What Wifi Products Do You Recommend?

[mscdex]

I'm out to buy a new wireless usb adapter and wireless pc card for my ipaq 3635. What do you guys think is the best, but still isn't expensive. Also, where could I find the cheapest and best Access Point? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: I got my Linksys Instant Wireless USB Adapter working... kinda, but I was wondering if I should still return it and get a better one (one with better range?). Also I was wondering what you thought about the Compaq wireless pc card. Since I know there are drivers for pocketpc for it, It will work. But is the card decent?

[that_kid]

i find the Lucent cards work well with the 3650, plus you can use netstumble with Lucent cards. I believe you can find them for a good price if you look on pricewatch.com. As far as the usb side of things I don't know. I have a usb dongle from dlink that works well but I havne't really used many usb dongles so I wouln't know of any issues between different ones. I do know that if you're looking to get a pcmcia card for your 3650 then the Lucent Gold or Silver cards are great.

[mscdex]

i find the Lucent cards work well with the 3650, plus you can use netstumble with Lucent cards. I believe you can find them for a good price if you look on pricewatch.com. As far as the usb side of things I don't know. I have a usb dongle from dlink that works well but I havne't really used many usb dongles so I wouln't know of any issues between different ones. I do know that if you're looking to get a pcmcia card for your 3650 then the Lucent Gold or Silver cards are great.

I can't seem to find Lucent cards. Are the same thing as the Orinoco cards?

Also how far would two wifi devices (usb & pcmcia) reach without an accesspoint?

[Janak Parekh]

I can't seem to find Lucent cards. Are the same thing as the Orinoco cards?
Yes, they are. Lucent used to manufacture them, but they spun it off and now it's owned by Proxim (www.proxim.com).

The Orinoco cards are among the best in every which way except one - form factor. I'd prefer a CF card on a Pocket PC nowadays, and that's why I use the Symbol. However, if you want to go PC card, the Orinocos have excellent driver support. They also have a USB version for desktops.

Also how far would two wifi devices (usb & pcmcia) reach without an accesspoint?
In open air? Several hundred feet, in theory. In practice, it depends on a lot of things. An Access Point only usually gives you better coverage because of its antenna design.

--janak

[mscdex]

The Orinoco seem more on the expensive side, in comparison to a Compaq wifi PC Card which I found for $31.99 and the Compaq wifi USB for $37.99. Both with free shipping. I would go ahead and get them, but I don't know how good they are or anything. Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with them?

[Janak Parekh]

The Orinoco seem more on the expensive side, in comparison to a Compaq wifi PC Card which I found for $31.99 and the Compaq wifi USB for $37.99. Both with free shipping. I would go ahead and get them, but I don't know how good they are or anything. Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with them?
Yes, admittedly, the Orinocos are not the cheapest. I haven't heard many complaints about the Compaq product, but you might want to do a bunch of searches on this and other bboards.

--janak