5 wireless cards to choose from for my Dell laptop, which one to get?

Question

i can get a:
Intel pro/wireless a/g mini-card (+$29)
Dell wireless G wifi mini card (+$0)
Dell wireless A/G wifi mini card (+$10)
Intel pro/wireless n mini card (+$79)
Dell wireless n mini card (+49)

right now I have a wireless-G plus MIMO router, so would that be good enough for newer 3D games, or would I need to switch to wireless-N or a wired connection?

Also, would the Dell a/g get worse reception or better or the same as the intel pro/wireless a/g?

Would the Intel g/a get better than the dell G?

Answer 1

There are four different types of wireless signals, called A, B,G and N. 99% of the home and "hot spot" wireless networks you will encounter will be G. The B is identical to G, but slower, so a G card will work on a B network.

A is only used in some older commercial or industrial networks. So unless you will be taking your laptop into factories, you should not need the ability to do A networks.

Finally, there is N. It is new standard that is just appearing on the market. It is the "next" version of G, and will work with both G and B networks. (I don't think it works with A). But it is faster.

However, they committee that decides how all these different protocols works has not finalized its rules for "N" networks. It is possible that somethings may change and early N cards may not work properly a year or two from now when the final standards are released. Plus, there are not yet an N networks available (or very few) to use the card on. You would probably be running it on G networks (and at G speed for the next year or so). So it is debatable where another $79 is worth it. Once the final N standards are released, and companies begin to mass product the N cards and routers, the price will drop below $79 dollars (probably into the $40 range). So it might be worth the wait.

Plus if your home router is a 802.11 G router, you would have to replace it (about $100 at the time) with an N router to get the N speed.

My experience with the Intel and Dell wireless cards (I am the Computer Tech for a site with about 1400 PCs) is that there is no difference in reception quality or distance between them.

So at this time, I personally would not spend $79 for the N card. I would go with the Dell G at no extra charge. Then in a year or two when N is finalized, I would probably be able to do both the card AND the router for the $79.

Answer 2

The games will not be affected by the wireless card. WiFi is faster at the 'g' type than any internet connection. The only thing affecting the wireless card is the signal strength between you and the wireless AP.

Answer 3

Wireless N is backward compatible. This means it will work with a/b/g so buy wireless n.