EMP-8602s 600mw Worth the money?

Do you have one? Have you used one? How's the range.
$64.00 shipped is the cheapest I can find one.

I want more range. I am using 3054mp 100mw.
External antenna 5dbi.

Thinking about the 8602S. Opinions??

 

I think it is, Though I'm still experimenting with different options.
Below is some of my experience with them. Hope its not too boring...

First off, I have to say this is a great forum with many good experienced folks on board, and altho I have not posted much I have read almost every post in the Panny section.. and I am amazed by the amount of wonderful info can be gleaned here. well done people. I have noticed most with the same interests and love for the toughbook I now feel like I know the regulars here.
I just hope in the future I can add my 2 cents every now and then and be just as worthy..

Anyway...
I have two CF-28's and both have the RIM antenna's as well as an external connection, Both identical in all respects.
I started off with the WLI-CB-G54HP A/B Buffalo card in a different brand laptop and always had great range and usability mostly while using Netstumbler. I could always see about 10 of my neighbors on the scan.
When I upgraded to the toughbook series I started out with these same cards but wanted something more permenant as I didnt want anything sticking out the side plus the delicate nature of the MCX connector started to become an issue after many uses. So I went with the EMP-8602 cards as they are quoted to have 600mW output and using the moded 1/2 wave RIM antenna hoping for at least the same performance or better.
I got a surprize...

Anyway, Being an RF engineer I have done some comparisons.
The Buffalo WLI-CB-G54HP PCMCIA card is quoted to have only 100mW as far as I can find out by searching but still an unknown.
Comparing this Buffalo card against the EMP-8602s+ I have found that the Buffalo had 4x the range using no external connection against the EMP on the tuned RIM antenna. I could now only see 4 of my neighbors and my home system had a lower signal strength.
Finding this a bit odd I dragged out a spectrum analyzer and found that the Buffalo had 4x the field strength than the EMP from a distance of 20Ft in my test range. Shocked...
The next test was performed using an 9db Bi-Quad antenna, 6 feet of LMR-200 cable and both laptops and switching between the Buffalo and the EMP card. While this increased the range on both types of cards approx 10x I still noticed a substantial power increase (4x) when going to the Buffalo card from the EMP card. Hmmm...Thats the opposite of what I was expecting.
It should have been the other way around.

So, I am starting to wonder about the published specs on the EMP.
I have four of these EMP-8602+s cards and they all perform the same.
Later on I plan to measure the actual power between the two when I get some time.
However, since I do like having the card internal and the A/B/G ability, I am putting up with it for now. I do plan on moding one of the Buffalo cards to use in the hidden slot and see if this trend continues.
Looks like I may have found something unexpected.

Also, later I plan to describe the parts changes needed to tune the 2 3/4" antenna to perform as a 1/2 wave antenna. I need to spend more time with the network analyzer and see if the results are repeatable.

Regards
Chuck

 

I use nothing but these cards (EMP-8602s) and they work VERY well! Though I think the difference between them and their 400mW cousins are so similar the difference is negligible. (But the prices are the same. When I need them I buy them from www.netgate.com for $50 each. I have other suppliers that I use from time to time where I can get them cheaper but they aren't as fast on shipping as Netgate. You should try them. They have a ton of WiFi stuff there.

Try here....

http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_34&products_id=474

 

I don't even have an antenna hooked up to mine yet and I can see wireless signals and connect to them!

 

And thats thru the metal case?...Wow thats pretty darn good.!!!