I thought I would share my other buying decision related to my 5660 I just ordered from PC Torque. Hopefully this will help others who are thinking of jumping on the wireless bandwagon.
One of the deciding factors in me ordering ANY laptop, was finding a wireless access point solution that worked at all points in my home. I wanted to be able to do anything on the laptop that I could do upstairs on my main dev machine.
I have a six computer hardware lan now and what I purchased must work with the existing infrastructure.
My existing computers are linked by a Linksys 8 port switch and are being fed an Internet connection via a Linux firewall/DHCP server, so I automatically assumed I should probably go with Linksys. Wrong, I found out the Linksys access point and wireless router units really want to be the Internet and DHCP master when it comes to setups like mine. Some people get things to work, but most do not. So, Linksys is out. Many complained of inconsistent connections with the Linksys as well.
I then asked around the local Linux user groups about Netgear, Belkin, SMC and D-Link. Without fail most people that had already went wireless had already been down this pothole filled trail. Many had tried all the above only to find out most did not play nice when mixing them in with existing hardware. The only one that seemed to work was the D-Link. Note, because of the possible problems with any unit I decided on, ordering via the Internet was out. If it didn't work, I could take it back and get something else, quick!
With great trepidation, I bought a D-Link DWL-900AP+ and a DWL-650+ two days ago and installed everything. (This unit has the new 22Mbit speed option for 802.11b as well and that mode works great.) I used my laptop assigned to me by my employer as a wireless coverage test bed. After two days of extensive testing I have placed the gold star on the D-Link devices. I have a large two story home and I can reach the access point from all areas. I haven't had the laptop drop connections mysteriously like some other cards I was warned about.
I look forward to being able to take my 5660 all over the house and do whatever I feel like doing, when I feel like doing it with the confidence that I can copy mp3's from the lan server, push source code back and forth, etc. Ah, technology, sometimes stuff just works.
If anyone has any questions related to this, let me know. Wireless is not really plug and play yet. There are a lot of factors that will cause one brand to be praised by one and cursed by another. As with anything, do your homework and may the broadband be with you.
Martin Parrott
One of the deciding factors in me ordering ANY laptop, was finding a wireless access point solution that worked at all points in my home. I wanted to be able to do anything on the laptop that I could do upstairs on my main dev machine.
I have a six computer hardware lan now and what I purchased must work with the existing infrastructure.
My existing computers are linked by a Linksys 8 port switch and are being fed an Internet connection via a Linux firewall/DHCP server, so I automatically assumed I should probably go with Linksys. Wrong, I found out the Linksys access point and wireless router units really want to be the Internet and DHCP master when it comes to setups like mine. Some people get things to work, but most do not. So, Linksys is out. Many complained of inconsistent connections with the Linksys as well.
I then asked around the local Linux user groups about Netgear, Belkin, SMC and D-Link. Without fail most people that had already went wireless had already been down this pothole filled trail. Many had tried all the above only to find out most did not play nice when mixing them in with existing hardware. The only one that seemed to work was the D-Link. Note, because of the possible problems with any unit I decided on, ordering via the Internet was out. If it didn't work, I could take it back and get something else, quick!
With great trepidation, I bought a D-Link DWL-900AP+ and a DWL-650+ two days ago and installed everything. (This unit has the new 22Mbit speed option for 802.11b as well and that mode works great.) I used my laptop assigned to me by my employer as a wireless coverage test bed. After two days of extensive testing I have placed the gold star on the D-Link devices. I have a large two story home and I can reach the access point from all areas. I haven't had the laptop drop connections mysteriously like some other cards I was warned about.
I look forward to being able to take my 5660 all over the house and do whatever I feel like doing, when I feel like doing it with the confidence that I can copy mp3's from the lan server, push source code back and forth, etc. Ah, technology, sometimes stuff just works.
If anyone has any questions related to this, let me know. Wireless is not really plug and play yet. There are a lot of factors that will cause one brand to be praised by one and cursed by another. As with anything, do your homework and may the broadband be with you.
Martin Parrott
