Wireless NICs?

[AMDPwred]

I'm looking to buy a laptop for college and I'd like to use wireless internet. Which NIC should I go with? What's the difference between 802.11a and b? Anything I should be aware of?

 

[SteelCityFan]

a - 55Mbps
b - 11Mbps


All depends on range and if the access point / router supports the newer 55Mbps speed. Price will be much higher for the 55Mbps as well.


I just bought the Linksys Wireless Router / NIC.

The NIC I got was version 2.5 which was the latest until I just noticed they have a version 3 out. I have heard from a few people who upgraded from version 1 to 2.5 that it was a good improvement. Only problem was that the model number stayed the same, so when I was ordering, I did not know which I was going to receive. I ordered both from Dell with a $25 off $200 and a 10% off coupon (http://www.hotdealsclub.com had them listed) .

I ended up getting the newer 2.5 NIC, and the older Version 1 Router. Both work as well as I need them to. I only live in an apt, but I receive excellent signal quality from anywhere in the Apt. This of course will vary home to home depending on how many walls are between you and the router, etc.

 

[Gunbuster]

.a is faster but can not talk to .b cards or AP's

 

[Suki]

AMDPwred - you better call your school before buying that wifi because 802.11a and 802.11b are not backward compatible to each other. They used different spectrum range.

SteelCityFan - we have pretty much the same setup. I bought the d-link 714 and loving it.

---------------------------------------
Desktop:
P3 600@800
P3v4x
AIW 8500dv
384 meg RAM

Laptop:
P3 700
Model: T20
256 meg RAM

 

[AMDPwred]

Ah, ok. Thanks for the insite.

 

[AU Tiger]

If going with 802.11b, Orinoco Gold cards are generally considered to be the best available cards. I have two myself and they both perform much better than the D-Link I tried before switching.