Wireless Cards

[Ross Werner]

On Sat, 5 Nov 2005, Andrew McNabb wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 05, 2005 at 04:27:05PM -0700, Chris Carey wrote:
>> It's much more versatile than a PCI HostAP setup.
>
> There's that word again. :)
>
> I'm sure the Linksys router is great for lots of people (though I
> haven't had much luck with their products).  I'm sure it's more
> versatile than most routers.  HOWEVER, you can't run whatever software
> you want on it, which in my opinion, instantly makes it less versatile
> than a firewall with PCI card.

Ok, well, a couple of points here from the person most of this advice was 
intended for ... ;-)

1) I've already got a machine acting as a router. It's my desktop machine, 
so it's going to stay no matter what. So we are, in essence, comparing a 
$50 PCI card with another $50 piece of hardware--that's exactly what I'm 
wanting to compare. In my situation the $50 Linksys/whatever would 
probably use more electricity than a $50 PCI card added to my setup.

2) Buying a separate wireless router is not the only option. I could also 
buy a separate wireless access point, which is what I decided to do in the 
end. It was cheaper than either the PCI card or a separate wireless 
router, and it still gives me the ability to run whatever software I want 
to on my router. Best of both worlds?

 	~ Ross