recommend a wireless usb card

25 Jan 2007 5:23 PM

ler01kjh

Hi,
I want to be able to access the internet from wireless networks
provided by shops, hotels etc.

If I buy a wireless USB card, do they vary in speed? I understand
there is "n" which is the fastest?

What is the most cost effective option? I wouldn't want to buy one
again very quickly because it was too slow for network capacities or
not compatable.

25 Jan 2007 6:41 PM

Lem

ler01kjh wrote:

> Hi,
> I want to be able to access the internet from wireless networks
> provided by shops, hotels etc.
>
> If I buy a wireless USB card, do they vary in speed? I understand
> there is "n" which is the fastest?
>
> What is the most cost effective option? I wouldn't want to buy one
> again very quickly because it was too slow for network capacities or
> not compatable.
>

Wireless speed is mostly marketing hype. More importantly, anything
other than regular 802.11g will probably only get _any_ speed boost if
both the adapter on the computer and the router/access point are the
same make/model (as you would see if you read the fine print on the data
sheet for, say, a "Turbo" G model adapter). Finally, "pre-n" means what
it literally says: before n. That's because the new 802.11n standard
has not yet been approved.

As far as USB wireless adapters are concerned, consider that although
adapters that look like thumb drives can fit in your pocket, they don't
have much of an antenna. If you're in a Starbucks or McDonald's or
other small location that provides wifi access, that won't matter much
because the access point is going to be nearby. If you're in a large
airport, however, you might have to end up like a character in one of
those cell phone commercials, all scrunched up on the top of a bookcase
next to a window.

For example only, here are what Linksys sells:

"thumb drive" type: http://tinyurl.com/lg9k6
"portable" USB with a real antenna: http://tinyurl.com/zh27l

and for comparison, "thumb drive" type with Linksys' "SpeedBooster"
technology: http://tinyurl.com/nzn2l (There isn't even a data sheet for
this one. You have to look elsewhere on the Linksys site to find out
that "SpeedBooster: Up to 35% increase in speed over standard Wireless-G
when used with other SpeedBooster products." http://tinyurl.com/yw288t)

--
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

25 Jan 2007 6:54 PM

Jack (MVP-Networking).

Hi

The Wireless units like preN, Speed Booster etc. are depending on a specific
Wireless source to provide the Extra "Speed" otherwise they work as regular
802.11b/g.

Since you plan to depend on Free public Hot Spot, there is No point to buy N
(or Speed Booster etc.) the N is useless unless the source is N. I doubt
that you would find any free Hot Spot that is running N. In addition, the
current N is actually preN and probably would not be compatible when the
actual N will come out.

If your computer has USB2 port, buy a USB2 Wireless thumb unit.

Also, Buy an A-A USB extension cable. Using an Extension cable you can put
the Wireless unit high above the system and improve reception when the
signal is weak.

The units mentioned above by Lem are a good example to the upper-scaled
devices

The is an Examples for inexpensive USB2 in case you need one.

BUFFALO WLI-U2-KG54-AI IEEE 802.11b/g USB 2.0

LINKSKEY LKW-G750 IEEE 802.11b/g USB 2.0

Jack (MVP-Networking).

Show quoteHide quote

"ler01kjh" <k.j.ha***@reading.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:1169745811.833233.137330@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
> I want to be able to access the internet from wireless networks
> provided by shops, hotels etc.
>
> If I buy a wireless USB card, do they vary in speed? I understand
> there is "n" which is the fastest?
>
> What is the most cost effective option? I wouldn't want to buy one
> again very quickly because it was too slow for network capacities or
> not compatable.
>

26 Jan 2007 9:58 AM

ler01kjh

Cool, thanks very much for the responses. I'll have a think about what
I want based on what you've told me. Thanks.

7 Feb 2007 9:37 PM

HevetS

On 25 Jan, 18:54, "Jack \(MVP-Networking\)."
<J***@discussiongroup.com> wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

> Hi
>
> The Wireless units like preN, Speed Booster etc. are depending on a specific
> Wireless source to provide the Extra "Speed" otherwise they work as regular
> 802.11b/g.
>
> Since you plan to depend on Free public Hot Spot, there is No point to buy N
> (or Speed Booster etc.) the N is useless unless the source is N. I doubt
> that you would find any free Hot Spot that is running N. In addition, the
> current N is actually preN and probably would not be compatible when the
> actual N will come out.
>
> If your computer has USB2 port, buy a USB2 Wireless thumb unit.
>
> Also, Buy an A-AUSBextension cable. Using an Extension cable you can put
> the Wireless unit high above the system and improve reception when the
> signal is weak.
>
> The units mentioned above by Lem are a good example to the upper-scaled
> devices
>
> The is an Examples for inexpensive USB2 in case you need one.
>
> BUFFALOWLI-U2-KG54-AI IEEE 802.11b/gUSB2.0
>
> LINKSKEY LKW-G750 IEEE 802.11b/gUSB2.0
>
> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>
> "ler01kjh" <k.j.ha***@reading.ac.uk> wrote in message
>
> news:1169745811.833233.137330@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > Hi,
> > I want to be able to access the internet from wireless networks
> > provided by shops, hotels etc.
>
> > If I buy a wirelessUSBcard, do they vary in speed? I understand
> > there is "n" which is the fastest?
>
> > What is the most cost effective option? I wouldn't want to buy one
> > again very quickly because it was too slow for network capacities or
> > not compatable.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Hi Lem,

I recently changed to a Buffalo based set up and managed very nicely
for several days with the KG54 AI usb adaptor on our inspiron 2600
laptop. Although the unit always advised that it would work better on
usb2 when we plugged it in, it still worked very well, but today, when
plugged in we just get the message: 'USB device not recognized: one of
the devices connected to ... has malfunctioned and is not recognized
by Windows'.

I did try it briefly on the pc, when it did seem to load the software
and light up, but this screwed up my settings on the pc -which was
still using a D-link adaptor up to that point - so I had to do a
system restore to get them back, rather than press on with tests on
the KG54 AI.

Any advice on this?

Regards,

Steve_H