wireless g + b

Chalk

decided to free up a wasted usb2.0 port by buying a pci wireless card instead of the usb one.
set her all up but i cant get a signal,
the pci card has a big ass aerial sticking out the back,
whereas the usb thing is about the size of a 10 box of smokes.

i decided to future proof myself by buying a g adpater even though my network is b.
but now im stuck.

the usb one gets a signal fine but the pci sees nothing,
ive updated drivers and moved the aerial about a bit,
still nothing,

im thinking maybe the bits arent compaitible,
ive been lokking at the site and the pci adpater doesnt mention b compatibilty at all.

router is the eircom netopi 3347
usb is the eircom usb adapter
pci is a belkin f5d7001

the network worked before with a nortel adpater [which has died] so i dont think its a manufacturer thing.

thanks,
chalk

Gone West

When the 802.11g standard was approved, it stated that for a device to carry the 802.11g tag, it MUST be 100% backwards compatible with 802.11b.
That said, try switching your card to b mode.
Try switching between the proprietary software/windows wlan wizard to see if you can see anything.
Try downloading netstumbler or kismet and see if you can see the lan with wither of those.
Or perhaps, your card simply isnt as good and doesnt get the same range as your USB card.

Chalk

cheers for clearing that up,
explains why it mentions it nowhere.

tried netstumbler and found 0 ap's

assume its just a range thing then,
ill try install it one of the pcs nearer to the router over the weekend to see if it fares any better.

thanks

dub45

Chalk wrote:

cheers for clearing that up,
explains why it mentions it nowhere.

tried netstumbler and found 0 ap's

assume its just a range thing then,
ill try install it one of the pcs nearer to the router over the weekend to see if it fares any better.

thanks

How far is the pc from the router?

Gone West

and what make/model pci card did you get?
Most of the cheaper ones have weak radios which cannot really get good range.

Chalk

Chalk wrote:

pci is a belkin f5d7001

yeah it was cheap enough,
just got it because the kb/mouse i got costed full whack on shipping,
so it made sense to throw some cheap parts onto the order

Chalk

just down the hall, maybe 15-20 feet,
although distance measuriong isnt my strong point

its not 200 feet like the box claims

would it be possible to get a screw on aerial thats longer / stronger?

dub45

Chalk wrote:

just down the hall, maybe 15-20 feet,
although distance measuriong isnt my strong point

its not 200 feet like the box claims

would it be possible to get a screw on aerial thats longer / stronger?

That distance really should not be a problem at all, and the fact that the usb one worked would suggest there is nothing unusual around that might be blocking the signal.

Is the new card definitely installed properly? Does it show up in device manager?

Chalk

dub45 wrote:

That distance really should not be a problem at all, and the fact that the usb one worked would suggest there is nothing unusual around that might be blocking the signal.

Is the new card definitely installed properly? Does it show up in device manager?

installed properly etc.