New mini-card for USB Wireless??

I noticed today on the Vostro downloads page that there is a new driver (posted today), for a Dell Wireless 400 Wireless USB minicard!

Release Title: Network: Dell Wireless 400 Wireless USB Mini-card, Driver, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, English, Multi System, v.1.3.098.8, A02
Release Date: 10/10/2007
Criticality: Optional
Description: Dell Wireless 400 WUSB driver and app release


I've heard of the new standard, Wireless USB, but no products using it yet. I also see you cannot configure a Vostro with this card. Anyone know anything about it?

 

I know that on the M1330's marketing pages it references the notebooks compliance with the new standard already. However, as yet it cannot be configured with the necessary hardware.

This is encouraging news that drivers have begun to surface. A revision must be on the cards.

It would beggar belief if the Vostro launched with its inclusion before the XPS. A premium price tag must be worth something, right?!

 

That's nice to hear. Now we can do something with the mini-PCI slot that most of us have empty, and this is particularly useful since since the M1330 only includes 2 wired USB ports; this would make an ultra-mobile machine even more mobile.

I hope it's reasonably priced.

 

and have you lot complaining that as you were paying premium price you expected it to work!? Why not use the Vostro owners as the guinea pigs for a change and only release it for the M1330 when the teething problems are sorted?

 

Because any hardware released to the market that Dell expect you to pay good money for should not still be in 'Beta', regardless of its sub-branding. I would not expect a 'lesser' notebooks owner to sort out Dell's technological incompetencies any more than you should!

But the fact remains that the XPS line is about cutting edge... nay, bleeding edge components first and foremost, and surely this advancement qualifies as such.

I await it with baited breath and a slight giddy excitement. Mainly, because I absolutely despise wires.

They're just so 20th Century. Haha.

 

im excited for this. i know the bandwidth is gonna be quite low (i forget the numbers) but i hope it has enough to carry data to my sound card wirelessly. I like to move from my desk to my bed and surf the net often and this would be perfect.

 

Well, they've already superceded the original W-USB standard to version 1.1. So technically, these cards yet to be implemented into Dell (or any other) notebooks are already old tech!

So what will become of Bluetooth? W-USB is faster, more versatile, with wider range and is less susceptible to interference... beginning of the end for our blue-and-toothy friend?

 

Hopefully they can upgrade the cards to 1.1 via firmware.

As for BT, it is used in many devices other than PCs, so I would imagine it's here to stay for a while, at least.

 

technically, wireless usb should reach 480mbps


finally, our mysterious "WPAN" slots can be filled.

Wireless USB
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from W-USB)

Wireless USB Logo

Wireless USB (WuzzBee) is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol created by the Wireless USB Promoter Group. Wireless USB is sometimes abbreviated as "WUSB", although the USB Implementers Forum discourages this practice and instead prefers to call the technology "Certified Wireless USB" to differentiate it from competitors (see below, "Competitors"). Wireless USB is based on the WiMedia Alliance's Ultra-WideBand (UWB) common radio platform, which is capable of sending 480 Mbit/s at distances up to 3 meters and 110 Mbit/s at up to 10 meters. It was designed to operate in the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz frequency range, although local regulatory policies may restrict the legal operating range for any given country.

 

my sound card is usb 1.1....so this is good! i think i saw a wireless usb 4 port for about 80 bucks on engadget a while back. i dont know if it was already released, or was going to be made for that price.