Recommend me a wireless card!!!

A

air2k5

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
1,055
Hi, my current wireless card is not too good, not getting a good signal (motorola xxxG). The router is about 100-150ft away from my pc, so I need something powerful. Router is belkin54g. So basically I need some help picking a card that has awesome range, I really need to get a good signal, thanks.
 
A better antenna is probably what you want - try looking for a directional antenna, or make your own cantenna (search google).

100ft is kinda pushing it for wireless b/g. A pre-n router and card might work for you though.

 
IanG said:
A better antenna is probably what you want - try looking for a directional antenna, or make your own cantenna (search google).

100ft is kinda pushing it for wireless b/g. A pre-n router and card might work for you though.

Click to expand...
I saw thing Dlink on newegg for $50 which got pretty nice reviews. Some guy said that it works awesome in his basement adn router is on the third floor. I can't get on newegg from school, I'll have to do it from home, I might be wrong since I do not know the exact location of a router. But check this out, from my room signal is at "good" when browsing, etc, it is down to low when playing COD2. if i login on different pc, or move my pc to another room about 15 feet away from my room signal is on excellent and on "very good - good" while doing stuff, however I have not tried gaming in other room, I will try today. I will get a link to my wireless card I use right now, I think I might be wrong about router's location, since It gave me low signal for a router I had in a living room.
 
air2k5 said:
I saw thing Dlink on newegg for $50 which got pretty nice reviews. Some guy said that it works awesome in his basement adn router is on the third floor. I can't get on newegg from school, I'll have to do it from home, I might be wrong since I do not know the exact location of a router. But check this out, from my room signal is at "good" when browsing, etc, it is down to low when playing COD2. if i login on different pc, or move my pc to another room about 15 feet away from my room signal is on excellent and on "very good - good" while doing stuff, however I have not tried gaming in other room, I will try today. I will get a link to my wireless card I use right now, I think I might be wrong about router's location, since It gave me low signal for a router I had in a living room.
Click to expand...

Well, each house can be different - depends on the walls, wiring even what type of phone you have. Pre-n might work for you, and it might not.

 
Sorry, I am a bit noob with networking, what is pre-n? And how can I get a more powerfull antenna?
 
I use DLink DWL-G520 cards, and have been very happy. They support SuperG mode with compatible routers (108Mbps), but more importantly for me, have WPA2 security with routers that support it. Using two at home right now.

If you're okay with standard WPA security and don't need SuperG, the DLink DWL-G510 will do the job. Have recently used a few of these too, and they've worked. One client of mine is getting signal from a basic DLink DI-524 router across a 100ft range from his basement (where his 2nd computer is) to the main floor (where the router is) through the floor plus an additional 4ft of fiberglass insulation recently added.
 
LoneWolf said:
I use DLink DWL-G520 cards, and have been very happy. They support SuperG mode with compatible routers (108Mbps), but more importantly for me, have WPA2 security with routers that support it. Using two at home right now.

If you're okay with standard WPA security and don't need SuperG, the DLink DWL-G510 will do the job. Have recently used a few of these too, and they've worked. One client of mine is getting signal from a basic DLink DI-524 router across a 100ft range from his basement (where his 2nd computer is) to the main floor (where the router is) through the floor plus an additional 4ft of fiberglass insulation recently added.
Click to expand...
Cool, thanks for advice I am going to look into maybe buying one.
 
don't forget the cantenna is highly directional. perfect for point to point.

the netgear pro series routers are excellent. best i've seen short of pro grade stuff.
 
air2k5 said:
That thing is huge, are you sure if I buy it I can actually get awesome signal and experience no packet drops?
Click to expand...
Well it really can't get much better than that, unless you go into dish territory or you want to mount an external 12+ feet antenna outside your home on top of the roof... :D
 
1c3d0g said:
Well it really can't get much better than that, unless you go into dish territory or you want to mount an external 12+ feet antenna outside your home on top of the roof... :D
Click to expand...
I was thinking about it but managment won't let me do it :(. But will I see an improvement in a signal strengh worth that $50?
 
Well, you should first address any interference or setup issues before you go about trying to workaround them with hardware upgrades.

Make sure your router is placed off the floor, out of the way of large bundles of power cables, and not near a window, microwave, or any cordless phones, especially those on the 2.4ghz band which are quite common.

Then play with the antenna direction to find the best signal (usually perpendicular to the floor if the AP is on the same floor as the connecting nodes).

Finally, play with the channels in your router config until you find the one with the least interference. This was the single biggest playing factor in setting up my wireless network as I live in a town with municipal wireless and an apt complex where nearly everyone has their own AP. Changing from channel 11 to channel 7 helped me a lot. I used Netstumbler and walked around my building to see what channels people were using, and picked one that was not in use by any other adjacent APs.

In any case, by far the best wireless adapter is the Proxim Orinoco line.
 
air2k5 said:
Will that actually work? lol
Click to expand...
How else do you think Cantenna.com started? The idea started when people made their own out of Pringles cans and other various implements. Cantenna has just made a more polished version and is charging more.
 
Wireless range directly deppends on two things.
One is transmiting power/amplification of adapters electronics and other is amplification of a antenna.
Legal limmit in USA is 23 dB (200 mW). In Europe 100mW
Anntena on most common adapters are 1,5 to 2,2 dB. Some comme with directional 6 dB pannels. Biggest outdoor antennas for normal users go to 24 dB although You can find extreme antennas with up to 30 dB.
Antennas differ by their directional characterisitcs.

You can expand range by adding a signal booster between antenna and wireless device.

You can extend range by changing devices to devices with higher transmit power and better antennas or by changing antennas on existing devices (AP or clients) or and adding signal booster between device and antenna.

Changing antennas or adding a boosters is very effective and simple.

Before You get new adapter goo with a 6 dB panel on Your existing card and 7~9 dB screw on antennas on Your AP. Like 9 dBi Rubber Duck R-TNC Male Antenna from link somone else posted.

Well I have tryed out allmost everything on market . So if You want/need new PC adapter with legal transmit power I can say only one thing.

Senao.

I can tell You Senao sub362_ext with good antenna (6+ dB directional) is best legal wireles network adapter ever.

It has 200mW transmit power (in Europe 100mW ETSI rules :( ) and thats highest legal limmit for private usage.
200mw = 23 dB signal amplification. It reaches 19 dB @54 Mb at that point other brands fall down to <15 dB @ 54 Mb.
It supports Super G (108 Mb)
It's USB 2,0 hence usable on any PC.
It's very very small an light.
It has SMA connector for external anntena.
It comes with 2 dB toy antenna. With stock antenna it's good for in house operation. Though allready for few bucks You can have 5 dB bipol with SMC nut connection so You can double the range. Gett for 20 $ a 6 dB antenna and You can reach a mile with it.
Connect small panel antenna (8 to 18 dB) and You will cover bigg area.
You can also connect 30 dB antenna on it and bridge even 15 miles with it. (ideal connditions with AP with good antenna and good power)

For normal home usage I would use it with 8 dB panel antenna. Small cheep and mostly with wide enough coverage.

For distance Yagi 18 dB would be nice :)

Standard wireless of the mill stuff has 25~35 MW (14~15 dB) trnasmit power. Also they come with 2 dB anntenas. So 14 dB from adapter and 2 dB from antenna. So total of 16 dB. Senao 200mW with 12 dB pannel antenna = 35 dB. Well that's enough for most of normal applications.

For export purposes Senao also makes 26 dB (400 mW) stuff. Well You can fry bird in air with it :)


Boosters from Hawkins with 100/200/500 mW can make from worse wireless device a monster.

Outdoor boosters come in many flavor 1, 10 or even 40 W is posible. Yess 40 W is 40000mW = illegal big time.

There are also splitters so You can use 4 antennas with each own amp on sigle device.
I can't imagine how far You can go with 4x 30 dB antennas fed with 4x 40 watt boosters!!???

Outdoor antena situation asks for thunderbolt protection. Also good weather protection and stable/strong mechanical installation.

Some specifyed Wireless shops here sell Senao wireless AP's (200mW versions) with 12 dB panel antennas for up to 2 miles bridges. With 24 dB dishes they have packages for up to 4 miles. That with a AP that costs ~150 $.




MD
 
^^^^ Thanks for the info, senao sub362 + 6db??!!! antenna I guess how much will that be? I don't need 7 mile sin range, just 300max but with awesome signal. What is my best choice?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top