Looking for a long range wireless card

[Heresy]

I have a IBM Thinkpad that I pretty much only use for internet on the road and on college campuses. Right now, it doesn't have a wireless card integrated into the motherboard or externally. So, I am looking for the best ~$100 card that will give the longest possible range. I can up my budget if need be, but nothing too crazy.

I can go either the USB or PCMCIA route. I don't mind using a seperate antenna and actually prefer if I can use the device with or without a seperate antenna depending on my needs at the time.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

I'd definitely go PCMCIA. I have a Buffalo WLI-CB-G54S (old card) that works fine with my ThinkPad A21p. My problem with USB is that my laptop has only 1 USB port, and PCMCIA fits into the laptop better anyways. The Buffalo G54S also has an antenna port if you want to use an antenna. I'd say that pretty much any PCMCIA WiFi card (54g or Wireless N) would fit your needs, though I personally don't see the point in Wireless N, as G is plenty fast enough for my needs. If you plan on running Linux on the machine, get a PCMCIA card with a Broadcom chipset, as they're pretty well supported now. My card worked fine in Win2000 and now works fine in XP.

I only paid like $40 for my card, so you'll probably pay less. An antenna may cost an extra $30 or so, I've never used one though.

 

[b1gapl]

Like CalcProgrammer said...any of these will do:
Newegg.com - Laptop Networking

 

[Heresy]

What are people's thoughts on the Z-COM XI-325HP+?

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Never heard of it, as long as it's a Wireless G PCMCIA card, it should work fine.