accordepicenter

they get an ok connection via wireless... however when im over there i cant seem to get that great of a signal at all (pcmcia linksys 802.11G card on IBM T20/Win 2k) i wonder if that card just sucks?

Tom-Guy

Well, nothing carved in stone, but this is an HP laptop thread that mentions zv5000, and internal FCC-approved cards vs 200 mW ones like mine that are apparently illegal (lol):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=20112

30-40 mW is the MAX you guys are dealing with. Most off the shelf cards are going to suck, yes.

A *good* antenna with a proper ground plane will help noticeably. Most built-in wireless setups have no external antenna provision.

A *good* Senao 200 mW (can be tweaked to 250 mW!) PCMCIA card is $70 shipped, has external antenna provisions. Amazon.com should hook it up.

Fleeman, Anderson, and Bird (www.fab-corp.com or something similar) sell good quality merchandise at reasonable prices. Keep in mind discount eGay chinese stuff is low grade, the antennas are not properly constructed, unless from a reputable manufacturer, and then they are only slightly discounted from online sales.