Need wireless solutions, please offer insight

Hey there,

I bought a Clevo M570U a few months ago and had intended for it to be using cable internet. However, I recently just moved into my house at college and the only internet they support is wireless. Due to my intentions, I didn't equip my lappy with a wireless card

So my question is, where and to what should I turn to for a wireless card? I know very little to nothing about wireless internet, so I'm a little in the dark

There's already a router of some sort hooked up in the closet, so I doubt I need a router.

Can anyone help? I've got to get my internet back up. Haha.

P.S. I like to game from time to time, so if spending a few extra bucks gets me a wireless card more capable of higher speeds that is fine.

 

You got a few options.

1. Get a wireless card and install it. This can either be a USB stick or the internal PCI card. USB stick is just plug and play. For the internal card you need to open your laptop.

2. Does the router in your closit not have any ethernet ports? Almost all of them do. Just connect your laptop to it with a network cable.

 

What kind of wireless card though? I've been looking at the ones that plug into the express card slot. Is that a good move?

Also, the closet is like 30 feet away from my room...so I pretty much have to go wireless I think.

 

Express card works yes. USB is cheaper but will stick out. The best option would be to get an internal mini pci express card.

Something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-wireless-3945ABG-Network-Connection/dp/B000EDQOK8

It will use the internal laptop antenna and give you a better signal. Also it is internal. but like i said you need to open up the laptop or alteast some cover. Should find help in the Clevo forum about how to do this. It is not hard.

 

Another thing tha tyou want to consider is the brand. For example, Atheros has long been one of the better internal wireless cards. Broadcom also makes them as well as Intel, but they are not as great, at least in my experience.

Just for you information as well, USB uses more CPU cycles, whereas the internal card uses less. Keep in mind, while i'm sure your laptop has the antennas in the lid, just make sure that they're there before you order the mini-pci express card if you choose to go with it. Also, if you have 3 antennas opt for the a/b/g/n or MIMO compatible cards as they offer better performance.

 

How can I tell which one is an Atheros one? Is it usually the ones where theres intel and then the Computer company's brand wireless? Also in my experience with USB adapters is that they get really hot and are not very stable in their connection, I got waaaaay too much drop signals with USB, I would recommend getting a wireless card much better imo.

 

You generally have to research it. For example, Lenovo's ThinkPad A/B/G Wireless mini-PCI Express is an Atheros based chipset. I only know this just by looking around for information. That, and eBay also helps a lot because sellers will generally tell you the chipset manufacturer. I think Gigabyte also sells a similar Atheros-based chipset that is more universal with laptops than the ThinkPad one (I think there is something about the drivers that makes the Thinkpad card somewhat not as compatible with non-IBM laptops).

 

I see. Cool. Sounds good.