Wireless PC Card

[Delkan Cott]

Hi folks,

My brother is looking to get a wireless card for his Dell laptop this christmas, thing is, I don't feel like spending $44.10 on a Dell brand card so I was wondering what better alternatives are out there for me.

He's asking for Dell True Mobile 1300 802.11b/g Wireless PC Card

Any personal experience with preferred cards would be great.


Thanks.

[Luca]

Since you're looking for a card for a PC, there should be some pretty cheap options available that work fine. I have an old Lucent Orinoco Silver (802.11b only) that I'm not using and they are only something like $10 on eBay now.

This (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=33-156-140&depa=0) one has 802.11b and 802.11g support, and it looks like it comes with a $13 mail-in rebate, bringing the final price (assuming you actually mail in the rebate) to just $10.

[Brad]

My uncle uses an old cheap-o Orinoco card in a Sony Vaio notebook and it's never given him any problems before.

[torifile]

I got a PC card and wireless basestation for $20 new on black friday. I'm sure you can find some for much cheaper than that $44 new on ebay now.

[Delkan Cott]

Another quick question: what's the difference between 802.11a/b/g and are the network cards (a/b/g) specific to certain router types?


Cheers.

[torifile]

Another quick question: what's the difference between 802.11a/b/g and are the network cards (a/b/g) specific to certain router types?


Cheers.
I can't speak for 802.11a except to say that it's not compatible with b and g. 802.11b is the older variety of wifi connection that runs at 11mb/s. 802.11g is the newer variety that is backwards compatible with b. It runs at 54mb/s max. Most routers that are g are able to make b connections unless you explicitly tell it not to. The network cards you would get need to be a specific type. Like I said, if you get a card that is 802.11g, you'll be able to connect to older access points that are 802.11b. Your best bet for most compatibility would be getting an 802.11g card. Most access points are either b or g, so you'll be in very good shape in terms of being able to get on an access point (aka wireless connection) with the card.

[DMBand0026]

A->B->G is the progression. A was the original wireless "standard" that never really took off. It was slow but the range was great. B got faster, but the range suffered. Same with G.

[Luca]

No, wrong. I don't know the exact dates when the standards were publicly released, but 802.11a is actually just as fast as 802.11g but has a short range because of the very high frequency (5 GHz instead of 2.4 GHz). There's an article comparing b to a here (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/961181).

802.11g also operates at 2.4 GHz, giving it a range almost as good as 802.11b, as well as full cross-compatibility.