Can I mix manufacturers?

[roddyb]

I have a small wireless network around my home, with 1 Netgear ME102 802.11b Wireless Access Point and 2 Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Cards. I want to add two more laptops. Do I need to use Netgear products (which work fine!) or can I mix in cards from other suppliers? If I can mix, does anyone have any recommendations on good value cards?

[KevinReichard]

You can indeed mix equipment from different manufacturers -- in theory, they should all be interoperable as long as they stick to the 802.11b standards. I have a mixed network running myself.

[lonnypaul]

802.11b, as an IEEE standard, requires compliance with standards - therefore all of your 802.11b equipment should work without a problem.

In my home setup, I have many different brands working together. When you go to 802.11a, although it has a standard as well (WiFi5), you may see proprietary modes which do not have compatibility.

Also, the 22MB 802.11b standards have not yet been tested for cross-compatibility yet, but keep watching.

Good luck - and always look for the best deal.

A recent news article touted TigerDirect has having some of the lowest prices on WiFi equipment, you may want to check them out.

[webjoseph]

WIFI is the seal of approval from the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA). (http://www.weca.net) They test and certify wireless interoperability with all leading manufacturers.

Look for the WIFI logo on any 80211.b to ensure that they are compatiblie - these days just about everything has the WIFI seal.

Joseph