Need a wireless PCI adapter

[timwhit]

This is probably an easy question, but I want to make it more difficult.

I am mainly looking at Linksys units, but would consider something else if someone here highly reccomends it.

What I want is something with a very high signal strength. So which card has the highest signal strength, best antenna, etc?

 

[sechs]

Okkay, I'll ask.

Why would you want to do that?

 

[timwhit]

Want to be able to pick up a wireless signal through a cement wall/ceiling. Crappy cards have a hard time doing this.

 

[Mercutio]

They all pretty much suck. I like Linksys PCI better than other brands I've tried, but my main problem is with the antennae coming off somehow.

I actually have a client site where there are a couple of people who swear, despite repeated bitch-outs on my part, that they are handles.

Anyway, the Linksys antenna thing is alright in this case, because you can get an aftermarket signal-boosting antenna for them, which you can't for some other brands.

You may have better luck with a USB adaptor on a long cable. You have more control over placement with those.

 

[timwhit]

Any model that you like specifically? Some of the Linksys adapters have a different transmitted power rating and antenna boost rating, should I be worried about these numbers?

What type of signal-boosting antenna would you recommend?

 

[sechs]

Want to be able to pick up a wireless signal through a cement wall/ceiling. Crappy cards have a hard time doing this.

I would suggest a good drill and some cat5.

 

[Fushigi]

My wife's PC uses a Netgear WG311T. Her PC is upstairs at the other end of the house from the den where our WAP, a Netgear 634U, resides. It's a wood construction house, but she has no problems maintaining a 108Mbps connection.

Since so many people report Linksys stuff failing so often, why do people still buy it? Sure, it's the 800 pound gorilla of wireless, but so are Dell & HPaq for home PCs and we all know how we feel about them.

sechs - Sometimes people can't drill through walls. Apartment complexes, for one, take a dim view of that sort of thing. Some cities may even have a conduit requirement even though it's low voltage cabling.

 

[Mercutio]

Since so many people report Linksys stuff failing so often, why do people still buy it? Sure, it's the 800 pound gorilla of wireless, but so are Dell & HPaq for home PCs and we all know how we feel about them.

Honestly, for the time it does work, Linksys stuff works better than other products. I'm not going to compare it to heavyweight Orinoco or true Cisco hardware, but it's been my experience that Linksys hardware works when Dlink or Netgear won't. In particular, Linksys APs tend to have vastly more range indoors. I can't argue with that, if I'm setting up a WLAN.
I can't say I've had a Linksys wireless NIC just die. I have people who break them.

timwhit, I pretty much buy the baseline PCI 802.11G adaptor. Half the time I end up getting them at Sam's Club or something. I don't think there's anything special about the ones I buy.

 

[sechs]

Sometimes people can't drill through walls. Apartment complexes, for one, take a dim view of that sort of thing. Some cities may even have a conduit requirement even though it's low voltage cabling.

I believe that this is called, "I put my desktop computer in a bad location."

 

[timwhit]

Sometimes people can't drill through walls. Apartment complexes, for one, take a dim view of that sort of thing. Some cities may even have a conduit requirement even though it's low voltage cabling.

I believe that this is called, "I put my desktop computer in a bad location."

If I wanted advice about where to locate my computer then I would have provided a floorplan. But, I didn't do that now did I?

 

[timwhit]

As an addendum: I never said I was trying to pick up a signal from my WAP, now did I? When you are trying to leech a signal most people wouldn't like it if you drilled through the wall and just plugged a cable into their router.

But, this information is also relevant for something that isn't illegal. A friend of mine is trying to use wireless at his house, but it is a large, old house with cement ceilings/floors and they are having a hard time getting a wireless signal to work in their house. They do not want to run cat5 because this would be a major pain in the ass and it would not be easy to drill through 12 inches of concrete or a good idea.

 

[sechs]

If I wanted advice about where to locate my computer then I would have provided a floorplan. But, I didn't do that now did I?

You asked about how to work around a bad decision.

It would be more intelligent to fix the problem, instead....