Nice Wireless adapter?

[slpnshot]

Hey I'm wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a decent wireless adapter pci card for around $50.

My current once is a pos that seems to cause system interrupts whenever it loses connections with the wifi router. I tried updating the driver, only to find out that it didn't help the issue.

 

[VirtualLarry]

For that price range, why not buy a decent N router, that supports DD-WRT, and then set it up using client mode. More reliable than a WiFi card or USB dongle.

 

[slpnshot]

Thanks for the response Larry.

The thing is, I already have a N router(although I don't know if it supports DD-WRT). I'm just looking it up right now, but DD-WRT is a rom used to overwrite the normal router interface to allow OC-ing, right? I think my friend does that to his router in order to increase the range.

I'm also a bit lost about the importance of client mode.

 

[Ghiedo27]

What I understand his suggestion to be is that for that price you could get a second router to act as a local access point. You wouldn't need a wireless card at all. You would use your comps built in Ethernet connection.

The reason you would use DD-WRT and client mode would be to limit certain functions so your first router still acts like the "boss" of your network. This approach would give you better access more likely, but there would be additional setup time.

Before you buy anything I'd try completely uninstalling your card and then reinstalling it (software and hardware wise). Kind of a long shot, but it's free and relatively painless.

 

[VirtualLarry]

DD-WRT isn't generally used for overclocking, per se, although I think it does have that feature on some routers.

It's a replacement firmware, that has a vast array of features, many that factory firmwares do not.

Among these, is wireless modes like client mode and client bridge mode, repeater mode, WDS, etc.

WDS requires two routers with the same chipset (Broadcom or Atheros), and it allows both routers to act as APs, but also to talk wirelessly to each other, to form a contiguous L2 network.

I use three routers in WDS mode myself.

Another mode is client mode. This makes the DD-WRT router act as if it were a wireless client NIC, to another main router. After configuring the DD-WRT router, you simply have to plug your computer (and other devices, up to the number of LAN ports the DD-WRT router has) into the ethernet LAN ports, and they connect to the main router, wirelessly.

Basically, running a DD-WRT router in client mode, makes it act like a wireless NIC, that you can connect to via ethernet.

I find doing this is more reliable and less trouble-prone than using a USB or PCI/PCI-E wireless NIC.

This is especially true for devices such as Blu-Ray players, that may have an ethernet port, but lack a USB port for a wifi dongle, or require a specific USB dongle that is expensive.

 

[slpnshot]

Ty for both replies. I get it now. I'll be looking up more on decent N-routers for this option. Does client bridging require the same chipset as the main router or just the WDS mode?

 

[pitz]

Make your own. I presume you have a PCI-E slot available in your computer, right?

Go onto eBay, and buy something like an Intel 4965agn, or a Intel 6300. Should cost you between $10 and $20 shipped.

Buy a PCI-E to miniPCI-E adapter with 3 antennas. Should cost you no more than $10 on eBay.

Mate them together (use small zip-ties to hold the miniPCI-E radio to the adapter board if necessary). Plug into your PCI-E slot.

Voila, you have a high quality PCI-E wireless adapter for as little as $20 if you shop around.

http://x86wifi.blogspot.com describes, with pictures, how to do it (ignore the Mac hacking stuff...this works absolutely fine with Win7 or Linux setups, and with Win7, you can use the Intel cards instead of limiting yourself to certain Apple-compatible cards!).

 

[pitz]

BTW, if you're running a Sandy Bridge board, I've personally found that the PCI slots on those are useless for high-interrupt applications. A proper PCI-E solution (such as what I described above) is probably one of the best/better fixes.

The client bridge solution is good, and will definitely help you if you have printers or other Ethernet devices in the same room -- but will use more electricity and will take up more room than what I described.

 

[VirtualLarry]

BTW, if you're running a Sandy Bridge board, I've personally found that the PCI slots on those are useless for high-interrupt applications. A proper PCI-E solution (such as what I described above) is probably one of the best/better fixes.

Really? I had not heard that. How did you test that? I'm curious. I'm guessing it's because of PCI-E to PCI bridge chips, not being as good as a real PCI bus off of the southbridge?

 

[pitz]

Really? I had not heard that. How did you test that? I'm curious. I'm guessing it's because of PCI-E to PCI bridge chips, not being as good as a real PCI bus off of the southbridge?

Yeah I don't know the root cause, but I'm having all sorts of trouble with older PCI cards in my Sandy Bridge board, and apparently, based on my research, I'm not alone (seems to be happening with all sorts of different cards as well, ranging from PCI TV tuners, to SCSI boards, to PCI networking boards.).

 

[slpnshot]

Wow, ty for both of the possible solutions. Pitz, what do you mean by high-interrupt applications?

If I just experienced regular lag spikes in games, the problem would be annoying but live-able(it' i just a game after all). However having ANY connection lost causes system interrupts on my computer which in turn causes huge cpu spikes.

Is the PCI-E macgruber setup supposed to (hopefully) fix that?

I'm honestly interested in both solutions. The client setup because of the versatility in having a localized wifi receiver and the PCI-E because it just looks interesting to setup.

 

[pitz]

Wow, ty for both of the possible solutions. Pitz, what do you mean by high-interrupt applications?

Interrupts are a method by which an expansion card/device can signal to the CPU that they need to be serviced. For instance, an Ethernet card would generate a lot of interrupts when it is transferring a lot of data. A SCSI card as well. Obviously a native PCI-E solution can handle interrupts more efficiently/better than a PCI card.

Every time a PCI board issues an interrupt, the CPU must stop and run a special interrupt handler. Obviously every time the interrupt handler is called, the CPU can't be working on other tasks.