Best aftermarket wireless card

Screw that internal WiFi option. It will only lead you to the path of aggravation. I got such poor range with the buil in WiFi card I might as well have hooked up the cable. You'll be struggling to cope with range issues. I think that because they wrapped the internal antennae around the keyboard frame instead of the LCD it isn't working properly. Would surprise me if the magnesium all-ploy is causing some inteference.

Plus the fix to eliminating the problems currently is to lower the transmit power on the card. Hello?

In todays WiFi market you search for cards that let you increase power not lower it.


My search has led me to the Proxim Orinoco A/B/G Combo Gold Card (PCMCIA) or the Linsys WT55AG (i think thats it). I have had linksys cards in the past without any problems but from what I read the Orinoco is the bomb.

Anyone know of a good site that compares many different PCMCIA wifi cards like the Orinoco?

Where is that one that was posted before that has the antenna that sits flush in the system until you need it? It was a 3com I think. I saved that link on my Compaq (which of course died this past week so I'm waiting for a new battery) but cannot access it. Once UPS showes up with a new batt, I'll repost the link if no one beats me to it here.

-Craig

Cdw

CDW has the best selection of wireless networking equipment althought ther prices are not the best it tis a good place to start and compare items to go out and find them elsewere. www.cdw.com

I think you mean:

3Com 11a/b/g Wireless PC Card with XJACK® Antenna

Wow this sounds like exactly the card I need. An antenna that tucks away sweeeet.
Now, does anyone know of any online reviews of this card?

Hey guys,

I just bought the linksys wpc55ag wireless card. I'm gonna try it out tonight after work (I'm one of the poor shleps that had to work today). I have a linksys g router with SBC yahoo DSL which I just set up Tuesday. So far signal strength to my laptop has been awful at anything further than 10-15 feet away. I don't think it's the router since this one is supposed to be one of the best. So judging by other people's experience with the internal card, I'm assuming it's the internal card or the way the antenna is set up in the system. The local CDW did not have the 3COM card in stock and the Proxim Orinoco card was $23 more than the Linksys. I don't know if the Orinoco card is $23 better than the Linksys card but we'll see. I'll let you guys know how well it works and whether it's a viable solution to our wireless woes.

Agere Orinoco owns you all.

I too am working today!

I too ame one of those poor shleps but I am anxsious to hear how that card works out for you as for mine the internal card works great I guess its just the luckof the draw after a littel tweaking getting full to 90% signal every where in th house. Even in the downstairs bathroom. (DON'T ASK HOW I KNOW THAT)

Can you tell me some of the tweaks you've done to get your internal card to work so well? What router are you using?

In my experience, the internal cards out perform the add-on cards by a decent margin. I've used Orinoco, Cisco, Netgear and Linksys external (pcmcia) cards and none of them have gotten the same range/reception as the internal Intel mini-pci card I have in my current IBM thinkpad.

I'm hoping to see a similar result with the mini-pci I'm getting in the Area-51m when it comes. I'll certainly post my results as I have a wireless G (netgear router/wap combo) network in the house. Running wireless B I get 90%+ signal all over the house with the internal and 70-80% signal at the extremes of the house with and addon card.

BradC

I had hoped this would be the case with my Area-51m but it hasn't turned out that way. On the AW forums there are plenty of people who are having a lot of trouble getting any kind of a decent signal with the current internal card offered in the Area-51. Some people have tried multiple routers with no luck so I'm assuming it's not the router one is using but the card itself. What you say above may be true but when the option is a bad signal with the internal card and a good signal with the external card, I'll take the external card.

I'm not the most tech savvy person. I really don't want to open up the laptop to get at the internal card and see if I can fiddle around with it to make it perform better. There's always more of a chance to really screw something up. Besides this is a new laptop, we should not have to be opening up the laptop this much so soon to get it to work right. AW should have seen the problems with the internal card design and solved them before releasing the laptop.

AW's A+B+G is CRAP - Known Issue!

It's not your ROUTER!!

Now is it Crap because its CRAP - or is it due to where they placed the ant's? -- Not sure anyone knows this yet.

I have the 3COM on order - its backordered from the 4 vendors I tried - and I have it ordered from 3. I also have the Linksys abg which is due on Monday. For now I've been using the Linkysys 802.11 usb adapter- it has a popup antenna so I figured the range would be a bit better. I would also love to get a good mini pci - but until we know if the issue lies with ant placement or the card I was going to use pcmcia/ or usb.

Yup. It sure ain't the router! I started out with the Linksys G router; after reading some bad reviews on Cnet about it, I decided to switch to the Microsoft N-500 which has gotten a lot of praise. Just hooked it up and guess what, marginally better signal. The signal strength degrades rapidly on my laptop when I move further than 10 feet from the router. So rfaster, you were right, IT AIN'T THE ROUTER! I just had to see it for myself. Whatever the problem is: the card, case design, antenna placememt, whatever. It sucks! I'm gonna try the linksys a/b/g card and see how that works.

As I sit here typing away this update, I have installed the Linksys a+g (wpc55ag) card into my pcmcia slot. In the exact same spot that I got a low signal when I was using the internal card, I'm now getting a very good signal. So it's about a 100% improvement in signal strength. Through out the whole house I get no less than a very good signal. The furthest point I'm away from the router is about 30 feet and two rooms. So my wireless network is finally set up with a Microsoft MN-500 router and the Linksys external card, and it work well for me. I like the Microsoft router better than the Linksys G router I had for two days. The Microsoft router seems to give me a little better signal strength.

Now the above being said, I'm still not happy about the situation with the internal card. Given a choice, I would prefer to use the internal card only instead of the external one (less crap to carry around and more stuff to lose). But like other's have said, until we or AW finds out what really is the problem with the internal card, it's best to hold off buying an internal card from another vendor. If it's an antenna issue or case design issue a different internal card may not work any better. For now, I'm happy with the Linksys A+G card.

minipci

Wonder if anyone has tried anohter minipci card in their aw? -- I wonder if the one in my Dell 8500 will work - I'll check it out tomorrow.

All this hype about the 802.11G!!!

Most people do not even need the speed that the G offers. The speed only matters if there is the need to transfer HUGE files between computers in your network. For regular internet use, most users do not even have more than 1.5 mbps speeds which the 802.11b can more than accomodate.

802.11G is fairly new and the drivers still have bugs to be ironed out.

In my network I have a mix of wireless cards which include 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11b+, and 802.11g.

Did you know that you can get the 802.11b+ for dirt cheap?

High preformance!

Most people in here would agree we paid alot of money for these laptops and we want high preformance everything to go with them is it over kill maybe, but thats the way we are. Did i really need 1gb of ram to play counter strike no not really but it sure don't hurt. On the other hand I have a wireless g network at home I use to stream my mp3's from my desktop to my laptop and it works great the B on the other hand stuttered a bit. I Can also stream vidoe from my desktop over the wireless g with no real loss. this is cool because i can now watch all my downloaded stuff on my tv without having to load up my laptop plays right through the network. My desktop has 160 gb of storage while the laptop only has 60 this saves lots of space for more games!

I just got my 3com 11abg + XJACK Antennae card and it installed and functions flawlessly. It looks cool too and matches the color of my laptop. One of the things I like the best is the ability to turn the card on or off just by pushing it in. That woks really well. Push it in and WiFi is off. Pop out the antennae and instant connection (which has given me excellent to very good signals all over the house). Setup was a breeze.

Don't get me wrong I wish I could use the internal WiFi on the mini pci slot but for me it just didnt work and that was on 2 different Area51 laptops (they kept sending me a machine that didnt work). Finally enough is enough and I got one without the darn mini pci card and bought this 3com Xjack baby.

Originally I was set on the Proxim Orinoco Combo gold card but the fact that the 3com's antennae pushes in when you arent using it was a huge plus for me. I've already snapped a few antennae's forgetting to pull out the card when putting the laptop away so to me the 3 com was the only way to go. Plus that Xjack antennae just gives people one more thing to oogle over.

So do you mean that the card is "off" if the antenna is "in"?

-Craig

Ith - Question -

1 - where did you buy your 3-Com - I have it on order from 2 shops and its still back ordered.