sweetapplemlp :
eibgrad, It's like an access point?
No, it's not an access point. It's a wireless client, exactly like any PCI or USB wireless adapter. The device itself manages all the wireless. Your PC isn't even aware of the wireless. The PC is patched w/ an ethernet cable to the device, which then bridges that ethernet to the access point. That's why it's called a wireless ethernet bridge. You configure all your wireless settings on the bridge, NOT the PC.
[access point]<- wireless ->[wireless ethernet bridge]<- wire/ethernet ->[pc]
IOW, a wireless ethernet bridge pushes all the wireless support and configuration off the PC and into the device. As far as your PC is concerned, it thinks it's connected over wire/ethernet to the router. And that means no need for wireless configuration on the PC, thus no drivers, no compatibility issues, etc., and it will work w/ *any* device which has an ethernet port. Even old devices from the 80's and 90's, long before wifi even existed, can be made wireless using a bridge.
While a USB adapter will work, the problem I have w/ USB is that the form factor is not very good for wifi. USB wifi devices tend to get hot under heavy network loading, and heat is the enemy of fast and reliable wifi. Plus you need drivers, so you have all the compatibility issues that come w/ PCI and USB adapters. Use of a wireless ethernet bridge eliminates all this. And as I said before, you're only limited in terms of placement and orientation based on the length of ethernet cable between the bridge and your PC.
USB devices are fine for something like a laptop, particularly because it would be a bit annoying to carry around an additional device (the bridge). But for a stationary home PC, a bridge works nicely. I haven't installed a PCI or USB wireless adapter in any of my PCs in the past 10 years, only bridges.
So it's up to you. USB will work, and it's far better than PCI, esp. if you use a USB extension cable. But my personal preference is using a wireless ethernet bridge whenever possible. It just offers so many advantages over PCI and USB.
P.S. Sometimes old routers, particularly those that support third-party firmware like dd-wrt and tomato, can be converted into wireless ethernet bridges. And since these routers typically have an integrated switch, that bridge can be used by multiple devices. Basically anything in the vicinity w/ an ethernet cable. So it tends to be more cost effective as more devices are able to use it.
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