Wi-Fi advice req

T

thatdamnJoe

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Moved into a new flat in centurion and finally got ADSl sorted again.

Got a zyxel modem from telkom and would prefer to access inet via wifi on desktop as opposed to running UTP all over the place.

Need advice on WIFI access options for Pc:
1. USB vs PCI
2. any specific brand to use/stay away from
3. Antenna stats I should be looking out for
4. Dont currently play online games but would like to know if this would be possible ito lag etc

My setup is as follows
.XP sp2
.intel dragontail peak mobo (dp35dp)
.distance between router and desktop probably about 8m with one wall in between

Thanks in advance for advice
 
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1. PCI cards tend to be more powerful than usb wifi adaptors.
2. At work we use D-Link, but others here prefer other brands such as Netgear.
3. I haven't really checked into antenna stats, just the speed of the card; common types 54Mbps and 108Mbps.
4. If you within 50m of the wireless APN, lag would not really come into the picture at all. Outside 50m you will have signal issues.

Hope that helps:).
 
thanks for advice, got a d-link card yesterday and did the setup last night....

1.Unplugged everything, installed PCI card,
2.all the plugs back in and powered up.

Windows starts up with a "windows has just recovered from a serious error". Couldnt think why, perhaps I didnt shut down last time but just hibernated. If I understand hibernation correctly, step 1 and 2 wouldnt result in that?

3. Click through all steps with "new h/w detected", no probs, except suddenly my audio drivers are not configured correctly...Onboard audio on the mobo and didnt touch that so this was a surprise...
4. Pick up my wireless router and try to enter SSID. - typing on keyboard does nothing. its like the key presses are not being picked up.

5. Re-install drivers for keyboard -still nothing
6. Try desperately to switch USB ports where keyboard is plugged in - still nothing. And before you start lambasting me for this one. Have entered USB devices on different USB plugs before and for some reason, sometimes when I switch ports, the device is picked up by XP as "new hardware", but not when i replace into same port as used before. It's never bothered me enough to try and figure out this behaviour so I just let it slide.

7. Now I'm getting desperate - try a system restore. No luck, XP wont do system restore at all. Is it possible Antivrus/spyware stuff might be blocking this? Have spybot running.
8. Start wondering whether WIFI card not interfering with wireless keyb. But they run on diff frequencies so should be fine.
9. Take out PCI card and try all of the above again. still no luck
10. Hit the internetz and rty to search for known issues with said keyb and wifi card. no luck

11. Eureka! Wireless keyb batteries were low. Didnt pick it up since receiver still showed connection. Feel like absolute tit for a while...

12. Do outstanding xp updates, catalyst drivers. Audio drivers problems gone.

Good waste of 30-45 mins. :(
 
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It is always a good idea to install hardware drivers before you install the hardware.

Also, I normally let the machine find the network and just enter the passkey to connect instead of entered all the other details manually.
 
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