Thinkpads Forum

What's the different? Is one better than other? USB seem to be cheaper for both that are 802.11G

I would prefer PCMCIA. Mainly because, IMO, the USB ones are more likely to suck. And they tend to stick out more.

aaa wrote: the USB ones are more likely to suck.

Now there's an objective opinion backed up with hard data.

Just playin with ya, no offense meant.

I don't know why, but that made me chuckle for a little bit.

I've used both. The PCMCIA doesn't stick out, that's true, but I've used the USB with an extension to get a better signal; and then the fact that the USB sticks out farther than the card is not an issue since the extension cable is flexible. I've not noticed and difference in the performance of either one. Why the USB's are cheaper I have no idea; maybe they have a larger audience since it would not take up a slot that may otherwise to used.
Go for the least expensive if you already have a USB extension cable.

Wait a minute. USB extension cable? I thougt just plug and play like the thumb drive. Look like the same size.

NautTboy wrote:Wait a minute. USB extension cable? I thougt just plug and play like the thumb drive. Look like the same size.

I think he suggested an extension cable because of how the USB dongle would stick out. By using a cable, you have a flexible wire going into the laptop instead of a stiff two inches of plastic. It may not make any difference for you, though.

I personally prefer the PCMCIA cards. You're not limited by USB speed (if your laptop only has USB 1.1), the card doesn't stick out as much, and it doesn't take up one of the scarce USB ports. Also, from my experience, the PCMCIA cards have been more reliable than my one USB dongle. It could just be the one I have, though.

I second the PCMCIA recommendation for all the reasons already noted, as well as for much bigger choice of cards...

From experience I have found that operating a network device via USB causes the host computer more work as they tend to be quite "chatty", creating quite a lot of message traffic on the bus. You'd notice this if you are using a few other USB devices at the same time.

PCMCIA/Cardbus wireless devices are practically identical to their PCI counterparts and (usually) place less work on the CPU. This isn't guaranteed though, I've noticed a lot of popular cards are on their 3rd or 4th "version" now, which means that every couple years they use a cheaper chipset and sell it at the same price.

Case in point: I've been trying to use a Netgear card based on the Marvell chipset with my Thinkpad and it keeps dropping the connection after a couple minutes. Netgear support have told me to disable the security on my router. Yeeeeeesssss...