Connection Options

You have three basic choices when choosing a wireless network adapter. Depending on the wireless standard and type of computer you are using (see Table 4.1) your choice will to some degree be made for you. The options are a PC Card, USB, or PCI Card. Let's look at these different types of network adapters in detail.

Table 4.1. Choosing Wi-Fi Network Adapters

If you have	For use with	Then use
802.11b	Laptop	PC Card
802.11b	Desktop	USB
802.11a or 802.11g	Laptop	PC Card
802.11a or 802.11g	Desktop	PCI Card

PC Card

PC cards (Figure 4.1) slide into one of two PC card slots you'll find on a laptop. Note that the PC card slot is sometimes called a PCMCIA slot (PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association). PC card wireless adapters (Figure 4.2) are great for notebooks because they are small and easy to install. When you hit the road, you can leave the card in your laptop's PC card slot. (If the laptop won't fit in your bag with the network adapter plugged in, you can pop it out for storing in the pocket of your laptop case.) You can also use a USB wireless network adapter with a laptop, though USB adapters tend to be larger and include a cord you probably don't want.

Figure 4.1. A PC card wireless network adapter from 3Com.

Figure 4.2. A wireless network adapter that connects to the USB port on your computer. Photo courtesy of Netgear.

USB

For connecting desktops to a 802.11b network, USB is a very good choice. USB (Universal Serial Bus) network adapters are inexpensive and easy to install. PCs that run Windows 98 or later (when you purchased them) will typically have two USB ports. The ports are hot-swappable, meaning you can plug in equipment and unplug it without rebooting the machine. That said, you will sometimes need to restart your computer for some network software to recognize the network adapter. There is one caveat to using USB with wireless networks: You can't use it for 802.11a or 802.11g networks, because USB isn't fast enough to carry data for these wireless networks, which transfer data at 54 megabits per second. The maximum throughput of USB is 12 megabits per second.

PCI Card

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) cards are sometimes used to connect wireless network adapters to desktop computers. You can see a wireless PCI card network adapter in Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3. A PCI Card wireless network adapter.

Connecting a PCI card to a computer is slightly trickier than using a USB network adapter. You must open the computer case and install the card in an open PCI slot inside the computer. It's not terribly complicated, but it takes more time, especially compared to installing a USB network adapter. Early 802.11b PCI network adapters sometimes required that you install a PCI adapter in your computer, then plug in a PC card network adapter into the PC card adapter. Remember to check out Table 4.1 for a quick look at what equipment to buy for different computer setups.