Which 802.11b card (desktop)?

Hi,

As I described in a different thread, I'm having problems with one of
computers (desktop with LinkSys WMP11 ver 2.7) on my home wireless
network. To eliminate the possibility of a hardware failure I need to
get another wiresless card.

Instead of getting another WMP11 can I get a better one in the same
price range?

The reason of my question is that laptop with Intel card seems to get a
better signal that the above mentioned desktop had at the same
location.

Is there such thing as good and not expensive 802.11b PCI (not mini)
card?

TIA, Eugene

Eugene F. wrote:
> Hi,
>
> As I described in a different thread, I'm having problems with one of
> computers (desktop with LinkSys WMP11 ver 2.7) on my home wireless
> network. To eliminate the possibility of a hardware failure I need to
> get another wiresless card.
>
> Instead of getting another WMP11 can I get a better one in the same
> price range?
>
> The reason of my question is that laptop with Intel card seems to get a
> better signal that the above mentioned desktop had at the same
> location.
>
> Is there such thing as good and not expensive 802.11b PCI (not mini)
> card?
>
> TIA, Eugene

If you can find another WMP11 it will cost you around $5. Best Buy is selling
these or similar Linksys "B" PCI cards for that price every once in a while.
(with rebate) So check their web site. None on sale this week but check on
Sunday.
The Linksys PCI wireless cards are somewhat inhibited by the fact that the
antenna is mounted directly to the card and thus is among the mass of wires at
the back of most computers. And the computer itself could be in the direct path
of the RF. I have 2 such computers and I improved one of them with an external
antenna that is mounted above the computer on a wooden desk. The other computer
works just fine as is.

DanR wrote:
> Eugene F. wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>As I described in a different thread, I'm having problems with one of
>>computers (desktop with LinkSys WMP11 ver 2.7) on my home wireless
>>network. To eliminate the possibility of a hardware failure I need to
>>get another wiresless card.
>>
>>Instead of getting another WMP11 can I get a better one in the same
>>price range?
>>
>>The reason of my question is that laptop with Intel card seems to get a
>>better signal that the above mentioned desktop had at the same
>>location.
>>
>>Is there such thing as good and not expensive 802.11b PCI (not mini)
>>card?
>>
>>TIA, Eugene
>
>
> If you can find another WMP11 it will cost you around $5. Best Buy is selling
> these or similar Linksys "B" PCI cards for that price every once in a while.
> (with rebate) So check their web site. None on sale this week but check on
> Sunday.
> The Linksys PCI wireless cards are somewhat inhibited by the fact that the
> antenna is mounted directly to the card and thus is among the mass of wires at
> the back of most computers. And the computer itself could be in the direct path
> of the RF. I have 2 such computers and I improved one of them with an external
> antenna that is mounted above the computer on a wooden desk. The other computer
> works just fine as is.
>
>
I just purchased an Edimax EW-7126 for $20.00 from newegg.com Comes with
a detachable antenna with 94cm of cable and a RP-SMA connector. It is
working great and is very solid. Works with Windows
98SE/Me/2000/XP/WinCE.Net/Linux

Re: Edimax EW-7126

Looked at reviews at NewEgg.com and ordered it.

One of the reviews warned against placing the antenne near monitors.
What constitutes "near" in practical terms? Does anybody know?

TIA, Eugene

Eugene F. wrote:
> Re: Edimax EW-7126
>
> Looked at reviews at NewEgg.com and ordered it.
>
> One of the reviews warned against placing the antenne near monitors.
> What constitutes "near" in practical terms? Does anybody know?
>
> TIA, Eugene
>
Am not really sure as I have mine sitting on top of the monitor (Sony 17SX)

On 2 Jul 2005 13:20:44 -0700, "Eugene F." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Re: Edimax EW-7126
>
>Looked at reviews at NewEgg.com and ordered it.
>
>One of the reviews warned against placing the antenne near monitors.
>What constitutes "near" in practical terms? Does anybody know?

My cat, paperwork, and wireless antenna all compete for space on top
of the monitor. At this moment, the cat is winning.

I think the reviewer probably meant not to place the router near the
monitor. Many potential problems.
1. The electrostatic field from the high voltage can do weird and
disgusting things to circuitry. With today's low voltage logic, it
doesn't take too many electrons piled up on a wire to change logic
states.
2. If your monitor is ancient, it might be belching some x-rays.
They won't be substantial but might be sufficient to create logic
errors in high density memory chips.
3. The flyback transformer has quite a large magnetic field. Most
better monitor have shields around the flybacks, but the cheap ones do
not. Your router might have an inductor or transformer that will
pickup the field from the flyback xformer and induce some garbage into
the circuitry. This is the most likely potential problem.

The reason I say potential is that I consider all the aforementioned
to be highly unlikely with modern monitors. I did have a monitor
where the high voltage lead was almost touching the top of the plastic
case. I placed my cell phone on top of the case. When I reached for
the phone, I felt a slight jolt, where the hi-v arced over to the cell
phone, and then through my body to ground. The phone was dead.
However, that's about as bad as it gets. Unless you do something
similar with a wireless antenna, where the jolt goes through the coax
cable and into the router, I wouldn't worry about proximity to a
monitor.


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558

Received and tried to install EW-7126 (Edimax Wireless LAN PCI Card) on
my Win'98SE desktop.

Quick Installation Guide does not seem to match the enclosed CD
(version 1.09 March 05, 2004).

While I figured out the location of the driver, I can not find the
location of Utility's Setup.EXE file. It is NOT in the \Utility
folder.

Any ideas?

TIA, Eugene

Downloaded updated stuff from their web-site and everything seems to
work.

One more question about Edimax EW-7126

I'm getting around 40% signal mark. Antenna is on the level with
monitor's base. Length of the cord does not allow me to place it
higher. LinkSys router is on the second floor.

If I to get a replacement antenna with somewhat longer cord (at least 2
Ft more) which one should I pick? Obviously prefer from lower price
range.

TIA, Eugene