Wireless cards

[fillalph]

I am having a little dilema.

I have a desktop with a LAN card.

I have a Centrino laptop with a wireless B card built-in.

At the university I am going to, I will only have access to the wireless network. The problem is that my desktop doesn't have a wireless card and I was looking for some of your opnions for the best setup.

1. Get a wireless G card for my desktop and don't upgrade the B card in my laptop

2. Setup a peer-peer network using a router (which I already have) and have my desktop send the information to my laptop (ie. make my laptop a "server" like stated here using option 1).

Thanks

]Bonkers[

Edited April 29, 2005 by ]Bonkers[

[ripken204]

ur a little confusing but are u saying that both your desktop and laptop which are located where you live which is some type of dorm, have a b card?

and that ur university will only allow a g connection?

and therefore you will be buying a g card but only have enough money for one g card so you now have to decide which computer to put it in?

if this is what you mean then u could do what u are doing right now or you could get a usb wireless card which you could plug into whichever comp you are using

[gamehead200]

Weird... Aren't B and G compatible with each other, just B will be slower?

[ripken204]

not always

if u have a g signal going out then chances are ur b card cant read them, but if b signals are going out then a g usually can read it

[Drewdatrip]

not always

if u have a g signal going out then chances are ur b card cant read them, but if b signals are going out then a g usually can read it

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Naw thats just wrong.

B and g interpolate

In no case with A work with anything other then A; unless u have a multi fuction card

Drew

[ripken204]

not with my card, i have b and cant pickup my friends g signal

[godan]

the school's network may have it restricted to G only because in most cases anytime a B connection enters the network ALL connections drop down to B speeds... this is bad so the netadmins simply diable B connections to prevent this. if i were you i would buy a usb adapter as stated before and swap from comp to comp as needed and then when you get more money buy a PCMCIA card for your laptop. or if you really want to get something spiffy do a search on pricewatch for a PCMCIA to PCI adapter for your pc. then buy just one PCMCIA card and swap them between the 2.

[Zxian]

I think people have misinterpreted the question here...

I also go to the same university, and the wireless works for both 802.11b and 802.11g cards. Support for "a" isn't up yet, since it's not as common.

I think the question here is whether or not he should get a wireless card for his desktop, or use Internet Connection Sharing on his laptop to gain internet access on his desktop (through the router).

I'd recommend getting the wireless card for the desktop. It just makes the setup a lot easier, and you'll be able to setup the system to connect to the VPN server on startup (for security purposes n stuff). You can easily find a good wireless card for your desktop at NCIX computers. They've always got clearances on PCI wifi cards.

Oh, and check your PM inbox.

Cheers!

[tarquel]

yep - get a w.card or router option!

ICS stinks lol

Regards,

N.

[fillalph]

Update:

I decided to get a wireless card for my desktop, but I have one more dilemma. I am not sure if I should get a G card 54Mbps or a G+/speedbooster 108Mbps. The wireless at my university runs at 54Mbps and the router I have runs at 54Mbps, but will I get a stronger signal reception with the 108Mbps?

I have been looking at the D-Link DWL-G510. Any suggestions?

Thanks

]Bonkers[

[LiquidSage]

if your router is a linksys w/ speedbooster... then your wireless card will see some improvement in signal strength. That means higher speed.

Now in reality, the speed increase is negligible. With or without SpeedBooster you will be luck to see any better than 40mbps. With physical obstacles and other factors involved such as the extra overhead for security and other wifi cards, you won't see much, if any difference. If you feel like spending the $$.... just get a combo a/b/g card. Remember, Speedbooster cards only work with speedbooster ap's and routers.

Your effort would be better spent in moddin your antenna for better signal and or improving the general conditions that affect wifi signal strength.

[ripken204]

if u are even thinking about the speedbooster(which i think is somewhere around 100$), then why dont u just get 2 g cards???

[Zxian]

The "SpeedBooster" technologies that manufacturers add onto their wireless systems are manufacturer specific. I'm guessing that UBC doesn't use this technology, and only has the standard g network.

If you want some help on how to make a bigger antenna for your desktop, so you can get full signal from wireless networks in Burnaby, let me know. A friend of a guy in Fizz has one. It's all about connections...

[fillalph]

I have finally unpacked everything in my dorm room, but it doesn't all fit :S. The desk they supply is too small for my crt and there is no play to install a keyboard tray. So now, in order to get a wireless card for my desktop, I am going to have to buy an LCD and make a modification to the desk .

Thanks for all your help everyone.

]Bonkers[

[LiquidSage]

you can get a usb 2.0 wifi adapter...but if your looking for an excuse to buy an lcd....