i've got a spare computer laying around and i am planning on taking it down to our new beach place so i can pick up wireless when i want to get on the net. anyway, i went down new years and took a friend with me and she had a dell with integrated Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (Tri-mode 802.11a/b/g) in the laptop. it picked up a couple of connections and one was really good. the good connection was on all the time and was quick. so i know that i can get to a wireless network when i want to down there, but i need help on what wireless card to get for my desktop. our condo is on the 7th floor out of 9, it has concrete floors and ceilings, but the walls are not. the ocean side is basically windows in the living room and the master bedroom and the back to bedrooms facing the street have windows in them too. the connection we picked up and used the whole time worked in the whole condo while it did pick up differents while you moved around though in the place. what kind of card should i get? i was looking and they have 54mbps and then i saw 108mbps. i know that the connection that we were connected to was a 54mbps connection when connected. i was searching though, and buy.com had a 54mbps d-link on sale. [url]http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10362364&adid=17662[/url] and then i could get an antenna [url]http://www.buy.com/prod/D_Link_7DBI_Omni_Directional_Indoor_Antenna_802_11_B_G_Base_ANT24_0700/q/loc/101/10403540.html[/url] to increase signal strength. then looking i saw they also had 108mbps [url]http://www.buy.com/prod/D_Link_Wireless_PCI_Adapter_2XR_Smart_Antenna_MIMO_802_11g_108Mbps_DWL/q/loc/101/10409100.html[/url] and then there is this one that i know i can get add an antenna like the one i listed earlier. [url]http://reviews.cnet.com/D_Link_DWL_G520_AirPlus_Xtreme_G_wireless_PCI_adapter/4505-3380_7-20817313.html[/url]i guess this one doesn't have the smart antenna or something 108mbps d-link card those are just examples of cards i could get. if all i need is the 54mbps and the antenna then both of those are not too bad after rebates. but if i need the 108mbps, then i can get it with the antenna too! i'm open for anything though. if you know of any other better brand cards that i could use or better info i might could use would be great to know. i really do not know much about wireless or what will be best for what i need. they don't have to be d-link, but those seemed good and had decent reviews. the 108mbps though had good and bad reviews though. so if this is what i need and you know of a better one, please inform me. i imagine though that desktop cards work as well as laptop ones do so if i can get one that works as good as the one she has in her dell laptop, then i know i would be good to go. the card doesn't have to be d-link though, it could be Linksys or any other brands though. i just posted them as examples. it looks like after reading reviews though that some people don't like d-link so that is why i await your knowledge. i'm sure that you can give me a good idea of what to get. i also need one with good range. i also heard that basically i should just stick with 54mbps card though since most are not going to have 108mbps anyway. i know my friends card was a 54mbps and then that is what i connected to. the 54mbps card buy.com has is modes b/g and i noticed my friends was a/b/g. i guess though that b/g would be good for me, but i do not know. that is why i am asking you. thanks for any help :)

If you want range and power, don't bother getting a standard 54G (802.11g) network card. you'll want to get at LEAST a MIMO enabled card. There's another technology known as the 802.11 draft-n standard, which is supposed to be breakthrough, but it has had some mixed reviews, some saying that MIMO technology at times outperformed the new draft-n standard. What you said in your post isn't necessarily going to matter. Because a standard 54G card would be a cheaper route, the 108mbps cards may have MIMO or Super-G technology built-in. You'll want to look at the amount of distance the card will operate at, moreover the speed that it transfers. 54G cards arent very strong, and if there are obstacles, it has no technology to allow the receiver to manuever around any obstacles that might be in the way, such as in your case, multiple floors. So you have: 1) 802.11g Standard (Transfers theoretically up to 54Mbps, range is limited) 2) MIMO (Transfers anywhere from 54Mbps to theoretically 250Mbps, they are still working on it) 3) Draft-n (Transfers up to 540Mbps, average at 200Mbps, still in the works, hence draft-n, based off of MIMO, and MIMO is based off of the 802.11n standard, blah blah) Basically, I would go with a MIMO card for now, MIMO cards use multiple antennas to concentrate on a single network broadcast point, thus avoiding and manuevering around any obstacles, such as cellphones, microwaves, etc., giving you the most potential out of the given area. For the maximum potential of this technology to work however, the wireless access point will need to be a MIMO or draft-n standard as well. Good luck! reply back if you have more questions! Geek Squad CIA CompTIA A+ Certified CST Certified Certs-in-Progress: CCNA, CompTIA Network+

i appreciate the input, could you give me an example of a card that i need to look to purchase for the computer i'm going to put it in. also, what kind of card was in the computer my friend had when i used it. i tried to get some info on it, but i am really not sure about this topic. at the beach though, i am not really sure where the connections that it was picking up were from. i only know that one of them was from a building that was two down from ours, but the building between wasn't that big. their connection also was one that you had to login into to use. i guess if you rented a place from them, they gave you a user name and password. any help will be greatly appreciated. i'll try to look the mimo card up but if you could help me out with an example of some good cards to look out for, i could search for a good price. thanks

i just did a search for mimo wireless pci cards on google and pulled some up, but really don't know where to start. just the first two i have pulled up was a provantage with 3 antennas and another one buy.com had was a trendnet with two antennas. please help me with some that you recommend or know get good reviews or just work. thanks again

also, the trendnet one is a 108mbps mimo compared to the provantage that said it was only 54mbps. buy.com has the trendnet $20.27 after rebate, but if there is another card that you recommend, i'm up for any options as long as it isn't too expensive. i could do a pricegrabber on it and see what i could get it for. also, one last question until i hear back. will the two antennas be enough, or will i have to buy two antennas to pick up a better signal. all i know was the card in my friends laptop was built in(described the specs earlier) and it didn't have any antennas or anything and the connection it picked up was excellent the majority of time, fast and connected throughout the condo. sorry for all the questions, but i just want to get the right thing that will work good the few times i use it. i appreciate your help and any other. thanks.

OK, i would recommend these cards personally... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... These two companies are by far the highest in quality in my opinion. I personally own linksys equipment and have had no issues so far, although there probably are those who do, but Linksys has great tech support, and are owned by the legendary router-creating company Cisco. NETGEAR was originally my favorite, they built the highest quality equipment ive ever seen! their switches and routers that i purchased from them were all made in this aluminum-steel encasing, making them very durable, yet nearly as light as the plastic models from linksys. These are draft-n/MIMO standards, so they should be able to reach further than your previous 802.11g setup. Geek Squad CIA CompTIA A+ Certified CST Certified Certs-in-Progress: CCNA, CompTIA Network+

and if you have a desktop, these would do... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... BEWARE, if you purchase the D-Link card, you'll need to download and install a newer driver than the one provided by the CD, since it tends to crash lots of machines... i guess Belkin is making drivers for this D-Link? IDK, personally i would go with the Linksys, its got a triple wide-band antenna or something of that sort, lots of people say its got huge range, so it should solve your problem. Geek Squad CIA CompTIA A+ Certified CST Certified Certs-in-Progress: CCNA, CompTIA Network+