w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
 ·Clearwire Wireless
| Heads up: Cheap Intel WiMAX modem minicard on eBay
Wanted to give everyone a heads up who has a minicard slot on their laptops. They have the Intel Pro Wireless 5350 on eBay for US $28.99 with free shipping that I thought was an incredible deal if you wanted to buy your own mobile WiMAX modem. Intel supports their hardware with superior drivers and software, and this particular card is their top-of-the-line WiFi card that supports Wireless N at 450Mbps and is generally one of the best performers on the market. There are different versions for Dell/HP/IBM, if you have an existing minicard for example Intel 3945ABG or 4965AGN you can upgrade it easily to the 5350. This WiMAX modem should get better reception than the USB dongles because of the 2-3 high performance atennas most laptops have built-in. The drivers and software support Windows 7 flawlessly, unlike the USB dongle from Clear. |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
·Clearwire Wireless
| »cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-WiMax-5350-ag···6.c0.m14 |
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Automate
join:2001-06-26
Atlanta, GA
 ·Comcast
| reply to w0g
Can someone confirm that these can be activated on the Clear network?
Someone was not able to activate a previous Intel card. »Clear Portland - Unable to connect with Intel 5150 |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
·Clearwire Wireless
1 edit | reply to w0g
Next week I'll buy one of these and test it out. I'm sure it will work, Clear has info on their site even referring users to Intel for certain things like software, they must have some customers using them. I wouldn't touch the ones labeled engineering samples but this one that I linked to is OEM. Save me five bucks a month, and I get a much better WiFi card. |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
·Clearwire Wireless
| reply to w0g
The other thing to add for those that don't know it, WiMAX or 802.13d/e are standardized networking technologies in the same realm as WiFi. Theoretically any 802.13d/e modem/device should work on any WiMAX network. There is no differing in protocols and no carrier specific hardware. All you need is to have your device provisioned on the network, and in Clear's case they do it by registering the unique MAC numbers (rather than user/pass type which is another possible method). If it doesn't work there's probably a problem with your device or configuration, not an incompatibility problem as the person in the referred thread complained about. |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs: | reply to w0g
Ordered one, I'll get back to everyone next week when it arrives. |
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alfnoid
Premium,MVM
join:2002-02-18 | reply to w0g
I had seen these and thought that was a good price.
Let us know how it goes! |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
·Clearwire Wireless
1 edit | reply to w0g
I found this on Intel's website:
quote:
Drivers and management software for Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit OS*. Support for Clear*, Xohm*, Yota* and UQ* networks.
NOTES:
-Intel® PROSet/Wireless WiMAX Connection Utility 1.1.2, or later, is required to access Clear* WiMAX¹ networks.
-Intel® PROSet/Wireless WiMAX Connection Utility 1.2.0, or later, is required to access Yota* WiMAX¹ networks.
-Intel® PROSet/Wireless WiMAX Connection Utility 1.3.0, or later, is required to access UQ* WiMAX¹ networks.
-Regulatory restrictions limit use of the Intel® WiMAX/WiFi Link 5350 to the United States.
-The ZIP file is provided for IT administrators to automate software silent installation and distribution.
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alfnoid
Premium,MVM
join:2002-02-18 | Did you get it yet? |
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Automate
join:2001-06-26
Atlanta, GA | "The item will be shipped through Hong Kong Air Mail. Normally it takes 7 to 15 business days to arrive. (Not including weekends & holidays.)" |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
·Clearwire Wireless
| reply to w0g
not quite, it was shipped Monday and as noted by the previous user, it can take upto two weeks for delivery. I expect it to arrive sooner than that, being that I'm on the west coast, which is likely where the package lands in America first, whether they transport by sea or air. |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
·Clearwire Wireless
| reply to w0g
I have the card, turned out my laptop isn't compatible with the WiMAX module. The PCI Express minicard port it uses requires both PCIe and USB support, and not all have the USB support. The modem uses PCIe for WiFi and USB for WiMAX. I'm in the process of getting a new laptop and will get back on how it performs otherwise. WiFi portion is a increase, 450Mbps N support isn't that bad.  |
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Automate
join:2001-06-26
Atlanta, GA | Can you confirm if you got the Intel card working with Clear or not? |
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w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Portland, OR
clubs:
·Clearwire Wireless
| reply to w0g
This particular card isn't even being sold on eBay anymore, it's really hit and miss if you have a model laptop that supports it. I never got the 5350 to work and sold it, and I got a new laptop during the same time (Dell Studio XPS 16). The XPS 16 supports USB on the half minicard slot, and only the 5150 is sold in that form factor. It would work if I could find a card to buy... they're scarce.
--
www.aimless.us - irc.aimless.us channel #fix |
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Aluminum
Premium
join:2006-01-23
Manassas, VA
2 edits | reply to w0g
Caveat Emptor
I have 4 of these, probably from the seller you were looking at.
I bought them in 2 batches, and they are all ES cards.
The usb/wimax portion of the card will never work on commercial wimax connections, they all have the same dummy mac and their wimax certificate/ESN/whatever will be considered invalid or unauthorized by any ISP.
The hardware is sound however, and works fine on a dev test network...one at a time as its still 802.11 at the core: identical MAC addresses is a big nono.
The pci-e/wifi portion of the card does not appear to be ES, or at least they all have unique MACs and will not cause any interoperability problems on wifi networks.
Its blazingly fast (3x3 dual band) and for all intents and purposes this part of the card is a 5300, same driver files are used.
I suspect at a hardware level, this card is nothing more than a 5300 with a switch for the "50" portion to use the programmable software radio instead. By design, you can only use either the wifi or wimax function separately.
Beware: the "generic" versions of these cards have been discontinued and the few valid ones made were all sold out long ago. I also doubt you will ever locate a 5150 generic that functions on ISP networks.
Its possible some of the vendor-locked (hp/lenovo) are legitimate as they are still actually in production but you would be strongly advised to buy from a verified seller and get it in writing that it is a valid non-ES card...and pay with a method that can be contested. I'd avoid overseas sellers for that reason, and because a lot of the remarking is done in locales near manufacture, hint hint.
Personally I knew it was a big risk, but I enjoy messing around with hardware and many computer parts are simply unobtainable in the states from conventional channels. I enjoy having minicard slots via adapter on a desktop motherboard for example
BTW, if your dell has 3 minicard slots, try the WPAN one as I believe its the only fully wired slot. The WLAN is pci-e only and the WWAN is usb only on my vostro 1700 but the WPAN reports both devices.
If you just want one of the best wifi cards currently available, there are full and half-minicard 5300s under $20 all over the place. |
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