I have a dell inspiron laptop which has an internal wireless card, the "Dell Wireless 1370 WLAN Mini-PCI Card", manufactured by Broadcom. I am thinking of investing in an external wireless card by a different manufacturer, as Broadcom's cards aren't compatible with a lot of things (namely Linux distros) and an external card with a directional aerial would have a better signal range and possibly quality of signal (recuced noise). Although, external wireless cards would be a hinderence if you travel/use your laptop in your car, not that i use wireless features on my laptop in cars What are your thoughts on this? yes, you!

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I think that external wireless cards are a great idea. They give better signal range and also improved detection.

However, you mentioned the computer is a laptop. Usually laptops are used with internal wireless cards. At least that is what they sell most here.

It's your choice, but I do recommend external wireless cards (although I never used one before).

By the way, why would it be a hinderence in a car?

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driving and using a computer at the same would be a hinderence of course .

I'm using a internal card and I got good signal strenght unless the connection at the other end is weak then it won't work as much.

what i suggest is shop around and see what kind of external cards are out there and see which one would best suit your situation.

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Yea thats obvious, an external Wireless card works better than an internal one, because those get less packetloss.

Just consider some facts at the time of buy a new wireless card:
Speed: 54kbps is always the best one
Compatibility: With all standard internet applications
Power Saving: Well, if you get your laptop on your car it must have its battery recharged, so you dont want to waste half of your battery only on the wireless stuff

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I have no idea what the pros and cons are of an internal wireless card vs an external wireless card, but i find that an internal wireless card can be very helpful at times because you dont have to worry about forgetting your external wireless card at home, or worry about it falling out, or worry about having it bent while it is sticking out in some strange part of the laptop.

But if what you say is true that internal cards do not mix well with linux distro's then I'd say go for it, you would just have to make sure you dont loose it anywhere

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there are small external wireless adapter out there like this one

http://www.cnet.com.tw/product/cwd-854d.htm

However, since you want your adapter to be linux-compatiable, i suggest u search around for linux how-to install instructions before buying that any product

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To decide which would be more suitable for you, it depends on what you are going to be using your laptop for. Of course the external wireless card is going to be better in terms of connectivity and signal strength. But it is also going to be a physical hindrance if you are going to be moving from place to place. Imagine bringing your laptop, charger, mouse (if you use 1) and a wireless card. On top of that, there could be your peripheral devices as well.

The internal wireless card in laptop would be the most preferred especially if you are traveling very often. Then again, it can't match the external wireless card in terms of connectivity and signal. But most wireless networks have strong enough signals for you to connect without much problems. I myself is using an internal wireless card, Intel Wireless BG 2200, and it is pretty alright, I have never been disconnected from any wireless networks I am connected to.

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I drove with my laptop up and running constantly for my last job, testing cellular networks. I had to buy an outboard network card because my company was too cheap to buy a decent laptop with built-in wireless. I bought another card for my personal computer that is old enough that built-in 802.11b/g/n wasn't common. Both cards are Belkins. One is "g 54 MB/s" and the other is "pre-n 108 MB/s". I found that I could attach to networks much farther away with the MIMO pre-n card than I can with the "g" card. I have no idea if I could get better range with internal vs external on my Mac or my wife's Sony, but it's really not a big deal to have the PCMCIA card sticking out of your computer. I like the software for the MIMO card better too. Whatever works...

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Can anyone give me some ideas of what the fastest internal wireless card would be for my dell inspiron 6400?
It came with a "Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-PCI Card", manufactured by Broadcom.

I found it to be sluggish and sometimes picks up signals weaker than other people's computers.
Thank you in advance.

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I got myself an Airlink 108mbs usb wireless card for $15 and I'm very happy with it. I bought a Netgear usb 108mbs device to compare it with, and the Airlink tore it to shreds. Except that the Airlink cost $15 and the Netgear cost... $85.

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