Is there a difference between wifi dongles?

Question

I have a buffalo airstation wireless card inside my desktop PC. The aerial for this has recently stopped working and I cannot get a signal without removing the PC case, which I obviously don't want to do for every day use.

Instead of buying another aerial, I want to try a USB wifi dongle. Do I have to specifically buy a buffalo dongle, or can I buy whatever brand? What happens to my wireless card in my PC -- do I remove that or keep it? What are dongles and how do dongles work?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Buy a dongle (Network Adaptor) that is 802.11 b/g compatible as this is a common wireless network adapter that is suitable for most home wireless routers.

The dongle plugs into your USB port and you have an installation disk to set it up. Else it works the same way as your internal network card.



The 802.11 b/g means it is dual band adaptor (b and g band) and 802.11 is a commonly compatible protocol for home routers.

All you need to do is go to Control Panel and Device Settings and disable your internal network card.



The dongle is a transmitter/receiver to your wireless router just the same way as your internal network card is. It works in the same way but via the USB port. The advantage of an internal network card over a USB dongle is signal quality. But dongles suffice very well and requires no physical hardware installation other than plugging it straight into the USB port.

Answer 2

What Are Dongles

Answer 3

Any make of wi fi dongle will do and you do not need to take out your wi fi card. Your dongle does exactly the same job as your wi fi card is supposed to