# Wireless cards, which is recommended? Cisco? Linksys?

## squanto

Hey all, although I searched the forum, I have found problems with most all wireless pcmcia cards listed.  I was just curious as to which cards people have had success with / which people didn't.  I would like to get a wireless card for my IBM T22 laptop to use here at school.

Our campus computer store sells Linksys I think, so I could get a good deal on one of them, but I have heard good things about the Cisco Aironet 350 cards too, in mags and whatnot.

To use our network here at school we have to have a VPN client installed, and we have to log on, to keep people from mooching off the wifi signals I guess, but I think I have a way to get around it, it is pretty simple I think.

But any considerations as for the VPN situtation that people have had expeirence with would probably help me out with my decision too.

I found these posts, but would like some info on Linksys vs Cisco vs Orinoco vs any others:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=12044&highlight=wireless

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=11036&highlight=wireless

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=9445&highlight=wireless

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=13921&highlight=wireless

The last one is in German and I can't read too much into it, me not knowing German and all... :Embarassed: 

Thanks alot for the advice!

Andrew

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## PimpNasty

My roommate has had some range problems with his LinkSys card.  He was thinking about buying a Cisco but they were to expensive for him.

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## squanto

 *PimpNasty wrote:*   

> My roommate has had some range problems with his LinkSys card.  He was thinking about buying a Cisco but they were to expensive for him.

 

Ya, $120 USD for a Cisco 350 wireless card is kind of on the expensive side, but supposidly they are worth it.  That was the main reason I posted this question, so I don't throw away a good bit o' cash.

Thanks,

Andrew

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## ghost_o

 *squanto wrote:*   

>  *PimpNasty wrote:*   My roommate has had some range problems with his LinkSys card.  He was thinking about buying a Cisco but they were to expensive for him. 
> 
> Ya, $120 USD for a Cisco 350 wireless card is kind of on the expensive side, but supposidly they are worth it.  That was the main reason I posted this question, so I don't throw away a good bit o' cash.
> 
> Thanks,
> ...

 

Unless you are getting or using a Cisco WAP, don't waste the cash on the card.  The throughput will be no better.  With a Cisco WAP, I can say that I have seen 10% better speeds than with Lucent and Nortel implementations in the same setup (office floor per WAP, 25 users 10~200ft open cubicle environment).  Cisco faired MUCH better in collision/throughput/broadcasts than all the others.  Mixing access cards with other vendor WAPs made minimal difference.

Just .02

-G

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## Heretic

Here's what I know about Cisco v Linksys cards.  I goto UT, we have a Wireless network across most of campus.  I can sit in my favorite coffee shop on the Drag and get wireless access with my Cisco.  With the Linksys, it never detects the network.

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## Cheesefoam

Main difference is that with most wireless NICs, you can get at best 50 mW of power for transmitting.  Cisco cards will do up to 100 mW...  Superb range.  Where I'm at in grad school, the entire campus is blanketed with a Cisco 802.11a network - you can go ANYWHERE and have no connect problems at all with those NICs.

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## MasonMouse

I've used both a Linksys and Aironet (Cisco) card. My exerience was the same in that the Linksys had problems with range whereas the Aironet did not. I've also seen a utility that supposedly allows you to pump the power up on the Linksys but I didn't try it as I had already gotten the Aironet by then.

I was using a Linksys wireless access point with the Linksys card too so it wasn't a compatibility issue. The Aironet cards still seemed to work better with it than their own! In fact, that AP has since bit the dust and I'm now using an old laptop with an Aironet card as my access point and it works as well as the "real" access point.

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## taznumber1

I have a Cisco Aironet 350 Card because my school usese all Cisco networking equipment, and that is what my campus computer store sells.  I have had no problems getting connected anywhere on campus, and I always get a signal and even in places that my buddies do not get a connection.

But as far as you linksys problem about them never getting a connection you might your campus's SSID that is an idea that identifies that network, and allows those clients to connect to that network, if your school has it set up that you must use there SSID then you need to find out what it is and set it up with your linksys card.  I have seen that work many times.

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## spooon

I just bought an Orinoco gold card to use on campus. Installed it with ease and it works like a charm. Range and speed are great. I'd say that the Orinoco is second only to the Cisco 350, which was too much for my budget.

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## dreamsofxion

I too would recommend the Lucent/Proxim Orinoco card...

It has easier drivers, better range, and isn't much more than a Linksys...

Though I'd recommend the Silver over the Gold because the only difference is the Gold has the ability to use a proprietary encryption protocol which only works between Gold devices...and because of that ability, it eats more power...

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## dweigert

Hmmm... I thought the difference between them was that the silver cards only did 64 bit WEP and the gold cards did 128 bit WEP....

Dan

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## masseya

 *dweigert wrote:*   

> Hmmm... I thought the difference between them was that the silver cards only did 64 bit WEP and the gold cards did 128 bit WEP....
> 
> Dan

 You are correct sir.  I've been using a Gold card for about a year and a half and I highly recommend it.   :Smile: 

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## sKewlBoy

I've seen some babling about working drivers for DWL520+... Anyone has tried it ?

And what about Trendware TEW-223PI ? It's the cheapest card I've found, and it would be really nice for me and my neighbours sharing internet connection, since we can't spend too much money. If anyone had good experiences with this 11mbits card it would be great, since the router would be a linux box.

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## OdinsDream

I use an Orinoco Silver card on an IBM ThinkPad T21 with the pcmcia-cs drivers. It works very well, although I did waste quite a lot of time setting it up, until the kind folks on this forum pointed me in the direction of pcmcia-cs.  :Very Happy: 

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## mikepolniak

I'll second the recommendation for the Orinoco Silver which i use on an IBM      

ThinkPad 770x. Although the Cisco is the uber wireless card the Orinoco is

about half the price with virtually the same sensitivity.

The Orinoco is widely used and reconmmended. A really good site for  wireless hardware info is :

http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/HardwareComparison

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## sKewlBoy

Besides orinoco cards, can't you recommend anything else (with PCI versions...) ?

Orinoco cards are not sold anywhere in Portugal for a reasonable price, and buying at buy.com doubles its price...

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