Pro's/Con's?

Are the USB2.0 adapters any less reliable signal/overall quality-wise?

Trendware has one for $25.

I'm thinking about using Trendware or Foxconn for the PCI cards.

I'm helping a friend get his computers all networked together (Neatly).

Cost is a factor. Computers are all relatively new and all use XP.

9/14/2005 2:09:26 AM

Can you trust wifi cards from Trendware or Foxconn?

9/14/2005 2:38:21 AM

personal opinion and experience usually leads me to stick with the name brands (like linksys) for wifi and with pci and pcmcia models. Is reliability or speed an issue? What about WPA or WEP?

9/14/2005 2:43:07 AM

I've had mostly good luck with trendware, i bought one of their cards after a Belkin i bought for far too much a few years ago wouldnt act well with almost any computer i put it in. (So much for brand names).


However, one note on the trendwares, they aren't very resistant to *phsyical* damage. that's their one flaw . If you want brandname, well, stay the hell away from belkin- XP does NOT play nice with all their cards even if they say it's compatable. GO with Cisco/linksys.


Trendnet does support WEP with the included drivers, a driver update for their latest pack gets you WPA support and a tool that replaces the windows network connection window (I dont like it, and you can tell windows to use naitve control instead, but i installed it for the WPA).

Foxconn i've never heard of and never used and btw I"m speaking on experience with PCI cards.

9/14/2005 9:10:16 AM

my brother actually has an old laptop without wireless and wanted a card...belkin had a usb 2.0 54g on sale for something like 10 bucks...he hasn't had any trouble with it, it connects quickly and securely and his gets better reception than the linksys pcmcia card i have in my laptop (he finds networks mine doesn't even see, and he has better connectivity on all networks)...i don't know if it's because of the brand (i doubt it) or because the usb design allows for more internal antenna

my suggestion is to consider where you're going to put your computer...since a pci card has to be in the pci slot (duh), and if your computer is on the floor, any quality gain you may get by having a pci versus a usb may be lost considering you can put the usb card high up on a desk or something...plus, there's the added benefit of being able to take your usb adapter anywhere you go (don't know if you need that, but hey)

9/14/2005 9:18:58 AM

Quote :

"Can you trust wifi cards from Trendware or Foxconn?"

thats one point, and i wouldn't. unless you're really trying to save money then get this one for $10
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10360047&adid=17662


as far as usb vs pci goes, i would go usb. ive never had a problem with them, and you can put them on the end of a usb cable and get good reception, versus a pci where your antenna is stuck in the back of your box. if the network isn't spread out too much then maybe signal strength won't matter too much...depends on the install

always keep an eye on this page for local deals, though i dont see any now for u
http://salescircular.com/nc/computer/wrlsnp.shtml

9/14/2005 9:21:07 AM

in my experience, the USB type on a 4' cord w/ the small antenna work much much better than the mini thumbdriveesque ones. so if its for a desktop, go the route w/ a cord. both kinds i tried were linksys and my roommate and i had both got the small kind first. the results were so so so we exchanged for the kind on a cord and it was ten times better receptionwise.

9/14/2005 11:55:03 AM

yeah my friend has 8 computers and one linksys 802.11g range extender.

the only computer that is wireless gets 'very good' to 'excellent' recepton, so I'm guessing that the other rooms which are a few feet from the range extender won't have any problems.

I'm thinking that Foxconn will be my reccomendation since they have external antennas.

I just bought a trendware wireless card just b/c it was so cheap. I'm also ordering the foxconn card to see if it really makes a difference whether the antenna is behind the computer or above it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Edited on September 14, 2005 at 11:56 AM. Reason : thanks danny, that was just the reply i was looking for]

9/14/2005 11:55:48 AM

i had a USB wireless adapter fopr my desktop and chose to get a PCI adapter cause my signal would drop periodically even though my laptop nearby would stay connected continuously. now that i've switched, i never get a signal drop or disconnect. but that's not to say that all USB do that, that was just my experience with 1.

9/14/2005 12:44:28 PM

happened w/ a d-link usb one from my friend, but his internal wireless card ONLY works with the side of his case off. no shit.

9/14/2005 3:08:09 PM