[Ham-Computers] Wireless

[Jim Hill]

Thanks for the tip's, Jeff.  Last month's Smart Computing magazine 
had a series of articles on wireless, including info on 
protocols.  But when I went to the real world of available cards, a, 
b, and g are not available on a single card. g was normally provided, 
with some saying the card would also support b. I don't know if the 
others didn't support b, or the ad writers just didn't include 
it.  Where many cards were offered, it didn't take long to get out of 
the PCMC cards and into cardbus or pc card types.

After a little looking I settled on Newegg, which I like since user 
reviews are included. There are three possibilities.  The remainder 
had no reviews or were not PCMCIA.

LINKSYS WPC54G PCMCIA 54Mbps Wireless-G Adapter - Retail  50 reviews. 
Looks good, but it appears they have quality problems.

LINKSYS WPC54GS PCMCIA Wireless-G Adapter with SpeedBooster - 
Retail  20 reviews. More expensive, and apparently their installation 
software is troublesome. No quality complaints otherwise. Either they 
improved their product, or there were not enough reviewers.

ENCORE ENPWI-G(2) Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps PCMCIA Adapter - Retail  18 
reviews.  Unknown vendor, but all reviews positive. Excellent price. 
Maybe a little less sensitivity.

Maybe Aaron could give his opinion on these choices.

Regarding security - I currently use hardware and software firewalls, 
plus the Webroot anti-spyware.  I've had the ultimate in security for 
the laptop - not connected to the Internet except for a few moments 
to see if it worked (It didn't initially and I almost returned it to 
Dell). I'll install Norton Internet Security, since I have a 3-user 
license.  There's a big security installation ahead for me, I'll 
start with my Microsoft sp2 disk.  I'll also remove any really 
personal data from the computer before starting. I'll make a Ghost 
image before starting, and if there is too much slowdown return to 
the non-Internet status when I'm home again.

73's Jim







At 09:04 PM 4/22/2007, you wrote:
>Purchase a wireless card for your laptop.  There are pcmcia wireless 
>cards as well as those that plug into your USB port.  Neither are 
>particularly expensive.  Try to stick with a known brand, as well as 
>one that supports more than one format (A, B, G, whatever).
>
>I have never been to a campground (the closest I get is sitting on a 
>blanket in front of the tv), but I'd hazard a guess that there are 
>instructions provided when you arrive.  There might be a key you 
>have to type in or it might be wide open... in either case, it won't 
>be a big deal.
>
>When I carry my laptop to a friend's house, it just picks up their 
>wireless system and hooks up.
>
>
>Now, having said that, you need to remember that you are not on a 
>secure system.  Depending on the setup, anyone with a wireless 
>`sniffer' can intercept your information.  They can even hack into 
>your pc if you don't have it secured properly.  Don't input anything 
>you wouldn't want the entire campground to know, for safety's sake.
>
>I don't know if you use one, but a firewall is a great thing to 
>have. Zone Alarm (zonelabs.com) has a free one that's very 
>effective, as does Comodo and Kerio.  An UPDATED virus scanner is 
>also necessary.  AVG is free and highly-rated.  I use Symantec.
>
>Better safe than sorry.
>
>Email if you have any other questions.
>Have a safe journey!
>
>
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