ExpressCard wireless cards

[bigkpro]

Anyone know of a GOOd company making a strong signal wifi card? I just got a Dell Laptop and found out that Dell, like many others it seems, has switched to ExpressCard instead of pcmia. I had ordered a SXR400 wifi card to put in my laptop, since I use the Linksys SRTX400 router, but since its pcmia, it wont fit and Linksys want give any timelines as to when they plan to release wifi expresscards. Any ideas??? thanks

[YeOldeStonecat]

I haven't seen wlan cards for the expresscard hit the market yet.

[bigkpro]

thanks I found a few on ebay. Some by Dell and a no name company. I just wish the big guys would get with it. Thanks I need soemthing stranger so I can get a better signal strenght. I tried my USB Linksys with speedboost, but got conflict errors on the laptop. any idea why? do I need to disable the internal wlan card first? thanks

[YeOldeStonecat]

I would disable the built in wireless...I'd want to only run a single wireless card. What is the integrated one? If it's a later Dell model..it's probably Centrino (Intel)..and I love those...absolutely great.

I'd want to stay away from oddball generic names.

[bigkpro]

I think it is called the dell 1390 as I recll. I believe it is the centrino one, as the laptop is the new duo core processor.

The other problem im having is that sometimes it will not link up and connect to my secured ssid. The password it correct. It was connected and now for some dumb reason it will not link up to it. it only links up to the one my neighbor has and its a b signal and really week, where mine is strong and g. Even if i try to force it it will not connect. that is the other reason I was thinking about the usb adapter one I have. Im using the Dell connection tool. Thanks for any help!

[YeOldeStonecat]

If you're having troubles....a couple of things to look at.
1) Make sure your WLANs SSID is unique..not the default one. If a neighbor has a WLAN..under the same name..it can cause problems.
2) Latest firmware on your router, and the latest Windows Updates...specifically SP2 for XP, greatly improved the wireless config utility.
3) Try changing channels...most come default a Ch 6...but due to various environmental factors that are unique to your location...some others may work better..Ch 1 and Ch 11 are other good alternatives.
4) Start out with no security first..just to get it working and test various spots. Then bring in security...don't waste your time with old outdated WEP, use WPA or WPA2...much easier to setup, must more secure, and less of a performance hit than WEP.

[bigkpro]

Thanks. I got it up and going and am using wpa. I put the SRX400 card in my dads older toshiba laptop and it is amazing. I went to the speakeasy website with the speedtest and it was amazing. With the srx 400 card in the laptop it was DL at almost 6mp, which is how fast the cable modem we have is. The same speed my desktop DL from it that is wired to to the router... My Dell laptop (with expres card slot and Dell 1390 wifi internal card) best result was 800kb, average was closer to 450-500kb. I never expected that much of an improvement! To bad they dont have a srx400 USB wlan adapter....

Thanks for the help!!!!