200mW PC Cards???

Looking for a "high-power" PC card for my laptop and have taken suggestions
for a Senao (Engenius) card that puts out 200mW.

Please explain what a "high-power" card does. I thought that the router
pushed the signal out and the card antenna just accepted it. Why is there a
power rating for the card? Does it actually "go out" and retrieve the
signal?

Are there any other 200mW cards I should look at?

Where's a good online store to buy them from?

Thanks for any help . . .

As with any wired or wireless device they need to send and receive signals.
Doesn't matter if it is an AP or a wireless card, they both function as
transceivers.

A high power card such as the Senao's allows greater range and higher
receive sensitivity which translates to less dropout on your connection.

"Tom C." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Looking for a "high-power" PC card for my laptop and have taken
suggestions
> for a Senao (Engenius) card that puts out 200mW.
>
> Please explain what a "high-power" card does. I thought that the router
> pushed the signal out and the card antenna just accepted it. Why is there
a
> power rating for the card? Does it actually "go out" and retrieve the
> signal?
>
> Are there any other 200mW cards I should look at?
>
> Where's a good online store to buy them from?
>
> Thanks for any help . . .
>
>

L o o k i n g too for two traveling notebooks. Does the perfect card exist?

b-g
or
a-b-g
200-300mW
Receive sensitivity at least -92dBm
Most important: Internal AND external antenna capability (Not crazy about
hacking a new card to connect an external antenna, but will if necessary.)
Latest security capabilities

Yes, the SeattleWireless info is a good place to start. Needs to be updated
though. The industry is racing ahead of the reviews and specs.

Thank you for any suggestions.


"Tom C." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Looking for a "high-power" PC card for my laptop and have taken
suggestions
> for a Senao (Engenius) card that puts out 200mW.
>
> Please explain what a "high-power" card does. I thought that the router
> pushed the signal out and the card antenna just accepted it. Why is there
a
> power rating for the card? Does it actually "go out" and retrieve the
> signal?
>
> Are there any other 200mW cards I should look at?
>
> Where's a good online store to buy them from?
>
> Thanks for any help . . .
>
>

The SMC 2532W-B is basically the same card as the Senao, but easier
to acquire, and often cheaper.

The chipset, IIRC is made by Zcomax, who also uses it in their own
200 mW card.

Dave



On Fri, 21 May 2004 22:51:29 -0700, "Tom C."
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Looking for a "high-power" PC card for my laptop and have taken suggestions
>for a Senao (Engenius) card that puts out 200mW.
>
>Please explain what a "high-power" card does. I thought that the router
>pushed the signal out and the card antenna just accepted it. Why is there a
>power rating for the card? Does it actually "go out" and retrieve the
>signal?
>
>Are there any other 200mW cards I should look at?
>
>Where's a good online store to buy them from?
>
>Thanks for any help . . .
>

Tom C. wrote:

> Looking for a "high-power" PC card for my laptop and have taken suggestions
> for a Senao (Engenius) card that puts out 200mW.
>
> Please explain what a "high-power" card does. I thought that the router
> pushed the signal out and the card antenna just accepted it. Why is there a
> power rating for the card? Does it actually "go out" and retrieve the
> signal?
>
> Are there any other 200mW cards I should look at?
>
> Where's a good online store to buy them from?
>
> Thanks for any help . . .


I opted for the Demarctech (www.demarctech.com, a 300mw version is now
available) 200mw card, but the Engenius is right in the same category.
It's 200mw rating is for it's transmit power, it's the receive
sensitivity that tells how well it handles weak incoming signals.
Between the two, they work in tandem to give you a more stable
connection to the wireless router or access point.

Some cards on the market are absolutely horrible at both ratings and it
shows when people complain about not getting a connection at 15 feet
away from the access point.

It's no use having 200mW or better PC Card, unless the AP is equally good.
Regards,
Martin

Martin² wrote:
> It's no use having 200mW or better PC Card, unless the AP is equally good.
> Regards,
> Martin

Depends on how you define "equally good". The AP certainly does not have
to be 200mW also to see a definite improvement in both signal strength
and quality. Of course if it's a piece of shit AP it wouldn't help much
to get a really good card.

The output power of your wireless card is meaningless. The manufacturers can
claim anything they want. You should look for quality router/AP, preferably
use wireless card from same manufacturer, and buy it in the store where you
can return it if it is not satisfactory. I searched long and hard, read many
reviews and found USR 8054 router and matching wireless cards to give best
results. I would prefer to keep the output power on wireless card on the
notebook to minimum, because of rediation. You should keep your hands and
body 8" or more away from wireless cards antenna to minimize the effects of
rediation which most people do not understand until its to late. More output
power more rediation. Everything has to work together. Don't look for
unknown brands just because they have high output. You can connct high gain
antenna to no name radio and you still won't receive any stations.

"Rôgêr" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:s5-dnf9EILsswCzdRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Martin² wrote:
> > It's no use having 200mW or better PC Card, unless the AP is equally
good.
> > Regards,
> > Martin
>
> Depends on how you define "equally good". The AP certainly does not have
> to be 200mW also to see a definite improvement in both signal strength
> and quality. Of course if it's a piece of shit AP it wouldn't help much
> to get a really good card.

Senao cards may offer higher power but the receive sensitivity could
be improved. There receive sensitivity is about 5 db lower then a
cisco card. All in all choose the card with the best receive
sensitivity over the card with the highest TX power for best range.


> >

"K Bloch" <(E-Mail Removed)> schreef in bericht
news:(E-Mail Removed) m...
> Senao cards may offer higher power but the receive sensitivity could
> be improved. There receive sensitivity is about 5 db lower then a
> cisco card. All in all choose the card with the best receive
> sensitivity over the card with the highest TX power for best range.

I believe this is not correct.
The Senao cards indeed offer higher power but the receive sensitivity is
also better dan most other cards.
Sensitivity @ 11Mbps Senao SL-2511-CD (200mW) = -89dBm
Sensitivity @ 11Mbps Cisco 350 series = -85dBm

See link below:
http://www.freenetworks.org/moin/ind...iveSensitivity