best deal?

m00nie

ok so got the new dell pc being delivered on Monday so looking for best deal on wireless router and adapter for this desktop and the new one..

most ive seen now seem to come with the usb adapter (dongle kinda thing) are these any good? ?

also are they all compatible as i can see the kids losing the adapter at some stage seeing as it only plugs in the front

oh and its a bt line so need adsl ones

cheers

m00nie

wolfman

Personally I prefer internal pci cards instead of a usb adapter. They're generally more stable, run cooler and hidden away inside the case. Only downside is they aren't as portable. For example you couldn't take it out and put it in your laptop.

Ed - oh and a pci card is harder to install than a usb adapter. It's nothing to tricky in realistic terms though.

Tickdick00

DO you have USB sockets on the back of your pc?

I have a Netgear USB adaptor but it comes with a cable so it plugs into the back of the pc and stays out of the way behind the monitor.

Hope that helps

m00nie

thanks for replying, yes would prefer a card so its in the pc out the kids way, no problem in installing it as built a few pc's but not really used wireless before.

just all the ones ive seen for sale seem to be the small adapters, any idea where and what i could get ?

got a computer fair this weekend localy so will pay that a visit.

can i buy a different brand card to router?

albertross_2

Any decent shop will sell pci cards, ebuyer.com (£15-20) if you are stuck.

Netgear DG834G/GT routers are ok in my experience, but not the cheapest.

Be sure to check the security tips on the wireless sticky thread, if you are not familiar with the security issues of wireless, otherwise the neighbours will be able to snoop on you and use your internet connection..

Most important points are enable WPA-PSK encryption with a long/strong password (https://www.grc.com/passwords), and disable SSID broadcasting.

Mark_LJ

What distance are you going to place the PC from the access point?