Any Recommendations for a Good PCI Wireless Super-G Adapter

[jpor2003]

Hi All,


I am on the lookout for a replacement PCI wireless Network card. As the one I have connected up to a Dreytek 2800G router (A freebie AsusTEK/RALINK 2500 54Mbp PCI adapter) isn't that clever on keeping a sustained connection, and is running slow on a Dual-Core Intel E6600 Shuttle XPC on an Intel chipset motherboard with 2GB RAM. And before anyone mentions it. Yes I am using the most current drivers and Utils to run it. And I am also using upgraded 5db Antennas on both the router and the card. And checked the SSID and Channel. I also have another PC running the card cloer to the router which is better at keep ing a connection, but again is running slow.

Can anyone recommend me a good PCI replacement?

Thanks

 

[Nelviticus]

Well first off the problem could be interference rather than a poor-quality card. Are there any other wireless networks within the area, particularly pre-N ones? In my house we get quite bad interference from time to time from an unknown RF source that we can't track down.

My super-G kit is from a company called KCorp and I am very happy with it. The router was the A-lised wireless router for a long time in the UK magazine PC Pro. They also do a PCI card and a PC card one for laptops.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[kmcferrin]

In addition to the possibility of general RF interference, you have to remember that WiFi networking is shared media. Not only that, but it's bandwidth shared among all WiFi networks in the same geographic area, regardless of whether the networks are separate or not. That's because they all use the same frequency ranges. If there are other WiFi networks in your area, that could be causing problems.

If you're having connection issues, not only would I recommend checking to make sure that your AP and card use the same channel, but I would also recommend changing the channels. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the three with the least overlap. Most WiFi devices default to channel 6 on startup, so I would recommend switching everything to 1 or 11 to see what happens. This is assuming that you are in North America, I hear that the channel layout is different in Europe and Asia.

 

[Nelviticus]

I believe that Super-G requires you to use channel 6 if you want to enable the 'turbo' mode, otherwise it drops to standard 802.11g speeds. If there's a nearby network broadcasting on a channel close to 6 there's not much you can do about it.

You can check for the presence of other networks, even ones that aren't broadcasting their SSID, by running something like NetStumbler.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[kmcferrin]

Ah. I hadn't looked into Super G before. It looks like it works by bonding two channels together. Since there is already overlap between the two channels immediately above and below with regular 802.11g, it would make sense that it would bond 1+6 or 6+11. In which case, there probably isn't much you can do about it (and that is probably the reason that it isn't an official standard, either).

 

[jpor2003]

Thanks for the responses.
The issue I suspect is with the Card. The router is currently set-up in a 11g/b mix and was looking at going to Super-G proper by use of a Super-G card.
In relation to other wireless routers in the area.

My cards software can see at least 4 other network routers in the area. Whereas these are using Channels 11 & 6. I find channel 9 (Which I currently use)to be a better bet, due to a Wireless BT phone and Wireless XBOX360 controllers interferring on especially channel 11. At the moment I am not using any security protocol at the moment until I can get a stable connection.

I have heard that D-Link cards are pretty good. Can onyone recommend me something?

Thanks.

 

[kmcferrin]

If the other wireless networks are using channels 11 and 6, you should be using 1 instead of 9. The reason is that the channel that your device is set to overlaps slightly at the frequencies above and below it. If you are using channel 6, you are also overlapping channels 4, 5, 7, and 8. If you are using channel 11, you are also overlapping channels 9 and 10, as well as other frequency ranges higher than the frequency used by channel 11. If you are using channel 1 you are also overlapping channels 2 and 3, as well as other frequency ranges lower than the frequency used by channel 1.

That's why companies only use channels 1, 6, and 11 when they do wireless deployments. Those are the only channels that don't overlap, and therefore those three channels provide the least interference when determining and handing off associations with APs.

 

[jpor2003]

kmcferrin. Had another go at setting a different Channel as per your model.

Each channel I tried was worse off than Channel 9, which I am using now.

Have been on the Dreytek site. And from the findings there, I have just ordered a Gigabyte Super-G card using the Atheros Chipset. Well see if that helps.

 

[jpor2003]

Well received the new card yesterday. And from what I am seeing, it has made a big improvement in connectivity and speed. And I'm still on channel 9.