Laptop wireless cards

Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
out or are they the same size as the slot?

Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?

they stick out in most cases since the antenna needs to be outside the metal
casing for best reception

"Scooby Doo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bqaltv$1vmo3e$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
> out or are they the same size as the slot?
>
> Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?
>
>

In article <bqaltv$1vmo3e$(E-Mail Removed)>, Scooby Doo
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes

>Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
>out or are they the same size as the slot?

They stick out.

>Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?

3Com ones with the X-Jack antennae. This retracts into the card so that
you don't risk breaking it off when moving your laptop about in it's
case.

It also means it doesn't look stupid and get in the way when you're not
using it.

They do an all-in-one a/b/g multiformat card which is the one I'd get.

--
David Mahon

Just evaluating the Netgear WG121 54Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop...&ProductID=740.
It has far better range than any PCMCIA card I have used.
An option if you have USB 2 and don't mind an external device attached.

"Scooby Doo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bqaltv$1vmo3e$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
> out or are they the same size as the slot?
>
> Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?
>
>

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 17:43:54 -0000, "Scooby Doo"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
>out or are they the same size as the slot?
>
>Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?
>

Avoid the Belkin. I have one and despite a 100%/100% signal, it keeps
dropping onto other (wrong) channels, and occasionally locking up
altogether. Also it only picks up the network at switch-on about half
the time.

And no, there aren't any other 802.11 networks anywhere near me.

d

_____________________________

http://www.pearce.uk.com

"Don Pearce" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Avoid the Belkin. I have one and despite a 100%/100% signal, it keeps
> dropping onto other (wrong) channels, and occasionally locking up
> altogether. Also it only picks up the network at switch-on about half
> the time.

Which version of their drivers are you using?

If the PCIMA card is anything like their PCI card, try their US drivers and
see if that makes a difference...

Regards
Sunil

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 18:52:35 -0000, "Sunil Sood"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Don Pearce" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> Avoid the Belkin. I have one and despite a 100%/100% signal, it keeps
>> dropping onto other (wrong) channels, and occasionally locking up
>> altogether. Also it only picks up the network at switch-on about half
>> the time.
>
>Which version of their drivers are you using?
>
>If the PCIMA card is anything like their PCI card, try their US drivers and
>see if that makes a difference...
>
>Regards
>Sunil
>

I'll try that.

d

_____________________________

http://www.pearce.uk.com

The entity currently known as Scooby Doo wrote:

> Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
> out or are they the same size as the slot?
>
> Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?

I have several wireless devices. The best are the 2 Cisco 352 PCMCIA
cards. Excellent rance, good signal, and utterly reliable. The SMC
PCMCIA is pretty good, but not as good at running on a weak signal,
and drops the bit rate very quickly.

The USB devices I have are Actiontec and Compaq (a rebadged
Lucent). Both of these work OK, with the Lucent being rather better.
But both seem to place a load on the CPU - the machines they're on
speed up noticably when the USB adapters are replaced with a Netgear
ME101 bridge device.

--
Iain A F Fleming

Scooby Doo wrote:
> Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
> out or are they the same size as the slot?
>
> Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?
>
>

I have been using DLink DWL-650+ as they have been working flawlessly.
They are reasonanly cheap, but only 802.11b standard (but work at 2x
22mb speed when used with matching Dlink AP kit). They also have
Microsoft signed XP drivers, which are rock solid.

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 17:43:54 -0000, "Scooby Doo"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Thinking of getting wireless broadband - do the PCMCIA wireless card stick
>out or are they the same size as the slot?
>
>Any recommendations on which ones to get or avoid?

I bought a Netgear PCMCIA card and Access Point.

Very easy to set up but I've had to return the card TWICE due to a
malfunction, it was reporting its MAC address incorrectly, didn't stop
it working but I was unabe to use the MAC access protection.

Geoff Lane