USB v. PCI

Raam

I'm looking to get wireless connectivity for my machine, but I only have one PCI slot (machine is a Shuttle). So I'm wondering which would be better to do...

1. Get a PCI wireless card, or
2. Get a usb wireless thingi-mi-bob

I heard somewhere that USB ones are a bit unreliable and are slower than PCI.

Which should I go for?

cheers

KR

zAbbo

I have a shuttle as well, and have 2 wlan nics, one pci, one usb. I have to say the USB one gibes better range and is less hassle. Altho it is more unsightly. Also its handy to disconnect and hook into a new machine.

I have an SMC2662W(usb) and some random other SMC PCMCIA/PCI Adpater one.

seamus

USB is in general slower than PCI, but for wireless cards, it only depends on the type of USB.

That is, USB 1 has max speed of 11Mbps, whereas USB2 is in the region of 500Mbps. 802.11b (that's your wireless card) supports a maximum speed of 11Mbps, and 802.11a (another, but less common wireless type) supports up to 54Mbps.

So for all intents and purposes, while USB is slower than PCI, if you're using a USB2.0 wireless card through a USB 2.0 port, you won't notice any difference than if you had a PCI wireless card.

Raam

I'm hoping to drop into Peats today and pick up this gear. Any recommendations on what to go for from their catalogue? I'm not being lazy, I just honestly don't know what is best for me!

thanks!

KR

tribble

USB is in general slower than PCI, but for wireless cards, it only depends on the type of USB.

USB 1.0 / 1.1 = 12Mbit/s MAX
UBS 2.0 = 480Mbit/s
32 bit PCI = 127.2MBytes/s or 1017.6Mbit/s

That is, USB 1 has max speed of 11Mbps, whereas USB2 is in the region of 500Mbps. 802.11b (that's your wireless card) supports a maximum speed of 11Mbps, and 802.11a (another, but less common wireless type) supports up to 54Mbps.

Where to start..., USB speeds I've quoted above
802.11b = 11Mbit/s or 22Mbit with brand restrictions , well done you got that one right
802.11a = ASFAIK is illigal and not sold in this country (legal in US)
802.11g - 54Mbit/s + longer range than 11b (upto 100Mbit with brand restrictions)

So for all intents and purposes, while USB is slower than PCI, if you're using a USB2.0 wireless card through a USB 2.0 port, you won't notice any difference than if you had a PCI wireless card.

True enough, USB will give you some leeway for positioning the antenna aswell, though some SMC PCI cards have seperate antenna too - for a Shuttle I'd plump for USB, you never know when you'll need the PCI slot. Also go for 11g (if you have USB2) as it has better range and bandwidth.

I've used USR, BELKIN, SMC (avoid their routers though) - generally all good - but BUY ALL YOUR GEAR FROM ONE BRAND as there is approx a 25% incompatability between different manufacturers accirding to tests done by the register.

tribble

seamus

Originally posted by tribble
Where to start..., USB speeds I've quoted above
802.11b = 11Mbit/s or 22Mbit with brand restrictions , well done you got that one right
802.11a = ASFAIK is illigal and not sold in this country (legal in US)
802.11g - 54Mbit/s + longer range than 11b (upto 100Mbit with brand restrictions)

Ah right, I just pulled those figures from a google search, which gave 54Mbps for 802.11a, and didn't give a speed for g so I left it out. It was probably well out of date. D'oh!

Capt'n Midnight

Size matters.
Smaller antennas perform worse than larger ones (rough rule of thumb) and PCI dongles are about the worst.

PCI cards tend to have external anenna connectors so you could add an external antenna to improve signal.

Remember a 54g card will drop down to 1Mb if the signal is too weak or there is too much "noise"

Re: incompatibility - most brands should work fine in 802.11b mode.

Raam

thanks for all your replies.

In the end I went with linksys (which someone tells me is a brand of cisco)

It was relatively painless, very little config was required.

I got a wireless ADSL Modem/Router and two wireless PCI cards

KR

Capt'n Midnight

Linksys were taken over by cisco. They target different ends of the market - not sure if there is any shared drivers or hardware or rebranding yet.

iano

Just one point - 802.11a is legal in Ireland and most of Europe.
As with all wireless kit, there are different regional regulatory requirements and different frequency (band) allocations.
European variants of 802.11a equipment must provide automatic interference detection and a feature to avoid radar interference for example.

The kit is available and provides good throughput on relatively uncluttered spectrum. (802.11g uses the same frequencies as 802.11b which can be heavily used in places).