i moved in a new flat and the router must stay far away from my pc (girlfriend doesnt want me to use any ethernet cables cause it will look messy) i got the o2 wireless box 2 which is a 802.11g i was even thinking to get a really cheap 802.11n that it will be compatible with 802.11g dont want to spent much but i am looking for a good one.. between 20£ to 30£ will i have the same signal quality with a wireless usb adapter?
Generally speaking USB adapter are horrid. They have poor aerials. my experience with them isnt good. what about a Abit Airpace PCI-e x1 wireless card, they are very good and have a decent aerial as standard that is attached via a cable so it can be better positioned. there about £10-£15 from scan. no point getting wireless N unless you have a wireless N router and card otherwise it will just be a normal G signal. ooo EDIT: it has standard connector on the Abit Airpace too so you can fit a high-gain aerial if signal is not the best.
^ This. Airpace adapters rock tbh. I've got one and I'm not changing until it's broken/completely useless.
Are their ANY decent enough USB adapters? I currently use http://www.sitecom.com/product.php?productname=Wireless+Network+300N+PCI+Card&productcode=WL-181&productid=578&subgroupid=38 but will need more internal space soon. EDIT: Ooh, noticed I get a special sig for my 69th post!
You must have a spare PCI/PCI-e slot! There might be some decent USB adapters out there, but I fear they're lost in the usual mediocre rubbish tbh.
What cooler are you using? The Airpace is tiny, barely bigger than the length of the PCI-e 1x slot. It should fit even with most dual-slot coolers. Failing that the Belkin F5D7050UK is an alright USB one. If you've got a few devices around your desk all needing to connect how about a wireless bridge? That's a good solution too.
i've always found most wireless bridges to be abit flaky but if you wanted to go that way have a look at DD-WRT custom firmware for routers that adds functions such as wireless bridging. USB adapters i've always had a good run with these
thank you guys for all your replies..help me alot to deicide.. i noticed btw that i have only 1 pci-e x1 available and no pci slots, since one is coved by the gpu cooler and the other one has my sound card.. i did my research around the net and Abit AirPace is the way to go for now
Well, if you can push the budget a bit there certainly are some excellent USB adapters out there. I use an Alfa AWUS036H which has a 500mW radio, paired with a 9dBi omni. That's ace for penetrating old stone walls. If I use it upstairs I sometimes pop on a 2dBi antenna because of course that's better when we're directly above the AP. I paid £30 for mine off ebay, but I do consider it a solid investment.
If your g/f doesn't want wires everywhere I strongly recommend you consider ethernet over power. I use these: BT Comtrend PowerGrid 902: You can get a pair for £30 or so off ebay sometimes cheaper. They operate at up to 200MB/s and in my flat with extremely flakey wiring I get connected at >100MB/s which is more than enough and more than you will get with the best wireless equipment. They are secured and encrypted - you need two to start off with and they have a pass-through socket for power. You can add more than 2 and extend the network to your sky box etc. I have one next to the router - you just plug an ethernet cable from a port on the router into the block and at the other end same thing into the computer - no long ethernet wires and no poor wireless signal. Crazy B
