what kind of network card?

[Gibson486]

I have a toshiba m50 with an internal wireless bg card (2200bg). What type of slot is this? I want to get a card with wireless a, but the ones I find on ebay say they are miniPCI, but they are more rectangular in shape and it looks like it does not have as much pins (3945abg). I thought I had mini PCI also, but I guess i do not...what should I look for?

 

[Old Hippie]

Look at the cards on this page.

It shows the difference between the mini PCI and mini PCIe configurations.

Everything I'm reading states you have a PCI wireless slot, which would be the bigger card.

 

[Gibson486]

Thanks....problem is that people on ebay call it mini pci, when it should be mini pcie

 

[spidey07]

Problem is you don't have 802.11a internal antenna. You'd be better with a pcmcia that has a built in antenna.

 

[Fardringle]

Page 8 of the laptop manual says that the M50's wireless adapter is Mini PCI, so you need a card with the pins on the long side of the card (the second card in Old Hippie's link).

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Problem is you don't have 802.11a internal antenna. You'd be better with a pcmcia that has a built in antenna.

I have had no problems running in wireless "A" mode with my Toshiba laptops.

In fact, I preferred the "A" mode for my home network.

Unless I had to do walls or longer distances, it was a much more stable signal than "G" mode.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Problem is you don't have 802.11a internal antenna. You'd be better with a pcmcia that has a built in antenna.

It's a different antenna too?🙁

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

Originally posted by: spidey07
Problem is you don't have 802.11a internal antenna. You'd be better with a pcmcia that has a built in antenna.

I have had no problems running in wireless "A" mode with my Toshiba laptops.

In fact, I preferred the "A" mode for my home network.

Unless I had to do walls or longer distances, it was a much more stable signal than "G" mode.

Yeah, G mode is horrible for me. B is better for some odd reason.....

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: spidey07
Problem is you don't have 802.11a internal antenna. You'd be better with a pcmcia that has a built in antenna.

It's a different antenna too?🙁

I'm sure spidey07 has forgotten more than I'll ever know about the subject, but I just use the regular attenna that came installed on my Toshibas with no problem.

I always figured the "A" band was steadier because it's on a different frequency and there was less interference with cordless phones and such.

 

[JackMDS]

Antenna size is Not an arbitrary number. Its length relates to the length of the transmission wave length.

802.11b/g is 2.4GHz thus the length is 0.40982 feet (12.49 cm).

802.11a is 5GHz is 0.19671 ( 5.99 cm ).

Efficient Antenna (depending on the design) can be 1/2 or a 1/4 of the wave length.

Thus for 2.4GHz 1/4 wave length is 3.12 cm.

Half of 5GHz is 2.99 cm.

It is close but if 3.12 is used for 5GHz, unless a special design is used at the output Amp. the efficiency of the transmission would be reduced (when you have 33mW output you do not want lose anything).

Frequency to Length Calculator, http://www.1728.com/freqwave.htm

About Antennae, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_(radio)

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: spidey07
Problem is you don't have 802.11a internal antenna. You'd be better with a pcmcia that has a built in antenna.

It's a different antenna too?🙁

I'm sure spidey07 has forgotten more than I'll ever know about the subject, but I just use the regular attenna that came installed on my Toshibas with no problem.

I always figured the "A" band was steadier because it's on a different frequency and there was less interference with cordless phones and such.

That is what I thought. I had the option of getting a/b/g when I got the laptop....

 

[Old Hippie]

That is what I thought. I had the option of getting a/b/g when I got the laptop....

If you had the option, I'd say you're good to go....antenna wise.

AFAIK manfs. don't install different antenna configurations for different cards.

It's one size fits all. A look at the aftermarket antennas also shows that to be the case.

I've always ordered bare bones units that have the options avaliable to upgrade.

I've installed the wireless cards myself and let Toshiba install the antennas when they were produced.