Hi.

Can anyone recommend a good, reasonably low cost 802.11a access point and PCMCIA card? I want to replace my ageing 802.11b system, and also shift frequencies, as the number of neighbours with wireless has grown markedly recently. There won't be anyone on 5.8GHz clogging the airwaves but me

What I'm probably going to do is play around with firewalls and routers to allow the 802.11b to be connected to the cable modem but not to the rest of my network, and leave it open. The 802.11a would be all mine, and locked down. That way guests can come and go without hassle, and I'll be all warm and secure(ish).

pca

Supposedly, the higher frequency significantly reduces the range on 802.11a products. How's your range with b/g stuff?

It was exceptionally good, before everyone else jumped on the bandwagon Now there's so much stuff around it's becoming annoying.

5.8GHz certainly won't penetrate as well as 2.4GHz, which in itself doesn't go through much, but the wood and plasterboard construction of the very small house I have is fairly RF-transparent, at least internally. My 5.8GHz video senders, for instance, work from anywhere to anywhere in the house on less than 10mW with perfect picture quality. I'm not too fussed if it doesn't go very far outside.

pca

Depending on your budget, an 802.11n router might work well for you. The ones that I have seen offer compatibility with b, g and a, and can run on both 5.8 and 2.4 ranges. The range is supposed to be better then a or g even without n equipment in the clients.

I did the same thing when I lived in an apartment complex. I never noticed anyone else even try to connect. Range wasn't an issue, as the apartment was about 750 square feet.

I've still got the netgear AP I used. I think I even tried to give it away on here before. Unfortunately the shipping probably be more expensive than you buying one there...

Matthew

I've been pretty happy with Linksys gear.

Linksys Dual Band 802.11a/g Wireless Access Point
Part #: WAP55AG

Amazon UK has a few used 802.11a Cisco cards.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing...456&sr=1-21