wireless adpater question

I am buying a wireless router.

Several computer stores I've visited said that whlie the router is okay that under no circumstances use a wireless adapter, that it would only "confuse" my laptop.

Since manufacturers recommend using an adapter in conjunction with a router to improve performance I'm not sure what the computer stores are talking about.

Can anyone here shed light on this? Thanks.

 

I do not know where they got their data. Could be a vista bug. I have heard many complaints on users trying to get the internal wireless hardware to work. Most have had better luck with external cards. External card typically out perform built in ones. I have heard of a wireless Vista bug that limits the number of wireless locations to 3, I have not confirmed this.

I use a external card (PCMCI) with my notebook. The builtin Raylink (mini-pci) has a distance of about 10 ft. I normally leave it disable and turned off.

Normally using the mfg adapter with their router gives you the best performance. But if you want MIMO or Speed Boost tech you generally need MFG cards. Remember that this only affect internal network speeds, since most ISP only have 3mbps service.

 

Thanks for the info. At least you verify that external card will work. As it happens I have an Averatec as well, so that is somewhat reassuring.

Yea, I don't know where they got their data either. I'll pursue it with them more.

My concern is more with reach than speed so I'm looking only at the manufacturer adapter.

Thanks again.