USB Adapter

I have an old wired router. I am thinking about changing to a wireless
router. I am also looking into buying wireless USB adapters to save the
time and hassles of having to open up the computer cases and install new
wireless cards. I don't know anyone that is using these USB adapters.
Do these work as well as the regular wireless adapters? Are there
problems that I should know about? If I do use USB adapters do I still
have to open up the computer cases to remove the old network cards?

sharonf wrote:

> I have an old wired router. I am thinking about changing to a
> wireless router. I am also looking into buying wireless USB adapters
> to save the time and hassles of having to open up the computer cases
> and install new wireless cards. I don't know anyone that is using
> these USB adapters. Do these work as well as the regular wireless
> adapters? Are there problems that I should know about? If I do use
> USB adapters do I still have to open up the computer cases to remove
> the old network cards?

I use a USB adapter and a PCI card in various machines.

The USB adapter has the advantage that it can be put on the end of a
USB cable and sited to get best reception - without incurring siginal
loss.

The PCI card is OK except that it means the antenna is poorly located
at the back of the PC case. You can however replace the antenna with a
higher gain unit on a pigtail (cable) but you will lose strength from
the cable length.

You do not have to remove the network cards. Simply disable the card
in the PC system hardware device manager settings.

I regularly do this when I use a USB device on a cable with a laptop
with a built in antenna/card.

I would go for the USB device as it gives more flexibility.

Both perform about the same - PCI maybe slightly better.

Cheers

Rob

me here wrote:
> sharonf wrote:
>
>> I have an old wired router. I am thinking about changing to a
>> wireless router. I am also looking into buying wireless USB adapters
>> to save the time and hassles of having to open up the computer cases
>> and install new wireless cards. I don't know anyone that is using
>> these USB adapters. Do these work as well as the regular wireless
>> adapters? Are there problems that I should know about? If I do use
>> USB adapters do I still have to open up the computer cases to remove
>> the old network cards?
>
> I use a USB adapter and a PCI card in various machines.
>
> The USB adapter has the advantage that it can be put on the end of a
> USB cable and sited to get best reception - without incurring siginal
> loss.
>
> The PCI card is OK except that it means the antenna is poorly located
> at the back of the PC case. You can however replace the antenna with a
> higher gain unit on a pigtail (cable) but you will lose strength from
> the cable length.
>
> You do not have to remove the network cards. Simply disable the card
> in the PC system hardware device manager settings.
>
> I regularly do this when I use a USB device on a cable with a laptop
> with a built in antenna/card.
>
> I would go for the USB device as it gives more flexibility.
>
> Both perform about the same - PCI maybe slightly better.
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob
>
>
Thanks for the reply. I have heard that PCI is slightly faster with the
internet than wireless. Is this true and if so is it significantly faster?

sharonf wrote:

> me here wrote:
> > sharonf wrote:
> >
> >> I have an old wired router. I am thinking about changing to a
> >> wireless router. I am also looking into buying wireless USB
> adapters >> to save the time and hassles of having to open up the
> computer cases >> and install new wireless cards. I don't know
> anyone that is using >> these USB adapters. Do these work as well as
> the regular wireless >> adapters? Are there problems that I should
> know about? If I do use >> USB adapters do I still have to open up
> the computer cases to remove >> the old network cards?
> >
> > I use a USB adapter and a PCI card in various machines.
> >
> > The USB adapter has the advantage that it can be put on the end of a
> > USB cable and sited to get best reception - without incurring
> > siginal loss.
> >
> > The PCI card is OK except that it means the antenna is poorly
> > located at the back of the PC case. You can however replace the
> > antenna with a higher gain unit on a pigtail (cable) but you will
> > lose strength from the cable length.
> >
> > You do not have to remove the network cards. Simply disable the
> > card in the PC system hardware device manager settings.
> >
> > I regularly do this when I use a USB device on a cable with a laptop
> > with a built in antenna/card.
> >
> > I would go for the USB device as it gives more flexibility.
> >
> > Both perform about the same - PCI maybe slightly better.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Rob
> >
> >
> Thanks for the reply. I have heard that PCI is slightly faster with
> the internet than wireless. Is this true and if so is it
> significantly faster?

I don't understand this question.

Both the PCI and USB allow wireless internet transfer.

Both are rated at 54 mbit/sec in the basic form, so both can in real
world terms pass data at up to about 24 mbt/sec.

I have passed ADSL2+ at 22 mbit/sec with the USB dongle, so speed is
not an issue.

Be aware that the USB data speed only holds true for USB2. If using
USB1 (older PC) then the data rate will not be at G levels - only 11
mbit/sec.

This restriction does not apply to a PCI card installation.

Cheers

Rob

sharonf wrote:
> me here wrote:
>
>> sharonf wrote:
>>
>>> I have an old wired router. I am thinking about changing to a
>>> wireless router. I am also looking into buying wireless USB adapters
>>> to save the time and hassles of having to open up the computer cases
>>> and install new wireless cards. I don't know anyone that is using
>>> these USB adapters. Do these work as well as the regular wireless
>>> adapters? Are there problems that I should know about? If I do use
>>> USB adapters do I still have to open up the computer cases to remove
>>> the old network cards?
>>
>>
>> I use a USB adapter and a PCI card in various machines.
>>
>> The USB adapter has the advantage that it can be put on the end of a
>> USB cable and sited to get best reception - without incurring siginal
>> loss.
>>
>> The PCI card is OK except that it means the antenna is poorly located
>> at the back of the PC case. You can however replace the antenna with a
>> higher gain unit on a pigtail (cable) but you will lose strength from
>> the cable length.
>>
>> You do not have to remove the network cards. Simply disable the card
>> in the PC system hardware device manager settings.
>>
>> I regularly do this when I use a USB device on a cable with a laptop
>> with a built in antenna/card.
>>
>> I would go for the USB device as it gives more flexibility.
>>
>> Both perform about the same - PCI maybe slightly better.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Rob
>>
>>
>
> Thanks for the reply. I have heard that PCI is slightly faster with the
> internet than wireless. Is this true and if so is it significantly faster?

Apples are slightly faster than oranges, and bananas really fly.

So, what is your question?
--
Cheers, Bob

In article <gg3g87$ap8$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Bob Willard <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Apples are slightly faster than oranges, and bananas really fly.
>
> So, what is your question?

I think he wants to ask if a wired connection is faster than a wireless
one. Gigabit gigabit gigabit you can't pull enough cable (By the jeez,
Warren, when are you gonna get that crap hidden in the walls like you
promised? Patience, cherub.)
--
W. Oates

Warren Oates wrote:
> In article <gg3g87$ap8$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Bob Willard <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>
>>Apples are slightly faster than oranges, and bananas really fly.
>>
>>So, what is your question?
>
>
> I think he wants to ask if a wired connection is faster than a wireless
> one. Gigabit gigabit gigabit you can't pull enough cable (By the jeez,
> Warren, when are you gonna get that crap hidden in the walls like you
> promised? Patience, cherub.)

I understood the original question, which 'me here' completely answered.
But the follow-up question from 'sharonf' made no sense.
--
Cheers, Bob

On Nov 19, 5:41*pm, sharonf <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> I have an old wired router. I am *thinking about changing to a wireless
> router. I am also looking into buying wireless USB adapters to save the
> time and hassles of having to open up the computer cases and install new
> * wireless cards. I don't know anyone that is using these USB adapters.
> Do these work as well as the regular wireless adapters?

Since you didn't mention special requirements such as a big internet
pipe (T3+) or wanting to be able to toss massive amounts of data
around your LAN (such as HD video), it is safe to assume that your
requirements are the same as 95% of everyone else. In this case, yes,
a USB adapter(s) will work fine. I noted that you wrote
"computers" (plural). More on that later...

> Are there problems that I should know about?

Think of wireless as a supplement to an existing wired network.
Wireless is great for mobile devices such as laptops and computers
where it would be a pain to run cable to, but "if you can run wire
easily, run wire". Using wireless just for the sake of using wireless
is a waste of money and performance.

> If I do use USB adapters do I still have to open up
> the computer cases to remove the old network cards?

Nope. Keep the ethernet NIC cards in place. They will co-exist
peacefully with wireless hardware. They may even come in handy
again.

Back to "computers": Are these computers in the same physically
location, or in locations where running wire between them is
practical? If so, you can use one piece of wireless hardware (such as
USB device) to give connectivity for all of them. If you get a
wireless router, use your old wired router as a hub for all of them.
On the computer with the wireless hardware, run wire from the ethernet
port to one of the LAN ports on the wired router. Then, simply,
connect the rest of the computers ethernet ports to the other LAN
ports on the wired router. Don't use the WAN port on the wired
router. Make sure DHCP is turned off on the wired router, since DHCP
will now be coming from the wireless router. Finally, bridge the
wireless hardware and the ethernet NIC together on the computer with
both. In Windoze, this is done simply by holding control down + left
clicking both icons, then right click, then select "bridge".
Everything will now talk.

On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:04:08 -0800 (PST), (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>On Nov 19, 5:41*pm, sharonf <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>> I have an old wired router. I am *thinking about changing to a wireless
>> router. I am also looking into buying wireless USB adapters to save the
>> time and hassles of having to open up the computer cases and install new
>> * wireless cards. I don't know anyone that is using these USB adapters.
>> Do these work as well as the regular wireless adapters?
>
>Since you didn't mention special requirements such as a big internet
>pipe (T3+) or wanting to be able to toss massive amounts of data
>around your LAN (such as HD video), it is safe to assume that your
>requirements are the same as 95% of everyone else. In this case, yes,
>a USB adapter(s) will work fine. I noted that you wrote
>"computers" (plural). More on that later...
>
>> Are there problems that I should know about?
>
>Think of wireless as a supplement to an existing wired network.
>Wireless is great for mobile devices such as laptops and computers
>where it would be a pain to run cable to, but "if you can run wire
>easily, run wire". Using wireless just for the sake of using wireless
>is a waste of money and performance.
>
>> If I do use USB adapters do I still have to open up
>> the computer cases to remove the old network cards?
>
>Nope. Keep the ethernet NIC cards in place. They will co-exist
>peacefully with wireless hardware. They may even come in handy
>again.
>
>Back to "computers": Are these computers in the same physically
>location, or in locations where running wire between them is
>practical? If so, you can use one piece of wireless hardware (such as
>USB device) to give connectivity for all of them. If you get a
>wireless router, use your old wired router as a hub for all of them.
>On the computer with the wireless hardware, run wire from the ethernet
>port to one of the LAN ports on the wired router. Then, simply,
>connect the rest of the computers ethernet ports to the other LAN
>ports on the wired router. Don't use the WAN port on the wired
>router. Make sure DHCP is turned off on the wired router, since DHCP
>will now be coming from the wireless router. Finally, bridge the
>wireless hardware and the ethernet NIC together on the computer with
>both. In Windoze, this is done simply by holding control down + left
>clicking both icons, then right click, then select "bridge".
>Everything will now talk.

It's probably worth mentioning that the bridge computer will need to
remain on, right? I've never done this kind of bridge but I assume
that would be the case.

Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> It's probably worth mentioning that the bridge computer will need to
> remain on, right? I've never done this kind of bridge but I assume
> that would be the case.

Yes, that would be true.
If there were multiple computers near each other, a better solution might
be a Netgear wireless print server, which also allows four computers to be
connected through it to a WiFi network. $74.99 on Amazon.
http://www.netgear.com/Products/Prin...s/WGPS606.aspx

I have never tried one, but I expect to buy one as soon as I get my new/old
iMac working, since it has an ethernet connection, and i want it to be
wireless.

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5