Wireless adaptor?

[CathJ]

Hi

This is a rather vague question, and I'm not really sure if I'm even in the right forum, so please bear with me :-)

I'm moving to the UK next week, and one of the things I'm most looking forward to is decent internet access. I've been looking at flatshare sites, and a lot of them mention that they have wireless access. What would I need, in terms of hardware, to be able to make use of this? I have a laptop which doesn't have wireless support - would a wireless PCMCIA adaptor be what I need? Or do you get USB wireless adaptors? I'm a software developer, so I'm a bit lost when it comes to hardware ;)

I know when I considered Sentech MyWireless last year they said that a wireless adaptor wasn't sufficient, and that I'd need to buy their modem as well - do things work differently in the UK?

Thanks

[magicredhat]

get a pcmcia wireless adapter if you need one. i know the linksys ones are good, but it does really depend on the wireless router they have. then again broadband is so cheap there, get your own 8 meg line for next to nothing - and do what you want, forget the prehistoric setup we have here..... :)

[skydog]

I know when I considered Sentech MyWireless last year they said that a wireless adaptor wasn't sufficient, and that I'd need to buy their modem as well - do things work differently in the UK?

Thanks

you don't need a MyWireless modem. it is a completely different thing.

What you want is a wifi certified 802.11b/g PCMCIA or usb adapter

I would think that PCMCIA is more expensive but is neater.

you want to get a wifi certified one as this will guarantee it to work with wifi certified Access Points (AP)

802.11b/g is the current standard and will work with most APs however you can get adapters with pre n or 802.11n which if you happen to stumble on one then get it

but stick to the basics and you cant go wrong


Hope that helps

[Luke7777]

Maybe sent bb_matt a PM, since he's there at the moment and can tell you exactly what you'll need

[Globetrotter]

802.11b/g is the current standard and will work with most APs
What is the difference between 802.11b and 802.11g? Sometimes I see hardware that only support one of these standards. Which is the preferred one and why? b or g?

[Crash]

In simple terms

b = 11mbps = 1.375 Mbytes / sec.
g = 54mbps = 6.75 Mbytes / sec.

So G is faster.

An 802.11g card will support will support both b and g.
An 802.11b card will only support b.

For browsing the internet and email, and 802.11b card is more than sufficient.

[skydog]

In simple terms

b = 11mbps = 1.375 Mbytes / sec.
g = 54mbps = 6.75 Mbytes / sec.

So G is faster.

An 802.11g card will support will support both b and g.
An 802.11b card will only support b.

For browsing the internet and email, and 802.11b card is more than sufficient.

Correct but those are theoretical speeds.

and i would think that most cards would be B and G

[Globetrotter]

In simple terms
b = 11mbps = 1.375 Mbytes / sec.
g = 54mbps = 6.75 Mbytes / sec.
So G is faster.
Thanks!