Got a question...

moven into town soon.. and want to get a wireless adapter....
if I just get a strait adapter can other ppl connect to me? or can you only connect to some one with an access point?

if I got an access point then could I connect to other ppl?

is 30 bucks good for an adpter???
found this one some where for only 30 bucks...
http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/t...0&fromarea=prod

A wireless adapter needs an access point connected to a network (i.e. internet cable/dsl router). You must have both.

MC, get a Dlink airplus 22Mb/s dsl/cable routern and their card they beat out the competition. It uses 802.11b but it was the fastest in pc world tests.

I may be getting it myself.

Good luck.

I have no need for a wireless network...
I just think it would be cool if I could sniff the air waves for other ppl's network....

I don't want to access my internet accout via wireless... I just want to do some sniffing... so I only need an adapter, right?

I had Dlink's "supposed" 2X 22Mbit equipment in house for test. It was about 30% slower than standard .11b even when using only all 2X Dlink equipment. It was also much more unstable and dropped connection more than .11b Linksys, Cisco and Intel equipment.

Oh and the router died after 2 weeks. Avoid Dlink.

PS: You don't need an access point to connect to other users within range. You can all run in "Ad hoc" mode, which is like peer-2-peer in the wired world.

In range - 400 feet for consumer products.

On a good day, with the wind at your back, in a glass house, if you're lucky

Advertised ranges tend to be very optimistic, and radiation patterns are very uneven. the only way to be sure is a site survey (trial and error) The advantage of the usb on a cable is you can move it around to find the best spot, sometimes inches count.
some AP's have an output for a external antenna, which would allow you to add a antenna with a different shaped pattern or a "can-tenna" or a booster(overclocking!)

And yet another possiblity was anounced here today
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-1023861.html
If this catches on, some people could end up on the madcow airnet