Diffrence between wifi cards?

Question

So basicly i've got 2 questions.

1) so i'm buying a notebook today, it doesn't have wifi built in, but has wifi capabilities. so, my buddy has the little usb-port wifi cards. its 802.11g, by linksys, i might buy it from him.....what i'm wondering, is......is there a noticable performance, or any diffrenece between the small usb-port wifi cards, and the larger-notebook specific cards? like will i have less of a signal? or slower performance? bascily, anything between the two?

2) if i do end up buying the small usb-port wifi card from him. he says he doesn't have the disk anymore. Do i HAVE to have the disk? to get started? or can i just plug in the wifi, and it'll hook up to the internet and just download it.....bascily, anyway around not having the setup disk?????

thanks

forgot to mention, what i ment by diffrences, would be like.....2-802.11g cards, one usb port style, and one notebook specific style.

not the diffrence between 802.11b and G, srry for the mixup

Answer 1

You can download drivers, manuals, etc from the maker's web site so the disc is not needed.

You should try the unit for a few days to see if it will work for you. Many times usb ported devices perform well and many times they do not. In prinicpal they are good but in fact this is not always the case - and the older usb devices are known to have problems.

I prefer pcmcia devices for lap tops but that is my preference.

Answer 2

If it has wi-fi capabilities; it has wi-fi; otherwise not sure what you mean there.

Simple Answer; you will not notice differences in performance regarding USB or PC Card; even if there were real world differences in numbers...you won't see it

Most drivers are online; if you can get online...otherwise you need the disk