What WiFi card do you use in your laptop?

[dean_shan]

I am looking for a good WiFi card for an old laptop I am working on. The laptop is running Win2K, 6GB HD, 266 mhz, 64 MB RAM. I am wondering what other cards you guys would recommend.

[RussHart]

I've got 4 devices, and all are using the Belkin 54G card, with he driver update to full 802.11g standards. But then again, I need .g for a quicker home network, and you may only need b. Then again, may be a good future bet.

[dean_shan]

Well I've been toying with the idea of upgrading my home network to .g My school has done it already and the laptop I rent from them has .g This laptop is one I am making for my Mom for websurfing. She would need .g but if the price is right I'd get it.

[GoldKey]

I've got the Orinoco Silver in my laptop. Got it mostly because it was supported for Netstumbler. I have not had any problems with it.

[Jeff Rutledge]

I'm very happy with my 3Com® OfficeConnect® 11Mbps Wireless LAN PC Card with XJACK® Antenna (http://www.3com.com/prod/en_CA_AMER/detail.jsp?tab=features&sku=3CRSHPW196).

The antenna is retractable so it doesn't stick out (when not in use) like most WiFi cards. That way, I can leave it in the slot all the time.

http://www.3com.com/images/prod/prd_lg_3crshpw196.jpg

I've also found the signal strength to be very good with this card.

[Hyperluminal]

JR.. I was about to post about that same card. :D
I bought one of those a while ago, and love it. Really. Specifically, I love how you can retract the antenna and leave it in.. it's so nice not to have a big card sticking out, and dealing with taking it out when you're not using it. This card was a bit more expensive than some other ones, but absolutely worth it. :way to go:
And no, I don't work for 3Com. ;)

One thing though, the LED status light is very bright, to the point of being distracting. I eventually decided to cover it, and for lack of anything better I now have a small piece of black electrical tape over it.. it's actually not that bad looking. JR, did the LED bother you?

Still, I'd absolutely recommend this card. :)

[Janak Parekh]

it's so nice not to have a big card sticking out, and dealing with taking it out when you're not using it.
Indeed -- I have an ORiNOCO card, and while it's top notch, the PC card slot in my last laptop slowly stopped working (became erratic, and now only lasts about 30-60 seconds after card insertions), probably because I put too much stress on it by inserting and removing cards very frequently. :cry: This one caught my eye -- if I ever have a laptop without built-in WiFi again, I'd go for a solution like this. I'm glad to hear it works well.

--janak

[CTSLICK]

Nothing fancy: LinkSys 802.11b card on my 1999 vintage HP laptop running Win2k. Painless install, worked immediately with my LinkSys router, good range all over my house and outside as well.

[Dave Beauvais]

I use a Lucent/Agere/Proxim/whoever owns it now ORiNOCO Gold card (http://www.proxim.com/). (802.11b) Great range plus a tiny jack for adding an external antenna.

--Dave

[GoldKey]

I use a Lucent/Agere/Proxim/whoever owns it now ORiNOCO Gold card (http://www.proxim.com/). (802.11b) Great range plus a tiny jack for adding an external antenna.

--Dave

Any clue where I can buy an antenna that fits this? I would really like somthing that would clip to the top of the bezel on my laptop.

[Dave Beauvais]

Any clue where I can buy an antenna that fits this? I would really like somthing that would clip to the top of the bezel on my laptop.
Search this page (http://www.antennasystems.com/broadband.html#Mobile%20Antennas) for "MIG24WAVE" and you might have some luck. The "Mobile Antennas" section also has some other interesting anntenae listed. Note that even on a broadband connection this page took a long time to load because most of their images aren't true thumbnails; they're full-size images forced to display at a smaller size. :roll: I pity you if you're on dial-up.

http://www.beauvais1.com/images/antenna_systems_mig24wave.jpg

Disclaimer: Please note that I do not have this antenna, so I can't say how well it works. It is recommended by some users in the Bay Area Wireless Users Group (http://www.bawug.org)

--Dave

[GoldKey]

Looks like a contender. And at $29, the price seems OK. Has anyone used this and can comment on how well it works? Any other suggestions?

[Dave Beauvais]

Looks like a contender. And at $29, the price seems OK. Has anyone used this and can comment on how well it works? Any other suggestions?
Actually, in looking at the photo, I have a couple concerns about it. How does it stick to the notebook and is it easy to remove? What happens to the wire dangling out of it if it isn't meant to be removed? The site has very little info about it other than price and my quick Google search just turned up mostly questions about where to buy it.

--Dave

[GoldKey]

I already wrote them asking how to buy since there page has no ordering information.

I thought about the permanent adhesive and figured I would use velcro or something. I use my card in my PPC also, so want to have the ability to remove the antenna from the laptop.