Wireless Network card replacement on G74SX-A1

[CYberjudas]

Anyone have suggestions for a replacement card for the Atheros wireless card that came with the G74SX-A1 ? I have heard that the Intel 6200 Half Height mini pcie wireless card is a good card with both bands, 2.4-G and 5-G bands. There is also the 6300 from Intel that seems to be the same as the 6200 but has 3 antenna for 3X MIMO. The G74SX-A1 only has 2 antenna, is there any place to buy a third antenna for this laptop to use this card properly ? and is there a dual band card available that has Clear network like the Best buy version of these laptops ? What are you all using ? Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance !

On a side note. When i opened the access door on the bottom of this laptop the Wireless card is only held in by one screw. Is this common ? I have always seen these kept in place with two screws. Anyone else have one screw keeping the card in place ?

[JRd1st]

Yes, Windows has no problem.

WC3 is more convenient than using the Control Panel. At least, Intel MyWiFiTechnology puts an icon in the tray for WiFi, Atheros didn't so you REALLY had to go into the ControlPanel to enable/disable the wifi. Maybe that's why Asus developed WC3 in the first place.

I'll look and see if I can find something I can edit to fix this. If it's hardcoded in the program I'll forget about it. :shrug:

[Retired]

I have the 6230 on order as well (and some RAM in hand) but I'm waiting for a 128gb M4 deal to come up before I tear apart the laptop. That way I can do everything at the same time lol

[Icemanforlife]

Snelk or anyone did you see a speed increase with the 6230 vs the stock wi-fi card?

[BrodyBoy]

I didn't mean the Intel software.....I never use that beyond the initial setup. Just Windows. It has its own little blue BT icon for the taskbar. Gives access to anything you might need to do with the BT device...including disabling it.

[Chastity]

If you are using double-band (40Hz) and connecting above 150, you should see an improvement

[Retired]

Are people switching out their wireless adapter (Atheros in G74x) because of lame -n performance? I've found several other users who have the same problem as I, namely when the adapter is in the "automatic" mode (the only way to "get in" the -n mode), the max connect speed is 64Mbps and internet download speed drops to 1.5Mbps. However, by selecting b/g mode, even though the connect speed drops to 56Mbps, my internet download speed increases to nearly 4Mbps (normal for my pathetic DSL service). Clearly there is a problem with the Atheros -n connectivity which ASUS will not acknowledge. My G84x was returned from BIZComm with with a terse "could not duplicate" .

Note: I have 2 older computers with -n adapters which connect with my Linksys E2000 router at 144Mbps and provide me with full internet bandwidth.

[dstrakele]

Here's what I get for a speed test off the LinkLINE server in Los Angeles (I'm in AZ) running the G74SX-A1's stock Atheros AR9002WB-1NG Wireless Lan Adapter on -n (40MHz) off Cox Cable Preferred using an ASUS RT-N56U Router. My trading platform was open, updating and rescaling 46 real-time charts every second and 7 web pages open in IE9 when I ran this test.

I've updated the Atheros driver to 9.2.0.439, but I was getting these speeds with the stock driver. The Atheros Wireless Selection Mode was "Auto", the default.


I'm searching to see what could cause -n connectivity to have a slower download speed than b/g, but I'm not having much success. http://www.dslreports.com/forums/all has forums that may help you resolve your connectivity issue.

[JRd1st]

True, but that was one piece of bloat that was slightly useful. 😄

EDIT: lol, guess what? There IS no option to turn BT off in the Intel BT Icon. I would HAVE to go into the Device Manager. lol