Upgrading Laptop with WIFI....which minipci?

[Asgorath]

I have a toshiba Satelite laptop with a mini PCI slot on the inside. When I bought it wifi was an option but I did not purchase it. Now I want wifi, but would prefer not to use a PCMCIA wifi card. I found a few mini PCI cards that I was going to use to put in a soekris based router, but thought it could probaly be used in the laptop too.

What would you say is the best option, here are a few to choose from...

Official Toshiba Card : $32.99
Ubiquiti Super Range 2 SR2 400mw 802.11b/g miniPCI : $99.99
--- 400mW 802.11 b/g Power
- -98dBm 802.11 RX sensitivity
- Atheros 5004 chipset based
Wistron CM9 Atheros 802.11a/b/g DualBand : $59.99
- Super GTM and Super A/GTM deliver wired speeds with backward compatibility
- Supports 802.1x, AES-CCM & TKIP, Power Saving Mode, 64/128/152-bit WEP Encryption
- Wi-Fi Compliant
- Operation System supported: Windows 98SE, ME, 2K, XP
- Dimensions: 59.75mm(L) * 44.60mm (W) * 5mm (H)
NL-2511MP : $64
- Up to 23dBm(200mW) RF Output Power (depends on different countries)
- Wide coverage range up to 1200 meters in open space
- Flexible design for embedded system
- Power Over Ethernet (POE)
- Automatic data rate scaling at 11, 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps
- Improved 64/128-bit WEP Engine
- Advanced Power Management
- Significantly improved indoor multipath distortion


I am leaning towards the $99 Ubiquiti card because of its fantastic power and sensitivity. I am scared of how bad it will make my battery life though. I think if I use this I may be destined to be a plug in only kinda guy. It sucks down up to 1.3A @ 3.3V and down to 600mA @ 3.3V .

In all reality, I think I should get the wistron. 200mW is still a lot of power, but it has power saving modes. The datasheet does not give a power figure, but I bet it doesn't suck down 1.3A!

What do you guys think?

 

[maxpower1119]

I say go with the toshiba. Its cheap and will do the job just fine.

 

[Asgorath]

I say go with the toshiba. Its cheap and will do the job just fine.

But the toshiba cards only put out like 60mW tops. Usually more like 40mW. I am leaning toward a more powerful solution so I can reach those finicky access points.