Wireless Networking Cards – A Closer Look

OK, if you read, heard all the cool stuff and all the great things are going wireless, and it just hit you. But the works that you do not know or care, but it was you. This is the little voice in your head, said, “do” and that’s all. Unfortunately, that some time ago, and since then “She was’ve done your part. You have a bit of research into what was necessary to update your computer, but it’s just so much confusing. You always think, why not someone to give me some basics, so I feel comfortable with all this “modernization” process.

If the paragraph above, and if you are the typical computer user, it is likely it is to breathe in time to calm your nerves, drink, take a coffee and, in this article because I can hope to bring some understanding of at least one aspect goes wireless – the network card.

Like most “typical computer user, you love your computer and you were right, surf the Internet, use e-mail, and you probably have by now almost certainly in your favorite word processing program, but when it comes to some of the more technical aspects of your computer or computer usually comes, you are probably about as close to a deer “in the headlights” you can get.

Hey, no problem, because you stumbled on a source that can hopefully bring some light into this abyss wireless network card. See, research skills are useful.

Let me first say that when it comes to start a wireless network adapter, you can very well ignore all that stuff, with the exception of three main factors: range, speed and standards. Ok, let’s do it and take a look at a few details.

Below is a typical specification for wireless network card. This happens to be with a Linksys wireless laptop PCMCIA card. Honestly, I can not tell you whether this card rocks or stinks, I’m over it as an example. And so we will look at more closely.

Here is the description from Amazon: 11 Mbit / s high-speed transfer rate, compatible with IEEE 802.11b (DSSS) 2.4GHz-compliant equipment, plug-and-play ease of installation, long-range (up to 120m indoor); Save Advanced Power Management Features precious battery life of notebooks, rugged metal design with integrated antenna, compatible with virtually all major operating systems, works with all standard Internet applications, and scaling back the automatic load balancing, model no. WPC11

As I mentioned above, most features are ignored. At the beginning, “compatible with most popular operating systems.” This means nothing. It’s just down to the description of the map to expand to better display.

Range
See where it says “to 120″ inside. This means that the maximum range of the wireless card is 120 meters – that when everything was perfect. And by the way, one meter height is about 39 cm or 3 feet. But in the real world, where nothing is ever perfect disturbances caused by the thick walls, other energy sources and the list goes on and this number could be reduced by as much as 90% – to be aware that simple, know that

And without sufficient coverage, is your wireless network is not wireless, and therefore – no value. It is useless if you go wireless, your computer must keep away from wireless connection to work for them or if you have multiple computers to keep all in the same room to get them to connect with each other.

Generally, unless your walls are made of plaster or wood, it is better, about four times the strength you think you need to buy. Even in perfect condition is twice as high as you think you need – just to be safe.

Speed
Another look at the description and find where it says Mbps. Mbit / s is the speed of wireless connection – 11 Mbit / s is about a year and a half megabytes per second. All 802.11b wireless cards have a speed of 11 Mbps, while 802.11g 54 Mbps or run about 5 times faster. And of course, the next generation will be even faster.

Obviously, the speed of your wireless network is important because it directly, how long should you wait to connect to how fast the download sites, the file transfer rate and your computer experience Global is always better when things load faster. I do not know about you, but if something more than a few seconds to download will take, I start too impatient.

However, since there are very few Internet connections with speeds of 11 Mbit / s – that’s really all you need, at least for now.

Standards
You probably have in the above specifications, the number struck 802.11, followed by a letter b. B is the standard that the mobile device is also consistent. Currently, there are three standards – a, b and g.

In a word, 802.11b and 802.11g compatible, while 802.11a is not compatible with both. Due to the incompatibility with the other two standards and robust because it an old standard, at least I would stay away from using cards.

Between b and g, b is cheaper but slower, while g is more expensive but faster. It is also important to consider that the addition of a B-speed device to a network that has properties of G-often slow the entire network speeds of up to b, g-making devices useless. Basically, the network operates at a speed of its weakest link.

If your mobile device does not meet the standards of the law, it will not do much good. I often see people uninformed used to tender for wireless devices on eBay, not knowing that it is terribly slow and can not with other devices they may have work. Always check that the device uses wireless standard and if you do not know, do not buy the letter 802.11,!

An ideal place to research and find answers to all “wireless” is net Zephyr. Just click on the link WiFi hot spot in the resource box below.

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