Wlan USB stick or a PCI extension card?

[Emeraldllama]

Hi y'all,

I've been looking into wireless networking in depth lately, and been wondering. How could I maximize the potential of my router?

I'm using a Thomson TCW710 cable router which seems to be ok so far. Got it from my ISP for free. My computer is a custom self-built desktop PC running windows vista. At the moment it's connected to the router via an A-link USB adapter, cheap model. I sometimes have trouble playing games like Battlefield 2 and Team Fortress 2, saying I have a problem with the connection right after I'm done loading. I also tried a Gigabyte USB adapter, also a cheap model, but that wouldn't work at all. My router is placed at the other end of the room where my PC is in, with a clear visual. I'm using Windows Vista's own wireless utility at the moment which seems to work fine.

I'm looking for people's experience concerning different Wlan products, such as USB adapters, pci extension cards, different software utilities or monitoring programs. Any articles and/or reviews and comparisons would be helpful too, if you've seen any.

Thanks a lot to everyone in advance for contributing, hope this is useful for other people aswell.

 

[Guest]

If you must use wireless -- and it's not ideal for gaming because it inherently reduces speed -- I prefer PCI cards, not USB.

 

[Emeraldllama]

Thanks, any brands or models that you'd recommend? Also 54mbps or perhaps 108mbps?

 

[Guest]

Hesitate to recommend any specific brand -- there are lots of reviews out there once you narrow down the price range.

In my own and others' experience the cheap stuff often performs as well as the better known brands -- for the simple reason that they use the same chipsets.

Difference comes when you need help -- big brands (Netgear, DLink. Linksys) have fairly decent online support and user forums and will be around still when you need firmware and driver updates.

 

[Emeraldllama]

Thanks, I think I'll try out a D-Link AirPlus DWL-G510... See how it works out.

If anyone else's got any experiences they would like to share please feel free to do so!