I was wondering, do you think there's a difference in which wireless network adapter card you have in your laptop. I mean, so long as it's compatible with the right "type" (802.11a/b/g), does the "company" matter? I see that Lenovo's more expensive ones have "Intel" cards, whereas their "less-costly" ones have "Lenovo" ones. Thanks.

As long as they are compatible standards, they should work fine. We have Belkin wireless cards running on the network here mixing with Intel and cheap brands that use generic chipsets. They all work fine.

Although missing 802.11b with 802.11g cards causes some wireless routers to run the slower of the two speeds but I think the new hardware routers over come this shortfall.

Ali
Ps on a related noted 802.11n with 300Mbps speeds and HD video streaming power are just around the corner;
http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/05/netg ... -products/

Thanks, Ali. I was confused as to why some of Lenovo's laptops came with "Lenovo" brand 802.11 a/b/g) cards, whereas others did so with "Intel" brand 802.11 a/b/g ones. I'd have figured that one company would stick with just one type, across the board, if it made no difference; this is what led me to believe that (as they were seen on more costly systems), the "Intels" were in some way superior. Well, thanks for the clarification.

I have worked with a lot of WiFi equipment and the fact is that there can be a big difference between products of different companies. Actually it is like any other electronics with standards, although they are supposed to share the same standard, the fact is products from different manufacturers, in fact different models from the same manufacturer also show different performance levels. The final performance of any electronic product depends on the quality of parts and the designing more than just the 'standards' which they adhere to.

I would recommend Intel Wireless Cards, not just for result but they are compatible with 99.9% of networks where Broadcom and others may not work will all and sometimes have to go through much setup to get them work with hotspots.

Thanks for the advice, Chris. Actually, I went ahead and got the Broadcom; it seems to work fine. I've tried it at a few locations, and have encountered no problems, as yet.