At the moment, most laptops come packed with a lot of network related features, such as Bluetooth support, Gigabit Lan connectors and WiFi adapters. However, if you have an older model or you've just bought an $500 laptop, you will probably find out soon enough that lacking B/G wireless support is not a good thing if you own a portable machine. However, the producers of networking solutions such as Netgear or Linksys can help you in that particular area since both have an extensive range of USB and PCMCIA adapters.



Take Linksys' WPC54GX PCMCIA adapter for example. This one comes packed with SRX ready transmitters and as a result it is able to combine smart antenna technology with standard-based Wireless-G (802.11g) networking. By overlaying the signals of two Wireless-G compatible radios, the MIMO transceiver effectively doubles the data rate. MIMO also uses reflections to increase the range and reduce "dead spots" in the wireless coverage area and as a result the signal travels farther, maintaining wireless connections up to 3 times farther than standard Wireless-G.



Your wireless connection is being shielded by Linksys'  own WPA and WEP modules able to provide up to 128-bit encryption. The included Setup Wizard will walk you through configuring the adapter to your network's settings, step by step and you'll never feel the need to contact a network specialist. As always, Linksys comes first in the "do-it-yourself" approach.



The WPC54GX adapter is indeed a MIMO device but the RF module can also work in standard Wireless-G mode being completely compatible with the 802.11g standard. As for prices, the SRX enabled module can be pretty cheap topping out at $75. Not bad especially for the SRX support.