LF: advice on buying PC wireless network card..what brand?

[guest 03]

I am looking to buy a wireless network card for my laptop.

I apparently bought the wrong one on the advice of someone I know who works in computers unfortunately.

The card I bought is for my laptop and I also have a router (I needed the router though...)

so?

what brand of card is good to buy?

also what are some good deals?

I have seen some "no name" cards go for $30 online. are they worth it? or not really once you factor in shipping?

Any help is apreceated as I didn't go to school for computer tech.....I went for Autocad drafting and 3-D graphics

I'll check my post in the AM before going out...thanks!

[guest 03]

I'm thinking of buying from Compusmart maybe...

Belkin Wireless 54Mbps 802.11g PCI Adapter
Manufacturer: Belkin Components Part #: F5D7000 Web I.D.: 026053

The 54g Wireless Desktop Network Card features breakthrough 54g technology that makes wireless file transfers and downloads faster than ever before.
$49.99

[Jayhoo]

It really depends on a few things, such as price range, speed of computer, and speed of wireless router.

I'll assume the laptop is within 3 years old, and you're running Windows XP on it. If you're looking for cheap but reliable (from what i've Experienced), "Netgear" wireless cards are ok, as are "Network Everywhere" cards. Network everywhere is basically Linksys under a different branding (Linksys is one of the better ones out there). If you're limited to getting a D-Link product (Boo, don't call tech support, make more work for me ), avoid getting the "watered down" cards like DWL-630 or DWL-610. DWL-G650 is the best (knock on wood) card carried in the "G" range now.

I realize some of the above may go over your head, and I appologize Guess its time to leave IT, speak normal english :P

[Amourek]

PCI adapter = desktop. For a laptop (and probably an older once since it doesn't have wireless built-in), you need either a USB adapter or PCMCIA card.

Is the card mainly for network use or internet? If you're on a budget a 802.11b card is more than enough for internet, but if you want to transfer files often between network computers, you'll want the speed of 802.11g (G = 54mpbs vs B = 11mpbs). Of course you can only take advantage of 802.11g speeds if you have a 802.11g router.

As for brand, I like Linksys best. Their software is easy to use and I find that their range is pretty good and fewer dropped connections than some of the others I've tried.

[ProfessorChaos]

PCI adapter = desktop. For a laptop (and probably an older once since it doesn't have wireless built-in), you need either a USB adapter or PCMCIA card.

Is the card mainly for network use or internet? If you're on a budget a 802.11b card is more than enough for internet, but if you want to transfer files often between network computers, you'll want the speed of 802.11g (G = 54mpbs vs B = 11mpbs). Of course you can only take advantage of 802.11g speeds if you have a 802.11g router.

As for brand, I like Linksys best. Their software is easy to use and I find that their range is pretty good and fewer dropped connections than some of the others I've tried.

From my experience, Linksys makes crap wireless products. The PCMCIA card I had frequently dropped, if you can still find the Orinoco brand(which is now Proxim) get one of those Wi-Fi cards. Definately best in the biz.

G also has 4x the distance range over B.

[guest 03]

Thanks for the advice so far!

My pc (desktop) right now is an HP AMD Athlon 3200 with 512 mb ram and a 160 GB hard drive (lots of space for the Autocad and 3ds files...)

I have a laptop card already and my laptop is a P2- so it's pretty old (runs Win 98 still...)

I'm looking for a PCI card for my desktop mainly to browse on the Internet and that's it.

I'm also trying to pick up other signals as there are alot of them around me with faster conections.
I've managed to pick up other people's High Speed concetions on my laptop and so have some friends...
I pretty much live across from an apt building on one side and on the other side there are Gov't buildings (and I'm in a townhouse in the middle of this)

I have a router already that is compatible hopefully (if not I'll sell it on here or on ebay...)

I should get to sleep, have to be up at 6:30 am

[IronMac]

From my experience, Linksys makes crap wireless products. The PCMCIA card I had frequently dropped, if you can still find the Orinoco brand(which is now Proxim) get one of those Wi-Fi cards. Definately best in the biz.

G also has 4x the distance range over B.

A. There could be a variety of reasons why your PCMCIA card dropped its connection. I've had poor experience with a 3COM card (old XJack model) but pretty good experience with Netgear.
B. G does not have 4 times the range over B. In fact, the range should be equivalent which, in an outdoor environment with no physical barriers, should be about 300 feet. Of course, there are a variety of other factors that could play into this so it's not a hard and fast rule.

[IronMac]

I'm also trying to pick up other signals as there are alot of them around me with faster conections.
I've managed to pick up other people's High Speed concetions on my laptop and so have some friends...
I pretty much live across from an apt building on one side and on the other side there are Gov't buildings (and I'm in a townhouse in the middle of this)

I would be very careful latching onto open networks. You can do it but there is always the possibility that confidential information could be exposed when doing so.
Also, you may not necessarily get faster connections because it all depends on the networks' uplink. Let's say we run an internal network in our apartment here...we can use 802.11g equipment and get an actual throughput (not theoretical data rate) of about 24-26 Mbps through our network. Great right?
Well, if we were to connect to the Internet through Rogers or Bell, our download speeds from them might be a measly 3 Mbps. The apartment network might be very fast but the information coming into it would be very slow. You'd be limited to the 3 Mbps given to you by your ISP.

This also effectively means that people who are buying 802.11g equipment thinking that they will get much faster websurfing speeds are dead wrong. Older 802.11b equipment would do the job and then some!

[guest 03]

I'm just hoping to do "basic" Internet stuff with my network card.
I have Sympatico cable modem right now with the "lite" (or whatever) version.

It is faster than dial up...and faster than back in the day when it took over 30 min to lead a BBS page if anyone remembers that.

one of my friends had a outdoors BBS a few years back

[untaka]

It really depends on a few things, such as price range, speed of computer, and speed of wireless router.

I'll assume the laptop is within 3 years old, and you're running Windows XP on it. If you're looking for cheap but reliable (from what i've Experienced), "Netgear" wireless cards are ok, as are "Network Everywhere" cards. Network everywhere is basically Linksys under a different branding (Linksys is one of the better ones out there). If you're limited to getting a D-Link product (Boo, don't call tech support, make more work for me ), avoid getting the "watered down" cards like DWL-630 or DWL-610. DWL-G650 is the best (knock on wood) card carried in the "G" range now.

I realize some of the above may go over your head, and I appologize Guess its time to leave IT, speak normal english :P

D-Link tech support can suck if your stupid

[trini]

I got a Belkin Wireless G USB for 35.00 shipped to you.

[dirk]

I realize it may be more than you are looking to spend but I have an SMC2512W-AG. It is a PC-CARD (PCMCIA) that comes with the bracket for a PCI slot and is a universal A/B/G highpower card.

I never have dropped signals in my house (or back yard for that matter); the range is amazing compared to my old D-Link. SMC also has lifetime warranty.

I know SMC has desktop only highpower cards similar to this but I move mine from my desktop to notebook with no built in wireless so it's convenient for me.

[guest 03]

Thanks for all the tips guys! (and gals...

My home network now works and I'm getting speeds of 1.0 mbps and 2.0 mbps with a 30% signal. or so it said on my network stumbler.

My net connection is much faster than my old modem surprizingly.

But I think I will heed the warnings and not use wireless conections for online banking and stuff like that!

Good night everyone! or good morning i should say!