Wireless networking

[KrazyHorse]

I will probably be moving into a place with a wireless internet connection soon. I have a 20 month old Dell desktop computer with a Pentium 4 running at 2.4 Ghz with 512 MB RAM

I want a reasonably priced wireless networking adapter for my computer. I don't mind it running at half the speed of my current setup (cable modem through wired Linksys router). I download music occasionally, but don't play any heavy bandwidth online computer games. Most important is that it not drop connections, as I do play online poker regularly and can't afford to have it crap out on me. If it does crap out on me once in a blue moon I want the problem to be easily fixable in literally 1 minute so as not to drop too many hands.

What should I buy? There seem to be two options available: USB adapters and internal cards. Are internal cards significantly better than the USB adapters? If there's no difference in price or quality then I'd rather go with the external solution to avoid having to open my case up and mess around with the guts of my computer.

[KrazyHorse]

50-70$ is a reasonable price point for me. Obviously if something is available that fits the bill and is rock-solid for 30$ then that's great.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

I think you can find PCI adapter cards pretty cheap... it should at least be cheaper than a USB adapter.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

A quick look turned this up for 59... you could probably find them alot cheaper too.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=5514865&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01031&id=1060606072735

[JimmyCracksCorn]

$49:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=5925564&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01031&id=1061127609610

[Agathon]

Make sure you get the fast version 802.11g I think it is.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by JimmyCracksCorn
I think you can find PCI adapter cards pretty cheap... it should at least be cheaper than a USB adapter.

The PCI cards are dirt cheap and that's what I use on my old HP laptop. If/when I buy another laptop I'll just buy one with wi fi built in.

[reds4ever]

You have a laptop with a PCI card in it?

[Dinner]

Oppsies I typed the wrong standard. Duh, my bad.

[Kuciwalker]

Get an external one. I've found it useful to just be able to yank the thing.

[Urban Ranger]

A USB one is probably better, since your case is nicely metallic.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Get an external one. I've found it useful to just be able to yank the thing.

For what purpose?

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
A USB one is probably better, since your case is nicely metallic.

Yeah, but PCI is fool proof once you get it installed. Plus you can save those precious USB ports for other things.

[KrazyHorse]

precious? I've got 2 on the front and 4 on the back. I've never plugged anything into the back yet.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Agathon
Make sure you get the fast version 802.11g I think it is.

Everyone typically says get the g version. While it is appropriate to keep up with technology there is really no substantial improvement to internet page download speeds as the bottleneck typically is pipeline into the house. Fiberoptic DSL or cable modem broadbands typically top out at about 5 Mbps. 802.11 g is supposed to be able to handle 54 Mbps while 802.11 b handles 11 Mbps both of which easily exceed the incoming transmission rate of the broadband connection.

That being said the difference in cost between 802.11b vs. 802.11 g is miniscule and for the extra few bucks might as well get the 802.11g even if you don't need it for internet purposes as file transfer, inhouse streaming etc. is much nicer/smoother at the higher rates.