Tips for Choosing Wireless NICs and Adapters

For each client to be able to connect to and communicate on your WLAN, it has to have a wireless NIC or wireless interface adapter. Depending on the device you want to connect, adapters are either internal or external.

- USB wireless adapters attach to the USB port on any device and allow it to connect to the WLAN

- PCI adapter cards connect via a PCI slot in your PC

- PCMCIA card adapters fit into a PCMCIA slot on a laptop

- Compact Flash (CF) card adapters fit in the CF slot on PDAs and similar devices

There are adapters available for just about every computer, printer, game console, and even some audiovisual equipment. When you're shopping for an adapter, make sure that it is compatible with your operating system, the device it's intended for, and your AP. It's good practice to select adapters produced by the manufacturer of your AP: it's more likely that they will interoperate without trouble. You can check the documentation for the device or visit the manufacturer's Web site to see which adapters are recommended.