I know this has probably been discussed before many times, but I can't seem to find a thread, so here goes:

My ladyfriend has a Linksys Wireless B PCMCIA Adapter she inserts into her older laptop to use Wi-Fi. At the same location I (with wireless built into my laptop) get "Excellent" reception and she gets "Low" or "Very Low." I've checked her settings and Windows is managing it at 100% power with Power Saving turned off.

Is there some other brand or type of PCMCIA card we can purchase that has better reception-range?

I've heard this has something to do with amperage or something, but I don't see much in the way of tech specs on retail boxes and such to tell me if one card is better than another.

Also, would a "G" card be better in the range department? Or is that just speed?

Thanks!

I bought an AirLink 802.11g adaptor at Frys a while back for like $19 on sale (uses a TI chipset, btw). Works as well as the built-in Intel adaptor on my wife's Dell laptop.

Notice however that signal strength readings between the adaptors very considerably. An "excellent" reading on the Intel might show only "good" on the AirLink. Yet through-put speeds are nearly identical.

http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cl...le&scoring=mrd

802.11g adapters usually perform better than older 802.11b adapters, but not always, and it's hard to make more general statements than that. A laptop with a built-in adapter and an antenna in the lid should perform better than a plug-in card with the antenna in the card. "Perform better" might be defined as a higher data transfer rate. Or it might be defined as the ability to connect when the signal from the access point is weak.

But in order to really compare two installations, you have to have the same software. When Linksys software shows an 80% signal strength (whatever that means) from a Linksys card, that might or might not be a better connection than a 60% signal strength shown by Belkin software from a Belkin card.

I've got two Thinkpads, a two-year old X40 with an Atheros WiFi card built in, and a new X60 with an Intel card built in. With the computers side by side, and using the same IBM/Lenovo software, the Atheros card can detect and connect to distant access points that are too weak for the Intel card to even see. But in a strong signal environment, they both have the same data transfer rate.

Depending on how old it is, it just may be failing. IMO PCMCIA adapters are too cheap to worry about. Replace it.

I used to use the same Linksys 802.11b PCMCIA NIC that the OP referenced with a Linksys 802.11b wireless router. The reception was NOT impressive.

Now, I have a couple of Dlink DWL-G650 NIC's that I use in my laptops. This model of 802.11g NIC gets GREAT reception for me, even with the identical Linksys 802.11b wireless router.

I just sold the old Linksys and Netgear 802.11b NIC's on ebay!

I have an SMC 2.4 card if you want it (2.4GHz 11Mbps Wireless Cardbus Adapter, plus the CD for it). Worked well in my last Toshiba laptop. Got it on one of those deals where it ended up being something like $10 after rebates. I had a Linksys card before it that I had taped together after it bounced off the floor one day, and thought the SMC card had a better range when I popped it in. It's just sitting on the shelf, as I gave one of the nephews the Toshiba laptop, and he just uses it for dialup at home. My replacement Dell has the wi-fi built in.

Thanks tom911 but we now have it sorted out. Very generious offer of you though!

Neither of us are using the manufacturers software and are both using Windows XP to manage the device. So I assume the strength "meter" is accurate for comparing apples to apples. Her's was bouncing about a bit at some locations and even dropping out entirely for a second or two, which could get annoying.

I think you may have been right kanebear...it may have been failing. Even close to a wireless router the meter seemed flaky and was going up and down. So we went to Micro Center here in Houston and got a good deal on a new Linksys G card and now at that same location her signal's "Excellent" too...so that seemed to do the trick.

Thanks Everyone!