bibbles Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 How would I go about seeing if I can find a better wireless card than that which comes in the vaio p? I'm not sure of the connection type as the tear down site is in Japanese and I'm stuck on my phone for a few more days, but that's easy enough to find out. A bigger question was how do I know how powerful a card I can use? I know there are 1000mw cards, but I'd guess those are for routers, not laptops, and the laptop might not be able to push that much juice. I was looking at that alpha card which does 500mw, but I'm a little unclear on how it connects. It's USB, but from the way people talk about it, it sounds like it needs two USB ports, though that's never explicitly said. Anyway, let's start with that. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vector Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 the vaio p already has a nice internal atheros a/b/g/n wireless card. it uses the mini pci express interface. you can configure power options for your wireless adapter in windows things like transmit power, and depending on the actual chipset and drivers youll be able to set a whole lot of other options, more than likely its using the atheros AR5418 chipset, but thats just a guess. as far as a better internal wireless adapter youll have to just search around. one of my favorite wireless accessories sites is www.oxfordtec.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibbles Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 the vaio p already has a nice internal atheros a/b/g/n wireless card. it uses the mini pci express interface. you can configure power options for your wireless adapter in windows things like transmit power, and depending on the actual chipset and drivers youll be able to set a whole lot of other options, more than likely its using the atheros AR5418 chipset, but thats just a guess. as far as a better internal wireless adapter youll have to just search around. one of my favorite wireless accessories sites is www.oxfordtec.com. That was exactly what I was looking for, thanks! I really wanna see the results of laptopmag's wifi tests, but they haven't done any really nice ones on this just yet. I'm going to run ubuntu till other versions of Linux can work with the gma 500 it's rocking. The 2140 was my first choice, but the nasty extended battery ruined it for me, and express 54 seems to have no support, while the 34 leaves a large gap. :( Sony said they wanted to use a larger screen, but needed room for the antennas, so if they really put thought into them, I have high hopes. Any info on the Alpha USB wifi device I mention? Does it need two USB ports? Two wireless connections would be nice for karma as a wired connection isn't often available, and the iPhone is still being neutered by apple and AT&T, however much I happen to love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vector Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 so the alfa wireless adapters ive seen that are 500mw use the realtek 8187L chipset, which is meh. a single usb 5v connection should be enough to power it. if not it will likely come with a usb Y cable like this one also express 54/34 cards are pretty much the same at the connection end, the only difference is that 54mm cards are a little bit wider. you wont find any 54mm wireless cards. the extra gap in the card slot when using a 34mm express card is nothing to worry about. if it really bothers you you could always swap the 34mm card casing with a 54mm one that way it will fill the slot completly if youre worried about dust and debris getting inside your case. theyre real easy to pop open and snap back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibbles Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Huh... I never thought about switching cases, sweet. And if you think the 500mw alpha sucks, what would you suggest as a better USB wireless adaptor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vector Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Huh... I never thought about switching cases, sweet. And if you think the 500mw alpha sucks, what would you suggest as a better USB wireless adaptor? well i dont think the alfa "sucks" i mean for a highpowered 500mw network adapter with an external antenna connection you cant beat the price. i'm just not a huge fan of realtek wireless chipsets. but chipset wont matter too much depending on what youre going to be doing with your wireless card. but if youre planning on using a wide variety of wireless auditing tools across multiple OS's you cant go wrong with Atheros. so no i dont think the alfa sucks based on the spec sheet it looks really good actually. basically theres no one single wireless adapter that will solve all your problems, thats why i have more than 25 different wireless cards, with varying chipsets, connection interfaces, power rating, anteanna configuations, you name it. if you really want a wireless adapter that can do it all you could get a mini or micro router board with 2-3 mini pci slots and throw in a few different wireless cards with different chipsets. mirotek and ubiquiti make some really nice ones for under 80 bucks, but the wireless cards will run you more. i have one i put together with dual ubiquiti xr2 600mw atheros cards. you can install a variety of firmwares on them including openWRT, DD-wrt, or AIRos. and with plenty of flash, ram, and processing power you can install any apps you want on it for maximum pwnage. just keep in mind that its not all about the mW. so 300 mW should roughly equal 24 dbm 500mW will only equal about 26-27 dbm and 1000 mW will equate to about 30 dbm. so once youre up above the 300 mW power rating its more important to start thinking about what type of antenna i want to get. i can easily add 24 db gain with a 50 dollar antenna rather than buying a 1000 mW 200 dollar wireless card. so look for a good combination of the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibbles Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 Hmm, makes sence. I've been bouncing around a number of ideas, like I said, I'm interested in seeing how the build in antenna performs, but I helped a friend set up an external antenna for his laptop a couple years ago by mounting an antenna mount in the side of the case. Another option is always getting a WWAN card as the slot it open and cloning my SIM onto it instead of going for two wifi connections... Stupid AT&T not letting me tether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vector Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Hmm, makes sence. I've been bouncing around a number of ideas, like I said, I'm interested in seeing how the build in antenna performs, but I helped a friend set up an external antenna for his laptop a couple years ago by mounting an antenna mount in the side of the case. Another option is always getting a WWAN card as the slot it open and cloning my SIM onto it instead of going for two wifi connections... Stupid AT&T not letting me tether. thats wierd ive never had any problems with att and tethering any of my phones. i have the unlimited medianet package for 19.99 and ive always used it for tethering and theyve never said anything to me about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibbles Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 Yes well while the iPhone remains the best phone on the market, it's still dicked when it comes to basic shit like tethering and MMS... Is it Apple's fault? Probably not, there was a tethering app but At&T made them take it out of the app store, which is full of find anything good anymore; which is apples fault kind of... It's herd to remember that for 90+% of consumers simple and pretty are the best features one can offer. Hell, simply using AIM puts you in the top 30% of computer users... I have a friend asking me to pirate some infomercial workout cause he does know how torrent files work... And cause infomercials never lie, right? Rant rant rant... Anyway, we'll see how it goes once I'm actually in posession onmf the P. Fuching Linux drivers not existing and shut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swathe Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Yes well while the iPhone remains the best phone on the market, it's still dicked when it comes to basic shit like tethering and MMS... Is it Apple's fault? Probably not, there was a tethering app but At&T made them take it out of the app store, which is full of find anything good anymore; which is apples fault kind of... It's herd to remember that for 90+% of consumers simple and pretty are the best features one can offer. Hell, simply using AIM puts you in the top 30% of computer users... I have a friend asking me to pirate some infomercial workout cause he does know how torrent files work... And cause infomercials never lie, right? Rant rant rant... Anyway, we'll see how it goes once I'm actually in posession onmf the P. Fuching Linux drivers not existing and shut. I'm a staunch Blackberry man, and my carrier won't allow tethering as I have unlimited data lol. If only there was a torrent app for the bold lol. Sorry for the hi-jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vector Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Yes well while the iPhone remains the best phone on the market, it's still dicked when it comes to basic shit like tethering and MMS... Is it Apple's fault? Probably not, there was a tethering app but At&T made them take it out of the app store, which is full of find anything good anymore; which is apples fault kind of... It's herd to remember that for 90+% of consumers simple and pretty are the best features one can offer. Hell, simply using AIM puts you in the top 30% of computer users... I have a friend asking me to pirate some infomercial workout cause he does know how torrent files work... And cause infomercials never lie, right? Rant rant rant... Anyway, we'll see how it goes once I'm actually in posession onmf the P. Fuching Linux drivers not existing and shut. yeah im gonna go ahead and disagree with the iphone being the best phone on the market, my HTC touch HD eats it for lunch and shits out ipod shuffles. but of course it was quite a bit more expensive, and yes for the money the iphone is probably one of the best values as far as carrier handsets are concerned. i stopped buying carrier handsets a while ago and i only get unlocked phones now and usually from HTC, in my opinion no one makes better handsets. i also dont like how carriers cripple key features and options on alot of their handsets so that they can force customers to spend more moeny on shit like extra data charges, ringtones, mobile apps, gps usage, and shit like that. ATT/ cingular isnt as bad as some of the others like verizon and sprint for crippling features, but the iphone comes major crippled compared to what its capable of. and they charge you more for the same data plan just because its a fucking iphone. i mean fuck that data is data it shouldnt matter what phone im using. thats why ive had the same unlimited data plan for years and i never tell ATT what type of phone i have and they never know the difference if im tethering my phone or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vector Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I'm a staunch Blackberry man, and my carrier won't allow tethering as I have unlimited data lol. If only there was a torrent app for the bold lol. Sorry for the hi-jack get off the Crackberries and get you a nice windows mobile phone, then you can enjoy mobile torrent apps. my wife has two crackberries and i hate them both with a passion. and the lack of third party apps fails too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibbles Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 yeah im gonna go ahead and disagree with the iphone being the best phone on the market, my HTC touch HD eats it for lunch and shits out ipod shuffles. but of course it was quite a bit more expensive, and yes for the money the iphone is probably one of the best values as far as carrier handsets are concerned. i stopped buying carrier handsets a while ago and i only get unlocked phones now and usually from HTC, in my opinion no one makes better handsets. i also dont like how carriers cripple key features and options on alot of their handsets so that they can force customers to spend more moeny on shit like extra data charges, ringtones, mobile apps, gps usage, and shit like that. ATT/ cingular isnt as bad as some of the others like verizon and sprint for crippling features, but the iphone comes major crippled compared to what its capable of. and they charge you more for the same data plan just because its a fucking iphone. i mean fuck that data is data it shouldnt matter what phone im using. thats why ive had the same unlimited data plan for years and i never tell ATT what type of phone i have and they never know the difference if im tethering my phone or not. The iPhone is the best phone for most consumers is what I meant, seeing that for most people the best features are simple and pretty which Apple nails with most of it's products. There's a jailbreak that let's you tether, but it costs $30 and who knows if Apple break it. :( Awesome though, apparently the euro P has a sim card slot, and while the Japanese one doesn't come with a WWAN card, it does have an open mini PCI E slot, and a card slot in the case... So, presumably, awesome. I didn't want to deal with cloning, I cloned a couple sims back in the late 90s but ive heard things have gotten much harder. Also, what the balls happened to the Temple Of The Screaming Electron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swathe Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 get off the Crackberries and get you a nice windows mobile phone, then you can enjoy mobile torrent apps. my wife has two crackberries and i hate them both with a passion. and the lack of third party apps fails too. WM is too shit for my liking. I came coming from WM to Blackberry and have no regrets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibbles Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 WM is too shit for my liking. I came coming from WM to Blackberry and have no regrets. I went WM onto BB and now the iPhone. The one thing I miss is how on a BB if you text or MMS someone, it has indicators to show that it was sent, and also if it was recieved. Oh, and having a text outbox was great in SF cause you lose signal on BART but get it for like 5 seconds here and there, and that made communication on BART doable. I live in LA now so that's no longer a big deal. Also, I did some looking, you guys have any idea where I could pick up a Qualcom Gobi mini PCI-E card? I've found nothing. :( Er, unlocked, etc etc would be best, but yeah. @Vector - about your PM, yes, that, awesome. Still stuck on my iPhone and none of the links in the PM pop up worked so, yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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