additional background.

 

[thiggins]

Here's the word from Intel on the differences between the 6300 and 5300:

The Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 is the next generation 3x3 (450 Mbps) Wi-Fi Adapter from Intel. Key differences between the Wi-Fi Link 5300 and the Centrino® 6300 are:

- Support for the latest Intel® vPro™ Technology which adds the following features/capabilities:
o HW-based keyboard, video, mouse remote control enabling an IT administrator to lower his/her support costs by being able to see the various states of the Laptop such as Startup/Shutdown, Blue Screen or OS freeze, Disk Failure, or Network Software issues to name a few
o Support for Intel® Anti-Theft Technology which can disable a PC if it is lost or stolen helping to ensure data confidentiality.

- Support for an enhanced receiver algorithm that can provide in some instances up to a 40% performance improvement over the previous receiver algorithm we had used in the 5300.

The other nugget of info I got is that both the 6300 and 5300 are already three-stream N enabled. If they find a three-stream capable AP / router, they'll attempt to connect at that speed.

Remember that the 450 Mbps link rate you see bandied about for 3 stream N is for channel bonded (40 MHz channel mode) operation. It's the equivalent of 300 Mbps (or 270 in some cases) for two stream N.

 

[kevinqian]

How bout connecting two 5300s in ad hoc to see if they connect at 450mbps? fun little experiment?

 

[hA1d3R]

what about intel 6200? how does it compare to 5300 , which one is better ? Also how's the broadcom 43224 card when compared to intel 6200 . The BC site says its only 200mbps

 

[Fritze]

Excuse my noobnes,
I have a Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q712 laptop with a Intel Wifi Link 5100.

I am upgrading to a Netgear WNDR3700 and was wondering if upgrading to a 5300 or 6300 sounds like a good idea, I am a higher level user but not nearly on the level of the users here. I have never replaced a NIC in a laptop, I did just recently add a HD to mine, but thats all. I do build my own desktops. Will the 5300 or 6300 make much difference since they are all N spec, I did notice on some of the listings for the 6300 it was stated as N Draft. There again excuse my noobness, isn't N already finalized, if so are why would these be listed as draft?

Any suggestions, do you recommend I take it to a pro for install.

Thanks

 

[thiggins]

You won't see a performance difference with either the 5300 or 6300 unless there are three antennas in the Toshiba and you are connecting to a three-stream N router.

All "draft N" products were grandfathered to released N status when the standard was finalized back in fall 2009.