there are no health risks from wi-fi, just people who want to scare monger for money/power.
The intro is just scare monegering for interest, this is bad journalism and should be removed.
I've had one of these for a couple of months now, and I love it even more every day - it just works, period, even over long distances the provided aerial is good, although you can soon upgrade it for something with more power if needs be.
The only quibble I have is it's not quite low-profile enough to fit under the VF700 on my graphics card to use the PCI-e 1x slot just between the two 16x slots on my mobo, but that's hardly a major gripe! :D
Originally Posted by coniferous Cute card, its about time we saw some more pcie1x cards, its really about time to move away from the pci standard.
On that note, why are there not more cd drives that are sata?
Because, for now at least, the SATA controller's are quite expensive on the drives, making them a lot more expensive than the typical IDE 16x/18x burner, and while there are still IDE ports, I'll still use my IDE burners. :)
Originally Posted by Krikkit I've had one of these for a couple of months now, and I love it even more every day - it just works, period, even over long distances the provided aerial is good, although you can soon upgrade it for something with more power if needs be.
The only quibble I have is it's not quite low-profile enough to fit under the VF700 on my graphics card to use the PCI-e 1x slot just between the two 16x slots on my mobo, but that's hardly a major gripe! :D
Where did you get yours from buddy?
I might give up my pci card that i have as the reception is piss poor. is it worth my £27 pounds? Will i get good reception?
I got mine from Microdirect - I just went in looking for a network adapter, saw PCI-e, external aerial, and HAD to have it. Was only about £23 too, although you'll need delivery on top.
Deffo worth it imho, lovely, slim little card with some decent, unintrusive software too. :)
[edit]I'm also surprised that the card didn't get a "Recommended" from the BiT chaps, you didn't find anything wrong with it, did you? (Could've missed something) [/edit]
In AP mode, I was standing about 35m away in the car park when I got DCed from this on my ThinkPad. It was great through brick and mortar at up to about 25m, I'd say, which isn't too bad in my book.
plus wireless is still worse than wired as it is shared b/w with all clients, unlike in a fully switched wired network that has dedicated b/w to each host....
For proper data transfer, granted, wireless sucks, but as a roaming, cable-free internet-browsing etc device is freaking awesome. Especially for laptops.
how come you didn't mention its compatibility/performance in vista? why don't you guys do that yet? People looking to build new boxes are looking to vista.
Also, the only real way to test something like a WiFi card is to use it every day over a prolonged period of time because that is where you're going to encounter problems. We haven't moved our office to Vista yet though, but I'll install the card in a Vista system tomorrow to "test" the drivers for you. I'd do it now, but I'm literally just about to head home from the office for the night (yes, it's 2:45am here).
Also, the only real way to test something like a WiFi card is to use it every day over a prolonged period of time because that is where you're going to encounter problems. We haven't moved our office to Vista yet though, but I'll install the card in a Vista system tomorrow to "test" the drivers for you. I'd do it now, but I'm literally just about to head home from the office for the night (yes, it's 2:45am here).
I feel sorry for your missus. >:(
Either way Keep up the good work Timbo.
Originally Posted by Kipman725 there are no health risks from wi-fi, just people who want to scare monger for money/power.
The intro is just scare monegering for interest, this is bad journalism and should be removed.
I agree with you actually about the probable no health risks, though no study has yet been done to prove it. I simply included it's mention in the intro as a tongue in cheek reference to the stupidity of others, hence the superhero reference.
Besides, bit-tech readers are more than smart enough about computers to understand the issue fully.
it would be nice to get an idea of what the experience is like on Linux; something that varies much more than on windows, driver-wise. you guys don't need to test every distro, just find a computer w/ ubuntu on it, see if the built-in drivers work, if not, just do a cursory check on google to see if there is a good solution. Right now i have a pos WUSB54GR i got for $55 (american!), and it was hell setting it up for ubuntu. it's even worse on windows though, it doesn't get much worse than freezing your system up several times daily.
anyways, a little more coverage on linux compatibility would be nice. It doesn't have to be much.
Originally Posted by CardJoe I agree with you actually about the probable no health risks, though no study has yet been done to prove it. I simply included it's mention in the intro as a tongue in cheek reference to the stupidity of others, hence the superhero reference.
Besides, bit-tech readers are more than smart enough about computers to understand the issue fully.
oh cool then, I guess I'm just a little too sensitive about such things :P
Originally Posted by Kipman725 there are no health risks from wi-fi, just people who want to scare monger for money/power.
The intro is just scare monegering for interest, this is bad journalism and should be removed.
I basicly agree with this. Just because the reprobates are making a fuss about wifi cancer doesn't mean they have to be given attention. Regardless of the tongue-in-cheek nature of it, I still don't reckon stuff like that should be given airtime. It just gives extra legitimacy to stupidity.
edit: Good to finally read a review on this little card though, I'd been eyeing one up for a while wondering how they actually performed, and it seems they do fine.
Originally Posted by Article The WiFi SoftAP software is one of the best things about the WiFi card actually as it offers very in-depth information and a whole host of options, which is handy if you want to tinker with settings like encryption (WEP or WPA) or data transfer rate (802.11b/g) and get information on things like MAC addresses and Tx Rates. It even has a power-saving mode, which is great for all those green-aware gamers.
So nothing like the Intel Wifi drivers/software, then, that also do all of that? ;)
Question; how many processes does this create when installed and functioning, and how much memory does it chew up? I'm using Windows XP SP2 rather than the Intel software at the minute for wifi, as the new Intel software makes so much stuff run in the background that boot time goes up by about 50 seconds.
And... eh, yeah, I guess WLAN is killing cabled networks, but even with the highest levels of WLAN security, a hardline is better. :)
Originally Posted by Paradigm Shifter So nothing like the Intel Wifi drivers/software, then, that also do all of that? ;)
Question; how many processes does this create when installed and functioning, and how much memory does it chew up? I'm using Windows XP SP2 rather than the Intel software at the minute for wifi, as the new Intel software makes so much stuff run in the background that boot time goes up by about 50 seconds.
And... eh, yeah, I guess WLAN is killing cabled networks, but even with the highest levels of WLAN security, a hardline is better. :)
The Intel/Wifi drivers are a pain in the ass, the software Abit has just seems to be better. It makes 1 process when running, and I think the mem usage is about 15MB at most, although atm it's using 8MB. I don't use it all the time, you don't need to! :)
WLAN might not be as secure as a wired connection, but do you honestly transmit data sensitive enough for someone to actually want to sit around in your wireless area with an AP trying to crack it? Given its convenience for when you have a few computers distributed away from places where you can run Cat5 (in houses for example), it's a perfect solution.
Another thing I don't understand why people don't trust it... It's not exactly a cake-walk to break a 64-bit WPA connection anyway... :\
Originally Posted by kliend how come you didn't mention its compatibility/performance in vista? why don't you guys do that yet? People looking to build new boxes are looking to vista.
Hmmmm, looks like I might need to go out an buy one of these. I have an older MSI wireless NIC that doesn't work at all under Vista so this looks like a good buy to me.
Well, this review highlights how price comparison engines can be a bit crap, frankly! Microdirect's price is a rip off- Scan have it for £15 , and frequently have it in their 'Today Only' offers for £11.50ish, too. An even better way to use those x1 slots at those prices!
WiFi is fast making cabled networks redundant on almost every scale. It's getting used in everything from schools to planes and airports nowadays
I don't really believe that, if your sitting there on a laptop, sure wireless is useful
But wireless costs a lot more, it has range and stability problems, and often a wired connection is just plain easier (and more secure)
If i ever had the choice between a network cable, and wireless, i would choose wireless every time
Also, even though hardwired networks are much cheaper, they are usually much faster, if you have wireless g network, your talking about 54mbits (maybe 108 if you pay even more and stay with 1 manufacturer) max, and a network cable is usually 100mbits, if not gigabit
Quote:
I for one was very happy to get the new Abit Airpace WiFi card in as it will hopefully make sure that I don't keep knocking my network cable out of my PC accidentally when I move my feet.
Threes something wrong with your network plug then, there is a clip that stops it falling out without you unclipping it, if its falling out when you nudge the cable, something is wrong, in fact you can give a network cable 1 hell of a yank, and it will still be plugged in (though you are likely to break something if you do)
Originally Posted by mull Well, this review highlights how price comparison engines can be a bit crap, frankly! Microdirect's price is a rip off- Scan have it for £15 , and frequently have it in their 'Today Only' offers for £11.50ish, too. An even better way to use those x1 slots at those prices!
Actually it's not actually the price engine's fault. Due to the way it works a retailer (such as Scan in this case) have to have the product listed in a feed which the engine reads. Sometimes for whatever reason retailers choose not to list certain products.
I'll see what I can do about getting it listed once I get into the office tomorrow. :)
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The intro is just scare monegering for interest, this is bad journalism and should be removed.
The only quibble I have is it's not quite low-profile enough to fit under the VF700 on my graphics card to use the PCI-e 1x slot just between the two 16x slots on my mobo, but that's hardly a major gripe! :D
On that note, why are there not more cd drives that are sata?
I might give up my pci card that i have as the reception is piss poor. is it worth my £27 pounds? Will i get good reception?
Deffo worth it imho, lovely, slim little card with some decent, unintrusive software too. :)
[edit]I'm also surprised that the card didn't get a "Recommended" from the BiT chaps, you didn't find anything wrong with it, did you? (Could've missed something) [/edit]
plus wireless is still worse than wired as it is shared b/w with all clients, unlike in a fully switched wired network that has dedicated b/w to each host....
For proper data transfer, granted, wireless sucks, but as a roaming, cable-free internet-browsing etc device is freaking awesome. Especially for laptops.
Also, the only real way to test something like a WiFi card is to use it every day over a prolonged period of time because that is where you're going to encounter problems. We haven't moved our office to Vista yet though, but I'll install the card in a Vista system tomorrow to "test" the drivers for you. I'd do it now, but I'm literally just about to head home from the office for the night (yes, it's 2:45am here).
Either way Keep up the good work Timbo.
I agree with you actually about the probable no health risks, though no study has yet been done to prove it. I simply included it's mention in the intro as a tongue in cheek reference to the stupidity of others, hence the superhero reference.
Besides, bit-tech readers are more than smart enough about computers to understand the issue fully.
anyways, a little more coverage on linux compatibility would be nice. It doesn't have to be much.
oh cool then, I guess I'm just a little too sensitive about such things :P
I basicly agree with this. Just because the reprobates are making a fuss about wifi cancer doesn't mean they have to be given attention. Regardless of the tongue-in-cheek nature of it, I still don't reckon stuff like that should be given airtime. It just gives extra legitimacy to stupidity.
edit: Good to finally read a review on this little card though, I'd been eyeing one up for a while wondering how they actually performed, and it seems they do fine.
Question; how many processes does this create when installed and functioning, and how much memory does it chew up? I'm using Windows XP SP2 rather than the Intel software at the minute for wifi, as the new Intel software makes so much stuff run in the background that boot time goes up by about 50 seconds.
And... eh, yeah, I guess WLAN is killing cabled networks, but even with the highest levels of WLAN security, a hardline is better. :)
WLAN might not be as secure as a wired connection, but do you honestly transmit data sensitive enough for someone to actually want to sit around in your wireless area with an AP trying to crack it? Given its convenience for when you have a few computers distributed away from places where you can run Cat5 (in houses for example), it's a perfect solution.
Another thing I don't understand why people don't trust it... It's not exactly a cake-walk to break a 64-bit WPA connection anyway... :\
http://staff.bit-tech.net/tim/abit-airpace-vista.jpg
Works fine under Vista.
But wireless costs a lot more, it has range and stability problems, and often a wired connection is just plain easier (and more secure)
If i ever had the choice between a network cable, and wireless, i would choose wireless every time
Also, even though hardwired networks are much cheaper, they are usually much faster, if you have wireless g network, your talking about 54mbits (maybe 108 if you pay even more and stay with 1 manufacturer) max, and a network cable is usually 100mbits, if not gigabit
Actually it's not actually the price engine's fault. Due to the way it works a retailer (such as Scan in this case) have to have the product listed in a feed which the engine reads. Sometimes for whatever reason retailers choose not to list certain products.
I'll see what I can do about getting it listed once I get into the office tomorrow. :)