PC Card vs USB adapter? Which is better?

penpen

penpen

Platinum Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
Messages
7,027
Reaction score
95
Points
0
:help:

Hi all,
If any of you have any advice in the next few hours, I sure would appreciate your input.

I'm looking to purchase the Netgear WG511 Wireless PC card OR the Netgear WG111 wireless USB Adapter, and am wondering which of the two would be suitable for an old laptop (we're talking like 5 years old w/ a 233MHz processor & 4GB HD. very old). Neither the PC card or the adapter may work w/ a computer so old, but I'd like to give it a try anyway.

Also, can the USB adapter be used on a desktop, or no?

Thanks in advance for any advice! penpen
 
I would go with the USB. Most of the USB adaptors come with a cable so you can position it for the best reception. Yes you can use it with a standard desktop computer. My wife's computer has been using a USB adaptor for almost two years with a problem. :)

Kage_
 
Kage_ said:
I would go with the USB. Most of the USB adaptors come with a cable so you can position it for the best reception. Yes you can use it with a standard desktop computer. My wife's computer has been using a USB adaptor for almost two years with a problem. :)

Kage_
Click to expand...
USB adapter it is. Kage_ , you are awesome! :D
Thanks so much for your advice! :claps: :claps: :claps: :claps: :claps:
 
You are quite welcome. :)
 
I normally strongly recommend PCMCIA cards on a laptop. However, if the laptop is that old and you'd like use it on a desktop too, go for the USB adapter.

On a desktop, I highly recommend staying away from PCI cards and going with a USB adapter.
 
Erik said:
I normally strongly recommend PCMCIA cards on a laptop. However, if the laptop is that old and you'd like use it on a desktop too, go for the USB adapter.

On a desktop, I highly recommend staying away from PCI cards and going with a USB adapter.
Click to expand...
Thanks Erik! :claps: :claps: :claps: :claps: :claps:
If I knew exactly which type of computer I would be using either the PCMCIA card or adapter on, the choice sounds like it would be easier for me to make.

I bought my old laptop back in 1998, and I just recently gave it to my Dad who says he just wants to use it for creating Word documents. I just thought I'd try to jazz it up for him by setting it up so that it could connect to the internet wirelessly. But from what I understand, this computer doesn't meet the minimum processor speed criteria for that to happen.

After considering Kage_'s and your advice, I'm definitely going w/ the USB adapter. If I don't use it on my Dad's laptop, I'll just use it on an old desktop computer instead.

Many thanks for your helpful advice! :D
 
Yeah, a 233 is pushing it. I've had wireless on a 500MHz celeron laptop before, can't remember doing it on anything slower. When it gets to a point where the machine gets so slow, it simply can't process the drivers and get everything running, not to mention that wireless can get tricky on operating systems other than XP. It's nice that XP has the builtin support. Plus, on a machine that slow anyway, you're pushing it to go with broadband anyway.
 
Erik said:
Yeah, a 233 is pushing it. I've had wireless on a 500MHz celeron laptop before, can't remember doing it on anything slower. When it gets to a point where the machine gets so slow, it simply can't process the drivers and get everything running, not to mention that wireless can get tricky on operating systems other than XP. It's nice that XP has the builtin support. Plus, on a machine that slow anyway, you're pushing it to go with broadband anyway.
Click to expand...
:D Thank you, THANK YOU ERIK & CHOOCHOOJR!! :D
SPOOFEE MODERATORS ARE AWESOME !!:claps: :claps: :claps: :claps: :claps:

Yes, definitely the usb adapter, and I'm no longer going to try to set up my Dad's laptop for wireless. Thanks again ! :D
 
Yeah, with his old machine it's probably better to either use a phone modem (because the computer is so slow it wouldn't do much with broadband anyway) or use a PCMCIA card for ethernet connectivity. How much RAM does the machine have anyway?
 
Erik said:
Yeah, with his old machine it's probably better to either use a phone modem (because the computer is so slow it wouldn't do much with broadband anyway) or use a PCMCIA card for ethernet connectivity. How much RAM does the machine have anyway?
Click to expand...
Some paltry amt, like 64MB or 128MB ? Yes I know, it's an antiquated piece of machinery that can't do a lot compared to the nowaday's computers, but it's still good for some basic things. Your broadband comment is correct - I had a PCMCIA card that enabled it to use to a high-speed connection, but then it couldn't have too many browser windows open (or other applications running simultaneously) otherwise it just froze. Very frustrating.
 
What operating system do you have on there? I doubt it has 128MB, it probably has 32MB or 64MB, most of those generation systems came with 32MB, but some were "supercharged" with 64.
 
Erik said:
What operating system do you have on there? I doubt it has 128MB, it probably has 32MB or 64MB, most of those generation systems came with 32MB, but some were "supercharged" with 64.
Click to expand...
Operating System: Windows 98 SE
Yeah, it came w/ 32MB, then I had some added (can't recall exactly what amt). But you're right, it was probably like 64MB total.
 
Good for a tech forum but not here...

Well I wrote all that follows before I read penpen's post 'and I'm no longer going to try to set up my Dad's laptop for wireless. ' But just for the record...

------

You should really go to a tech forum to post questions like that. You should probably know that CPU speed and NIC (network interface card) speed are NOT related. You can put a 10/100 card in an old 80486 and run it on a LAN at 100 mbit (well over the 3-5 mbit most broadband will get you). So it stands to reason that a 233MHz machine should be able to run broadband with no problem.

Opening many windows is a memory/CPU limitation, not a NIC/Broadband limitation. You would get a better response to your question if you could include all the specs.

First off you will want to make sure that this old laptop even has USB, although I am going to assume that you already checked that. However, being that old, it's probably using USB 1.x which isn't necessarily a problem, but it could be with today's new USB 2.x devices.

However (and secondly) I would have to recommend a PCMCIA card here since that was the technology used predominantly back then and will probably give you less problems.

BUT, to ease your troubles, I would go to the manufacturers site and look for an updated BIOS ROM and flash the CMOS with it as it *may* include updated hardware support and make installing new technologies a little less painful.

However, you should be able to put a 802.11b adapter in it and it will run at 11 mbit (LAN speed only) with NO PROBLEM which means it will run out across a 3-5 mbit Internet connection. I should know, I have a old Fujitsu laptop at home (specs: 266 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 4 GB HD w/PCMCIA 802.11b adapter) and it runs just fine. Perfect for surfing the web by the pool... ;)

Hope this helps and I am not saying USB won't work, I would just go with the PCMCIA card.

------

end post.
 
knuckles said:
Well I wrote all that follows before I read penpen's post 'and I'm no longer going to try to set up my Dad's laptop for wireless. ' But just for the record...
Click to expand...
Thank you EVERYONE - Choochoojr, Erik, & knuckles - for your helpful posts. I always appreciate the kind advice that anyone can give me whenever I have a query regarding a technical issue. Thank you very much again ! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top