Mixing Wireless Router/PCI NIC brands

Ice_abx · 07-17-2003, 01:04 PM

Hey guys, I was just wondering if it would be feasible/recommended to mix a wireless router of one brand with a PCI wireless NIC of another brand. For instance, my girlfriend has a U.S. Robotics wireless router and would like to get a D-Link PCI wireless NIC card because there she can get it for a great deal. Would that pose any incompatibility problems?

Ice_abx · 07-17-2003, 01:31 PM

Anyone know? I need to find out ASAP before the deal dies.

**SKI** · 07-17-2003, 01:59 PM

If all the hardware is current and complies with the standards you'll be fine. I'm mixing Linksys with cheap-o Belkin, and the Belkin actually behaves better than the Linksys/Linksys... go figure

shootcraps · 07-17-2003, 02:12 PM

Yes. As long as it complies with the spec, i.e. 802.11B. I have a Microsoft DSL/Router, DLink notebook card, Trendnet Wireless USB adapter and Linksys Wireless USB adapter all working together on my network.

I would not recommend D-Link however because of their DRACONIAN return policy. Look it up on their web site and see what I mean. It's awful. I'll never buy D-Link again.

Ice_abx · 07-17-2003, 04:45 PM

I always thought D-Link was a respectable company. I guess I thought wrong. Thanks for the input, guys.

jinu117 · 07-18-2003, 03:00 AM

Hit and miss with mixture of equipment. Hubwise i like netgear & smc, pcmcia cardwise, i like linksys and some crap brand (I can't rmemeber at the moment), and pci wise... none (inteference from computer makes way too much issues depending on what you have on it). Mix & match works fine as long as encryptions are of same bit (which should be on any recent product or doesn't matter if you don't encrypt it... which would be inviting a lot of people)

**SKI** · 07-18-2003, 03:48 AM

That can be just as true for wireless hardware from the same Mfg. though...

I've got a Linksys WAP-11 which will do 256 bit encryption and a Linksys WPC-11, sold as the "matching" PC card wireless NIC to go with WAP-11. Only problem with that is WPC-11 is only capable of 128 bit encryption!

You have to read the specs carefully to get matched capabilities even if everything's from the same Mfg.

ldspears · 07-21-2003, 11:59 AM

My x-wife had a Computer WiFi Professional install a DSL wireless network in her home on three PC's. The professional used Netgear WiFi products because he said they were the best. I gave my stepson my one year old gamming machine last week and bought another Netgear 802.11b WiFi PCI card to match the existing equipment. I took the PC over to my x-wifes house to install. I could see the wireless network but couldn't connect. I called Netgear Tech Support and talked to some guy in INDIA. He could hardly speak english and was VERY RUDE. All he wanted was to end the call. Netgear's Tech Support was the worst Tech Support call I have ever made and let me tell you I've made may calls in the past years. IT IS MY RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU SKIP THE NETGEAR PRODUCTS IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE TO CALL TECH SUPPORT. NETGEAR CAN'T SUPPORT THEIR PRODUCTS.

Dan Spears
Atlanta, Ga.

Intel P4 3.0C GHz (FSB 800 MHz)
Asus P4C800 Deluxe (Bio’s 1008.004 Final)
1 GB Corsair XMS PC-3500C2 Platinum 2/512 MB @ 2-3-3-6 8 @2.75
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB (Catalyst 3.5)
Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Gamer
2 Western Digital 120 GB (8 MB Cache)
Antec True Power 550 Watts
CD-R Burner - Lite-On CD-RW 52x24x52x LTR-52246 Black
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Chieftec Black Dragon Tower with Window and 5 Antec 80 mm fans
Round Vantec 133 Black Cables
Windows XP Pro

FishPoo · 07-21-2003, 06:39 PM

Netgear's products are very good, but you're right, their tech-support is certainly inadequate.

Mixing brands should be okay, you may notice performance decreases, or drops in connection for some, so make sure you buy it from a local retailer with a easy return policy so you can return it in case you get problems.

07-17-2003, 01:04 PM	#1
Ice_abx Chillin' Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: New York Posts: 3,038	Mixing Wireless Router/PCI NIC brands Hey guys, I was just wondering if it would be feasible/recommended to mix a wireless router of one brand with a PCI wireless NIC of another brand. For instance, my girlfriend has a U.S. Robotics wireless router and would like to get a D-Link PCI wireless NIC card because there she can get it for a great deal. Would that pose any incompatibility problems? __________________ Mobo » DFI LANPARTY PRO875B rev. B1 (BIOS 0913) CPU » Intel 3.0c @ 3.95 GHz (263 FSB) RAM » 1GB OCZ EL PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 @ 2.5-3-3-6 (DDR526) Video » BFG 6800 Ultra OC @ 470/1260 MHz Storage » Hard Drives » 2x SATA Western Digital SE 80GB in RAID 0 & Western Digital SE 250GB Storage » Optical » NEC ND-3500AG DL 16x DVD±RW & Pioneer DVD-105S 16x Sound » Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Power » OCZ PowerStream 520W Cooling » H2O » Koolance Exos-Al (CPU-300-H06 & VID-NV1-L06) Cooling » Air » Swiftech MCX159-P Chassis » Lian-Li PC-6085A Speakers » Logitech Z-680 Displays » Dell 2001FP & ViewSonic VP171b OS » Windows XP Pro SP2
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07-17-2003, 01:31 PM	#2
Ice_abx Chillin' Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: New York Posts: 3,038	Anyone know? I need to find out ASAP before the deal dies. __________________ Mobo » DFI LANPARTY PRO875B rev. B1 (BIOS 0913) CPU » Intel 3.0c @ 3.95 GHz (263 FSB) RAM » 1GB OCZ EL PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 @ 2.5-3-3-6 (DDR526) Video » BFG 6800 Ultra OC @ 470/1260 MHz Storage » Hard Drives » 2x SATA Western Digital SE 80GB in RAID 0 & Western Digital SE 250GB Storage » Optical » NEC ND-3500AG DL 16x DVD±RW & Pioneer DVD-105S 16x Sound » Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Power » OCZ PowerStream 520W Cooling » H2O » Koolance Exos-Al (CPU-300-H06 & VID-NV1-L06) Cooling » Air » Swiftech MCX159-P Chassis » Lian-Li PC-6085A Speakers » Logitech Z-680 Displays » Dell 2001FP & ViewSonic VP171b OS » Windows XP Pro SP2
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07-17-2003, 01:59 PM	#3
SKI Comms Moderator Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Tempe, AZ (or wherever my luggage is) Posts: 8,487	If all the hardware is current and complies with the standards you'll be fine. I'm mixing Linksys with cheap-o Belkin, and the Belkin actually behaves better than the Linksys/Linksys... go figure __________________ Never try to teach a pig to sing... It wastes your time, and annoys the pig.
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07-17-2003, 02:12 PM	#4
shootcraps Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 2,023	Yes. As long as it complies with the spec, i.e. 802.11B. I have a Microsoft DSL/Router, DLink notebook card, Trendnet Wireless USB adapter and Linksys Wireless USB adapter all working together on my network. I would not recommend D-Link however because of their DRACONIAN return policy. Look it up on their web site and see what I mean. It's awful. I'll never buy D-Link again. __________________ The big metal container has been delivered and my pc's are here. Doing some mods on the big rig. (P4P800, P4 2.8C, 2 X 512 Mushkin 3500 Level 2 Black, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, Not one but THREE Raid 0 arrays, Creative SB Audigy2 Platinum, Sparkle 550w psu, Sony DRU500a CD+-RW, Pioneer 106s DVD, Lite-On 52X CDRW, LS-120 120MB floppy drive Wife's PC: Albatron PX845PE PROIIS Silver PCB, P4 2.4B, 512M Geil DDR 433, Gefore MX 200 64MB)
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07-17-2003, 04:45 PM	#5
Ice_abx Chillin' Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: New York Posts: 3,038	I always thought D-Link was a respectable company. I guess I thought wrong. Thanks for the input, guys. __________________ Mobo » DFI LANPARTY PRO875B rev. B1 (BIOS 0913) CPU » Intel 3.0c @ 3.95 GHz (263 FSB) RAM » 1GB OCZ EL PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 @ 2.5-3-3-6 (DDR526) Video » BFG 6800 Ultra OC @ 470/1260 MHz Storage » Hard Drives » 2x SATA Western Digital SE 80GB in RAID 0 & Western Digital SE 250GB Storage » Optical » NEC ND-3500AG DL 16x DVD±RW & Pioneer DVD-105S 16x Sound » Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Power » OCZ PowerStream 520W Cooling » H2O » Koolance Exos-Al (CPU-300-H06 & VID-NV1-L06) Cooling » Air » Swiftech MCX159-P Chassis » Lian-Li PC-6085A Speakers » Logitech Z-680 Displays » Dell 2001FP & ViewSonic VP171b OS » Windows XP Pro SP2
(Offline)

07-18-2003, 03:00 AM	#6
jinu117 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 286	Hit and miss with mixture of equipment. Hubwise i like netgear & smc, pcmcia cardwise, i like linksys and some crap brand (I can't rmemeber at the moment), and pci wise... none (inteference from computer makes way too much issues depending on what you have on it). Mix & match works fine as long as encryptions are of same bit (which should be on any recent product or doesn't matter if you don't encrypt it... which would be inviting a lot of people) __________________ A64 3500+ .6 newcastle @ 3.05ghz Prommy Mach II R404 mod by baker MSI K8N Neo2 VDD modded, OCZ3200EL Rev2 @ 285 2.5-3-3-10 (dual channel 1gig) X800XT, Raptor, yada yada yada
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07-18-2003, 03:48 AM	#7
SKI Comms Moderator Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Tempe, AZ (or wherever my luggage is) Posts: 8,487	That can be just as true for wireless hardware from the same Mfg. though... I've got a Linksys WAP-11 which will do 256 bit encryption and a Linksys WPC-11, sold as the "matching" PC card wireless NIC to go with WAP-11. Only problem with that is WPC-11 is only capable of 128 bit encryption! You have to read the specs carefully to get matched capabilities even if everything's from the same Mfg. __________________ Never try to teach a pig to sing... It wastes your time, and annoys the pig.
(Offline)

07-21-2003, 11:59 AM	#8
ldspears Senior Programmer Analyst Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Atlanta, Ga. Posts: 92	My x-wife had a Computer WiFi Professional install a DSL wireless network in her home on three PC's. The professional used Netgear WiFi products because he said they were the best. I gave my stepson my one year old gamming machine last week and bought another Netgear 802.11b WiFi PCI card to match the existing equipment. I took the PC over to my x-wifes house to install. I could see the wireless network but couldn't connect. I called Netgear Tech Support and talked to some guy in INDIA. He could hardly speak english and was VERY RUDE. All he wanted was to end the call. Netgear's Tech Support was the worst Tech Support call I have ever made and let me tell you I've made may calls in the past years. IT IS MY RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU SKIP THE NETGEAR PRODUCTS IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE TO CALL TECH SUPPORT. NETGEAR CAN'T SUPPORT THEIR PRODUCTS. Dan Spears Atlanta, Ga. Intel P4 3.0C GHz (FSB 800 MHz) Asus P4C800 Deluxe (Bio’s 1008.004 Final) 1 GB Corsair XMS PC-3500C2 Platinum 2/512 MB @ 2-3-3-6 8 @2.75 ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB (Catalyst 3.5) Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Gamer 2 Western Digital 120 GB (8 MB Cache) Antec True Power 550 Watts CD-R Burner - Lite-On CD-RW 52x24x52x LTR-52246 Black DVD Burner - Pioneer DVR-106 Black DVD –R +R Swiftech MCX-4000B Heatsink with Thermaltake Smart Fan II @4500 RPM Chieftec Black Dragon Tower with Window and 5 Antec 80 mm fans Round Vantec 133 Black Cables Windows XP Pro
(Offline)

07-21-2003, 06:39 PM	#9
FishPoo Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 85	Netgear's products are very good, but you're right, their tech-support is certainly inadequate. Mixing brands should be okay, you may notice performance decreases, or drops in connection for some, so make sure you buy it from a local retailer with a easy return policy so you can return it in case you get problems. __________________ P4P800 DELUXE/Rev:1.02/BIOS 1007 P4 2.6C GHz @stock cooling Ati Radeon 8500LE 128MB SB Live! Value 512 mb DDR400 Infineon OEM x 2 Pioneer 105 Slotload 16x DVD Acer 10x8x32 CDRW Western Digital 120GB 7200 RPM 8mb Western Digital 80GB 7200 RPM Aopen H600A + 300w PSU Windows XP Pro SP1
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