A computer components & hardware forum. HardwareBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » HardwareBanter forum » General Hardware & Peripherals » Homebuilt PC's
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

usb dongle v wireless card



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old August 5th 09, 07:36 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default usb dongle v wireless card

hi, got a second PC in another room and want to be able to connect the
second one to my wireless router to access the internet. is it best to
install a wireless card in the second pc,or can i use a usb dongle(not
sure what this is) to do this. XP on first pc, ubuntu 9.4 on the
other. thanx for any help/ advice Don
  #3  
Old August 5th 09, 07:55 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
66oldgit
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default usb dongle v wireless card

On Aug 5, 7:42*pm, Conor wrote:
In article c3e16252-9a07-4a46-9cae-c5bec231fc46
@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com, says...



hi, got a second PC in another room and want to be able to connect the
second one to my wireless router to access the internet. is it best to
install a wireless card in the second pc,or can i use a usb dongle(not
sure what this is) to do this. XP on first pc, ubuntu 9.4 on the
other. thanx for any help/ advice Don


USB dongles are inherently ****e if you've not got a strong signal and
I'd be putting PCI in the Ubuntu rig.

--
Conorwww.notebooks-r-us.co.uk
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't
looking good either. - Scott Adams


thanx for that,think i can get a card for 7lbsterling, just a guy in
the market was trying to sell me this 'dongle' for twice that. don
  #5  
Old August 5th 09, 10:54 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13,364
Default usb dongle v wireless card

wrote:
hi, got a second PC in another room and want to be able to connect the
second one to my wireless router to access the internet. is it best to
install a wireless card in the second pc,or can i use a usb dongle(not
sure what this is) to do this. XP on first pc, ubuntu 9.4 on the
other. thanx for any help/ advice Don


Some potential advantages of a PCI Wifi card.

1) Room for them to use a separate radio chip. The radio
chip may have better performance (they could use CMOS for
the MAC, and bipolar transistor technology of some sort
for the radio chip - allowing the best technology for each
portion).

2) PCI cards may have an external connector offered, allowing
the antenna to be connected there. A short whip antenna may
be provided, but you can also connect a length of cable and
antenna if you want.

This PCI card, uses a Ralinktech chipset. The MAC chip is outside
the shield area (it doesn't deal with radio signals). Other chip(s)
are hiding underneath the metal RF shield.

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...315-041-09.jpg

The standard antenna connector on the faceplate, means you can substitute
other antenna solutions if you want.

"External detachable dipole antenna (Connector: RP-SMA connector, Cable Length: 94 cm)"

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...315-041-12.jpg

Some come with a whip that bolts to the faceplate, so you don't have
cables dangling. But you cannot easily move this, to experiment with
reception. As long as the antenna is actually connectorized and not
permanently affixed, you can remove it and substitute something else.
So with some products, it is easier to verify that the connector
is removable. Or it may be stated as such in the advert. If you
saw "RP-SMA" for example, that implies a removable connector.

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...180-030-01.jpg

*******

USB dongles vary greatly, even unit to unit of the same model
number. Some models of dongle are uniformly bad, while others
you can find strong ones and weak ones.

You can use the customer reviews on Newegg, as a metric for
what kind of product you're looking at. If you have brand and
model number information, you can try looking up the product,
and see what people think about it.

A USB dongle may use an antenna structure, drawn in copper on
the PCB of the dongle. That is where the antenna is hiding.
I have no idea, how effective these are, compared to the
external whip style. My suspicion is, that variable performance
could be as much a function of shady silicon, as an actual
antenna malfunction.

To see an example, you can download documents from the companies
that make the chips. For example, this one has a MAC chip that
sits outside the shield. The radio chip sits underneath the
shield area. The antennas are on the right. The "squiggle"
just before the antenna, is an example of the "magic of microwaves".
Microwave designers design filter elements, using nothing but the
shapes of copper on the PCB. The squiggle for example, could be
a filter to exclude unwanted RF energy (not part of what
they want to broadcast or receive). Having worked with a
guy who does stuff like that, it is a curious science,
and their designs are interesting, just for the
shapes used. Virtually everything in a design is a
"what does that do?" kind of question :-)

http://www.atheros.com/pt/bulletins/...NGBulletin.pdf

Paul
  #6  
Old August 5th 09, 11:11 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Conor[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 87
Default usb dongle v wireless card

In article d63ddc13-1705-428a-924c-8cd017f0a2a6
@j32g2000yqh.googlegroups.com, 66oldgit says...

thanx for that,think i can get a card for 7lbsterling, just a guy in
the market was trying to sell me this 'dongle' for twice that. don



The only problem with the PCI ones is you may need to buy an aerial
lead if you don't get good reception with it screwed into the card.

--
Conor
www.notebooks-r-us.co.uk
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't
looking good either. - Scott Adams
  #7  
Old August 5th 09, 11:13 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Conor[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 87
Default usb dongle v wireless card

In article , Al Dykes says...

The advantage of the USB dongle is that you can move it around to get
a strong signal, even putting it on USB extension cable as far away as
35ft from where you want your PC to be.


No you can't. USB spec doesn't allow a cable run of 35ft. It allows a
maximum of 5 metres due to the velocity factor of the cable.

You can however put an antenna from a PCI one as far as you want away.

--
Conor
www.notebooks-r-us.co.uk
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't
looking good either. - Scott Adams
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
any groupsters using an USB wireless dongle?/ JAD Homebuilt PC's 3 August 19th 06 07:01 PM
USB2 PCMCIA card with dongle? [email protected] General 0 March 18th 06 10:47 PM
help: connecting wireless router using wireless lan card. [email protected] General 5 December 12th 04 07:03 PM
Looking at 6800 card but what is a "hard disk drive power dongle" bp Nvidia Videocards 11 September 7th 04 04:55 PM
Q: Wireless router to go with Dell laptop with Truemobile 1150 mini-PCI wireless card Mark Bray Dell Computers 7 May 12th 04 12:55 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 06:12 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 HardwareBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.