AirPort Extreme + Windows

[joshuajestelle]

Hi everyone,

So I have an AirPort Extreme Base Station, and my housemate has a Windows PC and is looking to buy a card for wireless access.

I've heard of some incompatibilities with Windows PCMCIA cards so I'm wondering what cards people recommend that will work with a windows laptop and an AirPort Extreme Base Station, perferrably compatible with 802.11g.

Thanks alot,
Josh

 

[yzedf]

orinoco

http://www.proxim.com/products/all/orinoco/client/index.html

 

[joshuajestelle]

Re: orinoco

Originally posted by yzedf
http://www.proxim.com/products/all/orinoco/client/index.html

It seems that these are only 802.11a/b and not 802.11g (which is used by AirPort Extreme).

Does this work at the higher speed with AirPort Extreme?

Thanks a bunch,
Josh

 

[pepeleuepe]

The only card that will be guaranteed to work with the Airport Extreme Base Station is an 802.11b card. The 802.11g is not an offical standard yet, so some of the hardware might not be compatible with other types of 802.11g hardware. Luckily, 802.11g uses the same frequency range as 802.11b and they are fully backward compatible. There really is no need for the 54mbps speed of Airport Extreme (802.11g) unless you are transferring large files or doing other network intesive tasks. If you are just surfing the internet, 802.11b (11mbps) should work just fine. The 802.11g standard should be ratified by the summer, which will allow for other companies to make 802.11g hardware that will for sure work witht the AE base station. My advice would be to stick to 802.11b unless you really really need the speed, in which case you might want to wait a couple months to be sure the hardware is compatible.

Also, 802.11a is in no way compatible with 802.11g or b. It uses an entirely different range of frequency's and will not work with the AE base station.

 

[iJon]

go check out linksys, i have had great luck with them. although many people would argue with me. many companies now are making cards for 802.11g.

iJon

 

[physicsnerd]

You might also check out the D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G™ series. I've had good luck with D-Link .b wireless products in the past.

http://www.dlink.com/products/wireless/dwlg650/

physicsnerd

 

[gotohamish]

Originally posted by pepeleuepe
The only card that will be guaranteed to work with the Airport Extreme Base Station is an 802.11b card. The 802.11g is not an offical standard yet, so some of the hardware might not be compatible with other types of 802.11g hardware. Luckily, 802.11g uses the same frequency range as 802.11b and they are fully backward compatible. There really is no need for the 54mbps speed of Airport Extreme (802.11g) unless you are transferring large files or doing other network intesive tasks. If you are just surfing the internet, 802.11b (11mbps) should work just fine. The 802.11g standard should be ratified by the summer, which will allow for other companies to make 802.11g hardware that will for sure work witht the AE base station. My advice would be to stick to 802.11b unless you really really need the speed, in which case you might want to wait a couple months to be sure the hardware is compatible.

Also, 802.11a is in no way compatible with 802.11g or b. It uses an entirely different range of frequency's and will not work with the AE base station.

The 'g' standard was approved last week actually, check out www.theregister.co.uk and search for it...

h

 

[filipp]

I also recommend D-Link. I have run a D-Link PCMCIA .b-card together with a Airport Extreme station and no problems at all. They make great products, and now they even have this Xtreme G stuff.