wireless network card for laptop

[lumis]

i'm looking in to getting my home network wirless, mainly for my laptop.. i'm pretty much decided on the router i'm going to get.. i'm going with the linksys wrt54g, it looks pretty good, pretty hackable & pretty cheap..

i'm not sure what to go with as far as a wireless nic card for the laptop.. i'm looking for something with about a 100ft range that can go through walls (2 or 3 of them) pretty well.

and i'm also kind of curious about this "wireless hotspot" thing.. for example if i were to go to the airport i could get on through their wireless network or something.. is that the same kind of card, or something completely different?

any suggestions would be welcome, including those on my choice of router.

[Soopafresh]

I posted a few links to websites that carry 3rd party firmware updates for Linksys routers. Several claim to boost the signal sensitivity. Who knows?

Just don't get a Linksys USB-Wireless external NIC. Disconnects up the wazoo.

I've had no problems with D-Link, SMC, and Netgear PCMCIA cards. Of course, YMMV. All it takes is a driver upgrade...

Here's an important point - install the driver diskette/CD before you physically insert the card into the laptop.

Yes, your wifi card will be able to connect to a wifi hotspot. The commercial spots will require you enter either a password or a WEP software key to connect.

[lumis]

okay.. well i've found a netgear card that i think will be good.. what is the range on these cards/routers? will they be able to work decently at 100 feet, and going through walls? kind of like if i had it in the garage and the router was across the house seperated by 3 walls?

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2304414

?

[Soopafresh]

This is always difficult to determine. The material in the walls determines how easily the signal can pass through them. This site will enable you to make a simple booster for your Wifi router's antenna http://www.freeantennas.com/
Line of sight is always the best. If you can see it, you can probably connect to it.

Also, if you have people on cordless phones walking around your house, your connection can be adversely affected.

I was able to walk out of my place with a laptop and stayed connected over 100 feet away, but I had line of sight.

[ofbarea]

I got a linksys WRT54G router and a Linksys PCMCIA WPC54G ver.2. They work well together. I found that I would get a bit better coverage using an U.S. Robotics 802.11g Wireless Turbo PC Card with my laptop.

[lumis]

line of sight isnt going to be possible in the setup i'm describing..

there is a distance of about 40 feet & 3 walls consisting of; paneling/sheetrock (den/backbedroom), sheetrock/aluminum siding (backbedroom/outside of house), wood/sheetrock (outside of garage/inside wall of garage).

so does this sound like its not going to work?

[Soopafresh]

Lumis - I know you want a yes or no answer, but you'll just have to hold onto your boxes and receipts and try it out. The workstation software will have a strength meter where you'll be able to see how good the signal is as you walk away from the router.

Also, check http://www.salescircular.com for deals in your area.

[lumis]

okay.. well i guess i'll go after the linksys router & netgear card i mentioned earlier.

i'd just rather start off with the best that i can afford (around $100)..

should i get a card with an antenna on it, or will it be just as effective as the one without?

thanks for your help

[Soopafresh]

For your laptop, it'll be nicer not to have a visible antenna hanging off of it.

And remember, install the drivers before you insert the PCMCIA card.

[Ward River]

Yes, your wifi card will be able to connect to a wifi hotspot. The commercial spots will require you enter either a password or a WEP software key to connect.

There's so many spots along the way to those "commercial spots" that require a PW or an encrypted key to access them that are just wide open unprotected access points thanks to noobs that just open the box, hook everything up and forget about it that I never seem to make it all the way to those "commercial spots". Sometimes those are actually the preferred connections if you know what I mean.

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning. By joining you agreed not to post any material that may violate any applicable laws.

Do not advocate war diving!

/ Moderator offline