Wifi

How can I find out if my laptop suports cardbus??

Also - what is a USB wifi dongle and how do I find out if my latop supports
USB 2.0 or 1.1 wifi dongle??? Can you help again??

thanks
--
Jane

Jane Ashe wrote:
> How can I find out if my laptop suports cardbus??
>
> Also - what is a USB wifi dongle and how do I find out if my latop supports
> USB 2.0 or 1.1 wifi dongle??? Can you help again??
>
> thanks

Well, it would help quite a bit if you identified what make/model laptop
you have.

It's also important to identify what operating system you are using,
complete with service pack level.

As to USB, open Device Manager and expand (by clicking on the +) the
entries for "Universal Serial Bus Controllers." If there is an entry
for an "Enhanced" host controller, then you have USB 2.0 hardware.

If your laptop is 3 years old, it most likely has a Cardbus slot. If
you remain unsure, buy from a vendor with a reasonable return policy: a
Cardbus card will not fit into an older, non-Cardbus PC card slot.

If you go the "USB dongle" route, be sure to get a USB extension cable.
The antenna -- such as it is -- is built in to the dongle, and its
size makes it marginally effective at best, so you want to be able to
position it to advantage, rather than having it fixed to the back of the
computer. You can also buy larger USB wireless adapters that have
better antennas (but they won't fit in your pocket).

Linksys devices, for example only:

"Dongle" type USB adapter: http://tinyurl.com/lg9k6
Non-dongle type USB adapter: http://tinyurl.com/zh27l
Older non-dongle USB adapter: http://tinyurl.com/n5vn6
Cardbus type adapter: http://tinyurl.com/c2azl

--
Lem MS MVP -- Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer

My laptop is a Microstar model no. MD41050 - product no. MID2020
I am running MS XP and have service pack level 2 installed - I've looked at
the Device manager and it looks like I have 'enhanced host controller' which
apparently means I have USB 2.0 capability and it looks like I have a
cardbus, but I'm not sure. I'm still a little confused as to whether I need
the laptop carde and adapter or just the card. Can you help at all?? Any
help is very much apprecaited
--
Jane


"Lem" wrote:

> Jane Ashe wrote:
> > How can I find out if my laptop suports cardbus??
> >
> > Also - what is a USB wifi dongle and how do I find out if my latop supports
> > USB 2.0 or 1.1 wifi dongle??? Can you help again??
> >
> > thanks
>
> Well, it would help quite a bit if you identified what make/model laptop
> you have.
>
> It's also important to identify what operating system you are using,
> complete with service pack level.
>
> As to USB, open Device Manager and expand (by clicking on the +) the
> entries for "Universal Serial Bus Controllers." If there is an entry
> for an "Enhanced" host controller, then you have USB 2.0 hardware.
>
> If your laptop is 3 years old, it most likely has a Cardbus slot. If
> you remain unsure, buy from a vendor with a reasonable return policy: a
> Cardbus card will not fit into an older, non-Cardbus PC card slot.
>
> If you go the "USB dongle" route, be sure to get a USB extension cable.
> The antenna -- such as it is -- is built in to the dongle, and its
> size makes it marginally effective at best, so you want to be able to
> position it to advantage, rather than having it fixed to the back of the
> computer. You can also buy larger USB wireless adapters that have
> better antennas (but they won't fit in your pocket).
>
> Linksys devices, for example only:
>
> "Dongle" type USB adapter: http://tinyurl.com/lg9k6
> Non-dongle type USB adapter: http://tinyurl.com/zh27l
> Older non-dongle USB adapter: http://tinyurl.com/n5vn6
> Cardbus type adapter: http://tinyurl.com/c2azl
>
> --
> Lem MS MVP -- Networking
>
> To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
>

Jane Ashe wrote:
> My laptop is a Microstar model no. MD41050 - product no. MID2020
> I am running MS XP and have service pack level 2 installed - I've looked at
> the Device manager and it looks like I have 'enhanced host controller' which
> apparently means I have USB 2.0 capability and it looks like I have a
> cardbus, but I'm not sure. I'm still a little confused as to whether I need
> the laptop carde and adapter or just the card. Can you help at all?? Any
> help is very much apprecaited

Your laptop apparently has both USB 2.0 support and Cardbus PC-card support.

Each one of the devices shown at the links in my earlier post is a
self-contained wireless networking adapter. You need one (and only one)
of these devices.

I used Linksys as an example, because I have had good luck with their
products, but you can buy any brand you'd like. I suggest, however,
that you buy one of the "name brand" devices, rather than attempting to
save a few dollars (or whatever currency you happen to use) by
purchasing a "never-heard-of-it-but-it's-cheap" adapter. Name brands
include Linksys, Netgear, Buffalo Tech, D-Link, Belkin, and probably a
few more that I can't recall at the moment.

What you buy may depend in part on what you intend to do. If all you
are going to do is to use your laptop in "hotspots" such as coffee shops
and airports, any of the different varieties will be fine. If you are
going to set up a home wireless network (in which case you will also
need to buy a wireless router), I suggest that you get one of the
devices with an external antenna, such as either of the two "non-dongle"
USB adapters.

That said, I bought a PC-card adapter (an early model
http://tinyurl.com/c2azl) for use with a Win98SE laptop. At the time,
there were few, if any, USB adapters available (this was before USB
2.0). I'm still using this adapter today -- with no problems -- on the
same laptop, which is now running WinXP Pro.



--
Lem MS MVP -- Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer

Lem <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Jane Ashe wrote:
>
> > My laptop is a Microstar model no. MD41050 - product no. MID2020
> > I am running MS XP and have service pack level 2 installed - I've looked at
> > the Device manager and it looks like I have 'enhanced host controller' which
> > apparently means I have USB 2.0 capability and it looks like I have a
> > cardbus, but I'm not sure. I'm still a little confused as to whether I need
> > the laptop carde and adapter or just the card. Can you help at all?? Any
> > help is very much apprecaited
>
> Your laptop apparently has both USB 2.0 support and Cardbus PC-card support.
>
> Each one of the devices shown at the links in my earlier post is a
> self-contained wireless networking adapter. You need one (and only one)
> of these devices.

And in my own experience, USB adapters are more difficult to get to work
than PC Card/PCMCIA adapters. I have yet to see a USB adapter that kan
be plugged in while the computer boots/re-boots. They all have to be
removed and/or be plugged in after booting.

This has not been the case with the PC Card/PCMCIA adapters I have used.

Also, do USB adapters work with WZC (Windows Zero Config)? I'm an OS
X/W2K user, however I don't think USB they do. With all PC Card/PCMCIA
adapters I know of you can replace the client software that comes with
the adapter with WZC. WZC is often a fare better client than the ones
that come with the cards.

So, bottom line, buy a PC Card/PCMCIA adapter and use the Windows
client, Windows Zero Config.