Comparing Wireless Quality in Laptops

scottalanmiller

It's also important to remember that this is a Chinese vendor and their idea of ethics are fundamentally different than they are in the west. Even if Lenovo was acting acceptably by Chinese standards does not mean that we would see it the same way. This has been one of the things that people have been concerned about, with good reason, since IBM sold the division to them a decade and a half ago - that dealing with a Chinese vendor might mean problems with how the company behaves. Does that mean that their culture or their opinions of western customers were in play in this decision? No, but as it was already a concern and it was Lenovo, not HP or Dell, that had this happen is very suggestive. It supports the fears that many people have had for years about Lenovo's integrity.

Dashrender

@scottalanmiller said:

@thecreativeone91 said:

I haven't seen anything about this anywhere else with lenovo having shims in drivers. I just googled for it now and didn't find anything.

No one was talking about the shim when we found it either. But it turned out to be there Sometimes these things don't get talked about. Odd and rare, but it can happen.

And Lenovo's PR machine to cover this up has done a great job. I can't believe how supportive of Lenovo so many people have been after the most evil vendor action I can remember happening.

This is because people simply don't understand what the problem is/was and more importantly they just don't care.

scottalanmiller

Likewise, many American manufactures have shims and backdoors added (whether the manufacturers know or not) before products go to China. I don't want to blame China for this, the US is probably worse. Both countries are the bottom of the barrel of where you would want to go for getting gear you can trust.

scottalanmiller

@Dashrender said:

This is because people simply don't understand what the problem is/was and more importantly they just don't care.

Blows my mind. How can so many IT people be so paranoid about unrealistic security problems and then not care when real ones happen!!

Dashrender

Yeah after hearing that the NSA intercepts packages and installs their own firmware on the devices before repackaging them and sending them on.. man... just makes me think FIRE SALE!

How do you change out the wireless card in a Lenovo anyway. I have a Lenovo T410 and when I try to put an Intel Wireless AC dual band card it in it boots up and says"unauthorized card" I can only uses the Intel B/G/N Card that came with it as they whitelist them. What kinda of business laptop locks down the wifi card.

Dashrender

Yeah I did hear there was some lockdown issues with the Yoga Pros as well, luckily the card I purchased didn't have that problem.

Check if there is a BIOS update for your system, then install the card again and see if it works?

@Dashrender said:

Yeah I did hear there was some lockdown issues with the Yoga Pros as well, luckily the card I purchased didn't have that problem.

Check if there is a BIOS update for your system, then install the card again and see if it works?

It is. I'll likely try a BIOS mod, as much as I don't like them I want my dual band gigabit wifi.

Installed mod. Had to Disable the TPM (called security chip) or else it still works but beeps 12 times before booting. I think that must do a MD5 Check at everyboot. Not sure. But the AC card works now.

thanksajdotcom

I have a real issue with my HP Probook's wireless. My Elitepad and phone were getting full bars where in the same physical locations my laptop had minimum strength. It's really odd...

nadnerB

My ASUS Transformer Prime (TF201) WiFi performance is horrendous.
Turns out it has a lot to do with where the antenna is placed. I have seen a work around for this by soldering a flexible 'tail' antenna onto the board but that would irritate the crap out of me.

Where is the antenna in the Yoga? Perhaps poor planning of it's location is also to blame.

@nadnerB Normally they have two antennas one will wrap around each side of the screen. I think it has to do more with bad RF shielding of other components or the case itself shielding signal to much than anything.

nadnerB

@thecreativeone91 Very true.
Here's some destructions on wifi card replacement with some interesting things to note (like the picky BIOS).
Youtube Video

nadnerB

An interesting observation that I made was that the antennas appear to run under the palm rests (near the track pad). The antennas run along the sides of the battery.
Non-upgradable RAM is a no go for me. Nice looking unit, but I don't think that I would ever buy one.

The WiFi card that Chappy McWhatzhisface, in the video, mentions is this one (link in the video comments):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUNZUG0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00GUNZUG0&linkCode=as2&tag=2012mayandisa-20&linkId=PXO7KDVH5LM67I3Y

@nadnerB said:

Non-upgradable RAM is a no go for me. Nice looking unit, but I don't think that I would ever buy one.

Sadly even the almost $2,000 macbook pro I had was the same way. I couldn't upgrade it past the 4GB of ram it came with and that was as a 2014 model.

nadnerB

@thecreativeone91 said:

Sadly even the almost $2,000 macbook pro I had was the same way. I couldn't upgrade it past the 4GB of ram it came with and that was as a 2014 model.

So when the RAM gets faulty, you are left with a pretty looking paperweight...

@nadnerB said:

An interesting observation that I made was that the antennas appear to run under the palm rests (near the track pad). The antennas run along the sides of the battery.

I would hope the continue up into the screen. If not, that's likely the issue.

nadnerB

@thecreativeone91 said:

@nadnerB said:

An interesting observation that I made was that the antennas appear to run under the palm rests (near the track pad). The antennas run along the sides of the battery.

I would hope the continue up into the screen. If not, that's likely the issue.

Here's a screenie that I grabbed and "painted".

Here's the official picture from the manual