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What's a good, inexpensive USB or PCI 802.11b wireless NIC?

any usb 802.11b wireless NIC will do for basic web browsing/gaming/file sharing. Dlink and Linksys make good cheap Wireless USB Nic's. I'm currently running 3 Dlink DWL-120 NIC's in adhoc mode.
 
From my experiance, their is a huge difference in wireless nics. The only way to go are the lucent based ones, such as the orinocco gold or silver. You should be able to find one in the sub 50 dollar range which is a little more than most of the other wireless nics, but believe me they are well worth the money.
 
That site really doesn't have any "street" pricing on Wireless nics.

I guess what I'm looking for is a site that has udpated pricing (including deals) on NICs.
 
That site really doesn't have any "street" pricing on Wireless nics.
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NO but practically networked reviews these cards, and should help you make a better decision on which one to get. I have seen cards that couldn?t make it out of the room the ap is in, while others like my Orinoco can make it throughout my neighborhood. 😀
 
Originally posted by: Snoop
That site really doesn't have any "street" pricing on Wireless nics.
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NO but practically networked reviews these cards, and should help you make a better decision on which one to get. I have seen cards that couldn?t make it out of the room the ap is in, while others like my Orinoco can make it throughout my neighborhood. 😀
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I understand that. The site is good for reviews...but I'm also looking for a site that has some hot deals on wireless network equipment.
 
Originally posted by: Snoop
From my experiance, their is a huge difference in wireless nics. The only way to go are the lucent based ones, such as the orinocco gold or silver. You should be able to find one in the sub 50 dollar range which is a little more than most of the other wireless nics, but believe me they are well worth the money.
Click to expand...
I had a Netgear in my laptop as a PCMCIA card. The difference between the Netgear in my Windows 2000 laptop and the Apple Airport card in my Apple iBook is really only marginal at best in real world usage. The Apple Airport card is essentially a Lucent Gold with the antenna cut off and different firmware - it doesn't need the antenna because the Mac laptops have antennae built into the casing.

Both worked fine 2 floors down, both worked inconsistently across the street, and both didn't work when another building was blocking the way. I'd say the Netgear had 95% of the range of the Airport. Note though that in some reviews, the Netgear has been rated somewhat better than the Linksys setups, but that may sometimes be due more to the access points used.

I also used a D-Link in the laptop and compared it to the Netgear. They seemed to have similar ranges at least in the coffee shop I tried them in.
 
Originally posted by: hausdave
Trust me on this issue...You want the one from socket....

http://www.mobileplanet.com
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Which one are you talking about? Could you be a little more specific?
rolleye.gif
 
Definitely go with the one from Socket...smaller form factor, lower power draw, and better performance. I use it in my Jornada and have been very happy with it.
 
Originally posted by: vetteguy
Definitely go with the one from Socket...smaller form factor, lower power draw, and better performance. I use it in my Jornada and have been very happy with it.
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And also 4.5 times as expensive. I'm not made out of money 😀

$179 vs $39...I'm not going to be using this thing for LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG range operation. It'll be within the same building/house.
 
Originally posted by: kgraeme
You can get the Socket card here for $139. Still more than $39, but $40 less than the other place.
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Well, I managed to score one of the Addtron units...one more just happened to pop back up in stock 😀
 
Circuit City's website LIES!!! It said that the D-Link CompactFlash card was out of stock at all three of the locations around me and out of stock on the web.

So I went down there this morning and they had two sitting on the shelf in Raleigh, NC 😀 I snagged that baby quick 😛
 
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