04-15-2010, 12:42 AM
spgsose wrote:
Yoyodyne ArtWorks & Winston: I'll check out those cards in my search for a PC Card replacement, since it looks like the AirPort Express attempt is doomed. These are good cards that can play streaming video well and receive signals through walls and at fair distances, right? That's my current PC Card's problem.
A PC Card (aka CardBus card) should have better reception than the internal card in your PowerBook, primarily because the antenna is outside of the computer's case. That's certainly the case for my TiBook, but TiBooks have notoriously bad internal antennas.
All sorts of things can affect WiFi reception:
- signal from the wireless access point/router. Some routers have better antennas or stronger signals. Some can have their firmware changed (see dd-wrt or tomato) and then be able to boost the power of the signal. There are also ways to focus the signal in a given direction.
- interference from other devices using the same frequencies. Cordless phones on the 2.4 MHz band are the biggest culprits, but other WiFi routers using the same or adjacent channels, baby monitors, etc. can be a problem. Turning on "use interference robustness" if you have an AirPort base station can help. Using the 5 GHz band if you have "n" can also help, as there is less interference on that band.
- blockage of signal by different materials. For example, WiFi won't go through a refrigerator. It works on line of site, so if there is something which blocks radio in the path, you won't get as good a signal.
- type of WiFi being used. While I have not seen a direct comparison, my sense is that WiFi range, from shortest to longest is:
802.11g
802.11b
802.11n
Note that this does not match the speed. "g" is faster than "b", but at the expense of shorter range. "n" is both faster and should match or exceed the "b" range.
Some PC Cards have a jack for an external antenna. The old Lucent WaveLAN Silver (upgraded to Gold) PC Card I use with my TiBook has an antenna jack, for example. I actually have an antenna I can plug into it, but I've never really needed it. Range with my card is as good as our old iBooks, which were among the best Macs for WiFi range - at least until the "n" WiFi cards came out.
What kind of Orinoco card are you using now?
- Winston