USB wireless adapter for pc with linksys wireless g router

Lady_K

Which is a good one to get that will go well with my Linksys wireless g router, windows xp and windows vista (for when I get a new pc) with good signal and distance.

Any kind of adapter as long as it gets on the net through the router is ok. I don't know that much about types I just know there are usb ones

Lady_K

Anyone have any recommendations for this please?

espresso

The make/model should not make that much difference as they all work to the 802.11 standard. Just check that they can do WPA encryption as some on offer can't.

ManAtHome

If it's a 'normal' wireless-g router, any brand of adapter should work. If it's one of the 'clever' ones claiming extended range/speed, you should stick with the same make. I've used Linksys and D-Link adapters with a (normal) Linksys router - don't know whether either of them will work with Vista though.

You can get other types, but USB is the most flexible as you can use them with desktop or laptop PCs and easily move them between machines.

Lord_Gardener

We've got one of these which works fine and was very easy to install!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sweex-LW053-WiFi-LAN-Adapter/dp/B000K2NQ18/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_t

Lady_K

Only problem is its for use with XP Pro and theres some reviews on there saying it doesnt work with XP Pro, it looks really good though I would have bought it if it hadn't said that. What OS are you running lord gardener?

Lady_K

Now I'm confused what to do, I don't know what encryption is set on the router (and the info doesnt come up when I put the router address in the bar) all I know is that we have a very long password 50 or 60 digits long.

The one lord gardener recommended http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sweex-LW053-WiFi-LAN-Adapter/dp/B000K2NQ18/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1218556824&sr=8-1 has a lot of reviews (about 100 I found) very good reviews but the only thing that put me off was the review about not compatible with xp pro but thats the only comment out of a lot of reviews so who knows it might not really have been an xp pro problem. That one only covers WPA but not WPA2 though.

Theres another one I found that covers all the encryptions but only has 6 reviews in total but all good http://www.amazon.co.uk/Safecom-802-11g-Wireless-Network-Compatible/dp/B000Y164N2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A2TBPJJ0OACMF9&s=generic&qid=1218556541&sr=1-1

Which has the best signal distance as there is a fair distance between the router which is in an upstairs bedroom at the front of the house to a room downstairs at the back of the house.

Whilst I'm here aswel can anyone recommend a usb flash drive around 8gb or so but that I can put a password protection on?

espresso

Lady_K wrote: »

Now I'm confused what to do, I don't know what encryption is set on the router (and the info doesnt come up when I put the router address in the bar) all I know is that we have a very long password 50 or 60 digits long.

You will need to navigate to the wireless settings page to see what type of encryption is set. Basically get one that can definitely handle WPA as a minimum, as WEP was superseded years ago due to it's ineffectiveness.

Lady_K

How can I do that without getting the disc out as I don't want to mess the settings up. What is the router address that is typed into the address bar? as I can try again but it never used to work before

edit
Just looked it up on google and its asking me for a password which I cant remember so I wont be able to anyway

espresso

Lady_K wrote: »

How can I do that without getting the disc out as I don't want to mess the settings up. What is the router address that is typed into the address bar? as I can try again but it never used to work before

edit
Just looked it up on google and its asking me for a password which I cant remember so I wont be able to anyway

Well you could try the default password. If you can't get into the router, you won't be able to connect to it wirelessly and you will have to reset the router anyway and set up the encryption again.

Lady_K

I have the password saved that will connect to the network at hand in an email account but I cant remember the username for setting the router so easily.

I did save the username and password etc in a folder but its on another pc thats not working properly so its not set up at the moment. So I can get it but it will be a bit of a job sorting it out, I will have to do it eventually.

I think the safest thing to do is get a usb adapter that will definitely do both wpa and wpa2 to cover it.

The sweex one wont do that even though it looks good but I'm a bit miffed to find out its £4 to get the other one delivered and they dont sell it anywhere else. Its a bit crazy on a £9.99 small product when play deliver free. I've never bought through Amazon before though so I'm not used to them, its not actually Amazon its one of the stores that go through Amazon