Wireless LAN cards (Part 2)
1.USB wireless adapters.
USB WLAN adapters offer some of the best flexibility for desktop or laptop computers. USB offers more deployment options than PCI because you can move the USB device around the room until you find its optimal position. Most USB devices come with a 1m. USB cable, but if you are using a powered USB hub,
you can go up to a distance of 10 meters from the PC. The following picture is an example of an Linksys USB wireless adapter.The only disadvantage of the USB adapters is the limited availability of drivers (especially for Linux). Because of this problem, most USB devices only operate with Windows.
2.Compact Flash wireless cards.
Compact Flash wireless cards are wireless LAN cards that bring true mobility to your pocket or handheld PCs.These wireless cards offer all the benefits of a traditional wired Ethernet network and lets you
stay connected while you’re moving around with your PDA to work, send/view e-mail or access the Internet without the need to hook up to any network wires. Compact Flash WLAN cards require PC with Type I or Type II expansion slot. They works not only with your pocket PC but also with your laptop computer, using special PCMCIA to CF adapters. Most manufacturers also provide drivers for Windows Vista, XP, ME, 2000 and 98.
3.Secure Digital wireless Cards.
The Secure Digital Input/Output (SDIO) cards are used mostly in PDA and hand-held computers.They conveniently connects your PDA to an existing wireless network without cables or wires. Wireless SD cards were also originally used to add memory and storage capacity to portable devices. Now, the SD interface has been extended to support wireless network adapters (and is called SDIO).The advantage of these cards is that they are extremely small, lightweight, and require less power. In addition to the slim and ultra lightweight design, the Wireless SDIO Cards, also feature secure data transfer, exceptional range and data rate, and meet Wi-Fi certification standards for total interoperability with other 802.11b/g equipment.Some SDIO Wi-Fi cards also include storage space (memory) in addition to the wireless functionality.