What Is a Wireless LAN Card Used For?
We all like to feel connected, and your computer is no different. A wireless local area network (LAN) card is an adapter that enables a computer to do just that: connect to other PCs over a network.
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Uses
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Accordingly, a wireless LAN card has the same uses that any network card does: file sharing, printer and other device sharing and Internet sharing.
Interfaces
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Wireless LAN cards are available in a variety of interfaces. You can attach them by USB, the PC card slot in a laptop or in an open PCI slot on your desktop's motherboard. Wireless LAN cards are even available in some types of flash memory cards.
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Network Devices
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A wireless LAN card needs a wireless router that monitors and "routes" wireless data over the network. Broadband Internet connections are often plugged into a router, or the two are combined into one entity to streamline Internet sharing.
Other Names
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A variety of names are used to refer to wireless LAN: Wi-Fi, Wireless LAN (WLAN), Local Area Wireless Network (LAWN), and 802.11a, b, g, or n.
Other Types of Wireless
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Be careful not to confuse a wireless LAN card with other types of wireless devices, such as Bluetooth or cellular broadband cards. These wireless devices work differently and are not used for the same purposes as a wireless LAN card.
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References
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Comments
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I'm trying to figure out who would buy one of these things. If I have built-in wifi on my laptop and I can already connect to any wireless network in my vicinity, why would I buy a USB wireless adapter? Does it allow me to connect to anything I normally wouldn't be able to? (And what can I find that enables me to have internet connection when there's not free wifi available, such as those Sprint USB wifi plugins I see people use to get web access using what I presume is through the cell phone company's towers).
