Wireless Usb - slow speeds?

Red_Rose_Exile

a dongle is another name for an adaptor.

You would need the card inserted into your PC, buying a USB 2.0 hub would still mean it would connect at USB 1.x speeds unless you upgraded the card.

They are available on the high street, but word of warning, you pay well over the odds. This page has the WiFI 54Mbps Wireless Multimedia USB 2.0 Network LAN Adapter for £4.85 (£7.82 including VAT and P&P), (ignore the fact this is a Apple MAc page, it works on XP too!)

Infidel

I just checked the back of my PC, i appear to have 2 slots free (as in there are 2 silver metal 'oblong' shaped things that look as if i could push them out to make a hole). They must be slots right:o.

Now i am a bit confused, if i get a usb plug in wireless adaptor then i'll probably have to get a new usb port for my PC anyway - so i can still use my printer etc. (without having to unplug the net).

But then, bearing in mind i have 2 slots free, is it better (and possibly cheaper) to put in a "usb card thingy" into one of my free slots, giving me some more usb ports, or should i buy one of those 2-4 usb adaptor things?

Actually, do i have to take the back off my PC to see if i can fit one of these in, or is having a free slot enough?

Lastly, have you ever used these sites you are linking me to, as in bought anything from them?

chuckles1066

Infidel wrote: »

I just checked the back of my PC, i appear to have 2 slots free (as in there are 2 silver metal 'oblong' shaped things that look as if i could push them out to make a hole). They must be slots right:o.

Now i am a bit confused, if i get a usb plug in wireless adaptor then i'll probably have to get a new usb port for my PC anyway - so i can still use my printer etc. (without having to unplug the net).

But then, bearing in mind i have 2 slots free, is it better (and possibly cheaper) to put in a "usb card thingy" into one of my free slots, giving me some more usb ports, or should i buy one of those 2-4 usb adaptor things?

Actually, do i have to take the back off my PC to see if i can fit one of these in, or is having a free slot enough?

Lastly, have you ever used these sites you are linking me to, as in bought anything from them?

Well if you're determined to go down the pci card route, try

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-Port-USB-2-0-Card/dp/B000185AKG

where you can get the 5 port usb 2 pci card and a Belkin G wireless dongle (top brand) for a shade under £18.

Red_Rose_Exile

You may need to take the side off your PC to confirm, the two screws on the right hand side as you look at it from the back, should suffice in removing the case side.

The fact that you have 2 silver metal blanks suggests that you MAY have two PCI slots, but they are just that blanks to fill in the back

Make sure that you fully earth yourself, and that the PC is unplugged

It would be cheaper to buy the USB 2.0 PCI card, which I linked to in my first reply.

If you were to buy a USB 2.0 hub rather than the card, it would only work at USB 1.x speeds. So if you plugged the hub into the USB 1.x socket, you wouldn't see the benefits of USB 2.0 speed, all you would gain is 4 ports at USB 1.x speed,

Lastly, have you ever used these sites you are linking me to, as in bought anything from them?

yes, and happy to recommend them on both price and service,

Infidel

chuckles1066 wrote: »

Well if you're determined to go down the pci card route, try

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-Port-USB-2-0-Card/dp/B000185AKG

where you can get the 5 port usb 2 pci card and a Belkin G wireless dongle (top brand) for a shade under £18.

I don't like the look of the latest review for that one (link above).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbranded-USB-2-0-PCI-Card/dp/B00066LPA2/ref=pd_sbs_ce_1/202-0348139-5920632

Are there any reasons why something as cheap as this (link above) shouldn't be okay?

I gather the external ports are the ones that you can plug into via the back of a PC, but what exactly does an internal port do?

chuckles1066

Infidel wrote: »

I don't like the look of the latest review for that one (link above).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbranded-USB-2-0-PCI-Card/dp/B00066LPA2/ref=pd_sbs_ce_1/202-0348139-5920632

Are there any reasons why something as cheap as this (link above) shouldn't be okay?

I gather the external ports are the ones that you can plug into via the back of a PC, but what exactly does an internal port do?

Well, you gets what you pays for I guess!

An internal port is typically used for things like card readers........my system has two internal USB ports, one of which is used by by 13-in-1 media card reader.

I'm sure there are other uses though.

Red_Rose_Exile

You win! That's the cheapest and it's rare for amazon to outdo ebuyer!

That will do fine. The internal card won't actually run at the full 480Mbps because the card will have to share the PCI bus bandwidth with all your other devices, but I can assure you you wouldn't notice the difference.

What does the internal card do? Apart from an improved interface between your PC and the devices? It provides Power, 500mA of it for your devices. Many USB devices don't have a power adapter that plugs into an electrical socket; they get their electrical power through their USB connection.

Also some devices will not work unless they attached to the ROOT hub,
in the case of the USB 1.x sockets on your motherboard those will be the ROOT hub for your USB1.x
The card would be a ROOT hub for the USB 2.0 devices

Infidel

Red_Rose_Exile wrote: »

You win! That's the cheapest and it's rare for amazon to outdo ebuyer!

That will do fine. The internal card won't actually run at the full 480Mbps because the card will have to share the PCI bus bandwidth with all your other devices, but I can assure you you wouldn't notice the difference.

What does the internal card do? Apart from an improved interface between your PC and the devices? It provides Power, 500mA of it for your devices. Many USB devices don't have a power adapter that plugs into an electrical socket; they get their electrical power through their USB connection.

Also some devices will not work unless they attached to the ROOT hub,
in the case of the USB 1.x sockets on your motherboard those will be the ROOT hub for your USB1.x
The card would be a ROOT hub for the USB 2.0 devices

Well, if it wasn't for amazons shockingly high postage costs i may 'win'.

But, as they are £5.90 for this item, it makes the total price MUCH less of a bargain .
This is why i was asking if i can get a decent price on the high street anywhere, as, as you can see, internet buying is often not worth it when buying cheap items.

The search continues,

Er, can anyone recommend anything in Argos?