[Tech] Wireless Network Card

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Ahoy!

I'm finally getting a bit fed up of dragging an ethernet cable up and down the stairs so I can connect to the internet - it's about time I got a wireless card. I'm no expert on network cards, though, so I was hoping you lot could recommend a couple to me. The wireless router we're currently using in the house is this fine specimen:

Linksys WRT160N

It's worked pretty well so far, it's our first network router so I don't really have anything to compare it to but it gives a good signal and it's only crashed once or twice. Anyway, I'm not sure which wireless network card would be best to use with this router; there're a hell of a lot of them on scan.co.uk that look like they fit the bill, but I think buying network gear is a risky business going by what I've seen in the past.

This looks cheap and cheerful : Edimax EW-7128G
Would that be suitable, or would I be better going for something like:

Asus WL-138g V2 54G, which is at least a brand name I've heard of?

Further on from that, what are the benefits of buying a more expensive adapter as opposed to the Edimax one I mentioned there?


One more quick question, unrelated: Does anyone know how to allocate the router's bandwidth equally amongst devices connected to the network?
For example, if I'm downloading something on my PC it hogs 95% of the bandwidth and leaves my brother in a fuming fit through in his room as CoD4 lags to high hell. Surely there's some way to tell the router 'give my PC 50% of the bandwidth max, and my brother's PC 50% of the bandwidth max'?

Any help with these would be appreciated

 

[PsiSoldier]

Given you got the 802.11N router, I would recommend going for a adapter of the same spec to make use of the new specificiation (G would be ok but wouldn't take full advantage of the N router).
Something like this. Same make, so should have 0 problems connecting it up.

N > G

EDIT: Oh ah, about the bandwidth question. QoS (Quality of Service) should sort that out. From what I have read/heard it prioritises network traffic of more important programs, so I would think it would rank a game higher priority than simple downloads perhaps. I don't really know much about it 'cause I still use the free router I got with the interweb package, and it doesn't have QoS features... and I don't use wireless

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Thanks, Psi. It looks good that adapter, but DAMN it's expensive, too much for the likes of me. Plus, I think we have the network set up as G anyway (so that our older PCs could connect to it) so an N adapter would be overspecified, I would say. Still, thanks for the help.

 

[Traxata]

If you have any machines connected to an 802.11N Router, using the G specifications, the router instantly downgrades itself anyway.

So it's not worth going for it.
(this includes DS' and other WiFi things you may not be thinking of when considering what's connected to your network. )

 

[PsiSoldier]

Hmm... The router I had for a short while before returning it because I realised it was pointless spending so much on a wireless router that will only get used by the PS3, was capable of doing both G and N at the same time, so not always the case Trax :/

If you really can't aford the extra monies for the shiny N adapter, that Asus one looks fine for the price. It supports WPA2 unlike the cheapo one you found, so that's a plus .

 

[Traxata]

It works, but you get downgraded to G speeds, of 54MBPS rather than the 100MBPS of N.

 

[PsiSoldier]

Not what the router claimed in the setup thingy

 

[Ronin Storm]

I believe that the router needs to explicitly support 802.11g to provide that downgrade. In the circumstances I'm familiar with, which are limited I admit, the 802.11n traffic is effectively separated from the g traffic as if on its own VLAN.

 

[Haven]

I just bought one of these. Not got it working on linux yet but its a neat little piece of kit.

I'd reccomend going USB rather than PCI as its so much more flexible and you've usually a lot more USB slots available than PCI to use. At the price point definately no complaints.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Very interesting, haven! I never really gave any thought to USB wireless adapters, assuming they'd be slow and laggy, but if you've bought one then maybe that isn't the case? Plus, flexibility is a big plus point for me since I hate opening up my PC's guts to tinker with it, also the fact my PC's 'engine bay' is becoming extremely crowded. Are there any disadvantages of USB adapters as opposed to their PCi/E cousins?

 

[Haven]

I've not noticed any issues with latency or throughput but I've no hard and fast figures for you. There does not seem to be any disadvantage to this over the built in intel 4965 in my gaming laptop, in short it just works and does its thing happily. As an asside I'm a huge fan of detachable antenna so that I have the option of upgrading to a better or directional one at a later date, thats one of the reasons I chose this particular model.

If you can wait a few days I'll do some proper performance/latency comparisons. Away from home until Monday though so I'll try and get you some details later this week.

As for USB vs PCMCIA or PCI - I honestly can't see any disadvantage of USB for anything not maxing out the bus speed (480mbit/s) or requiring sub ms latency (not applicable to networking outside of 10ge). Unless you need more throughput than that then USB is just fine. With USB you can also use an extension cable to position the wireless better/higher in areas of low signal strength.

In the meantime this looks like a useful review for statistics.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

If you can wait a few days I'll do some proper performance/latency comparisons.

No need, sir! No need! I have faith in you, so I've just ordered one from Amazon (free delivery, handy!) and that should see me sorted. Even in the unlikely event that it is unsuitable, it only cost just over a tenner and I dare say my dad would be able to get some use out of it.

As they say in Iraq, many tanks.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Just to let you know, the wireless adapter came through yesterday (quicker than usual, for the free delivery) and now it's all set up and running perfectly. Latencies are just as good as ever, no problems or nuttin'. So, thanks again Haven, and all of you that chipped in.

 

[Haven]

This is why I bought one of these

Smaller default antenna is 2db, larger is 9. Of course it also now doubles as a beating stick ...

Driver for this are also now in the default kernel so no more messing to make it work.