How Far can a wireless networkcard reach? I want to network my pc (Upstairs) with my mates PC (Downstaires but they arnt directly above/below each other they are about 8 meters away and about 3meters down will a wireless network card do this?
Well, we've got a wireless WAN here at work which stretches across the city. The biggest single hop would be about 5-6km from one of the buildings up to one of the water reserviors. Admittedly, the cards do have decent antennas though, which helps the range considerably. Anyway, in your case it depends what the walls and floor/ceiling are made of. It they're wooden you shouldn't have any problem, but if they're solid conrete the cards might not have enough power to penetrate it.
8 meters without interference is within their reach. Electical wires, conduits, metal...even cellular phones as someone here recently discovered, can interfere significantly. Nobody is going to be able to tell you for sure. Best bet, get them and try them out while sitting next to each other...get them talking, then move them apart and see what happens. Just keep your receipt.
make sure you check out my thread. Two things i really noticed that made a difference in the network is keep the wireless card away from glass and the router away from glass. Also if you have a cellular phone or wireless phone at home that operates at the 2.4ghz range (same frequency as the wireless network) this can greatly effect the quality of the network. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22360
