DnvrFox

I have a very much older Toshiba laptop computer (I paid $150 used) which I travel with and use around the house on my wifi system. I have had it hooked up to my wifi with a PCMCIA card, which worked ok most of the time - sometime had a problem getting the signal - but it was a really cheap generic card.

On my recent trip, I failed to remove the PCMCIA card, and when I unpacked (I ship it in my suitcase) the card was bent and the card/PCMCIA slot did not work.

So, I bought a new (rather expensive for me) PCMCIA network card in Baltimore, hoping it might work, but it also failed to work.

Upon returning, I took the laptop apart (I'll never do that again) to check for any cables that had been jarred loose, etc. None apparent, and I FINALLY got it back together and working together again (those friction connect ribbon cables are tricky).

So, the computer is working again. The system hardware device manager shows that the PCMCIA card is working, but it is not. I suspect a bent or broken pin way in there. I tried other PCMCIA cards in the slot, and they didn't work either. I tried my "broken" wifi card and it worked in my other laptop.

So, here is my question:

The computer has one 1.1 USB port. I find USB wifi network cards available on the internet for $25 or thereabouts. So, I am considering purchasing a USB wifi converter for traveling, and disregarding forever the PCMCIA slot. XP Pro, 384 mb memory.

Anyone out there use a USB wifi receiver/transmitter - especially on a USB 1.1 port? How does it work. Speed?

Any other ideas?

Anyone want to buy a brand new PCMCIA wifi card?

I really don't want to buy another laptop at this time. If the USB wifi will work, that will solve my problem.

Tom Bombadil

My daughter used a wireless USB Ethernet adapter on her desktop in our house for 3 months last year. It was slow but worked okay. I'm almost certain it was a USB 1.1 slot, as it was a 4-yr old desktop.

cyclinfool

I use a very old wireless USB WiFi adapter on my computer and my daughters computer at home - no problem and plenty fast. At work I bought some WiFi USB adapters to runs some experiments with - when ever I used them the computers crashed. The ones at home are Linksys, the ones at work are Netgear. My suggestion would be to go with the USB WiFi adapter - should work just fine.

HiYoSilver

Check out newegg. They have very good prices, good delivery and most of the product reviews are good. You can read the technical guys evaluation of anything before you buy.

DnvrFox

Well, I just blew a total of $26.85 on an adapter AND a hub.

Name Code Qty Each Options
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Creative I/O Chipset USB S02_USB-G802 1 12.95
2.0 Wireless WiFi Adapter
802.11b/g 54 Mbps (Made
in Taiwan) - Retail

Connectland USB 2.0 4 S01_CL-U2FPHUB-4B 1 7.95
Ports Hub (NEC Chipset) -
Retail
Subtotal 20.90
Shipping 5.95
Tax 0.00
Total 26.85

I'm known as a BIG spender.

cyclinfool

Ain't technology grand! For under $30 you bought what took more than $1B of investment to manufacture and hundreds of man years to design!

DnvrFox

Err

Was that the "wheel?"