I've not been a long-time follower of this group, so forgive me if the topic's come up before; I've hunted Google/Deja but not found anything.
Anyway, some time ago a coworker gave me an 802.11b card. I have a Cisco 350 and a Lucent Orinoco gold, and this one was far more sensitive than either of them - it's based on a TI ACX100, I think. For a few months it would consistently work about 25% farther from the AP than my Cisco.
Recently, the card become far less sensitive. It's to the point that I can receive only very strong signals, probably about half or a third of the distance I can get from the Cisco card. (The Lucent card has since bitten the dust, but it was always 5% or so short of the Cisco.) If it hadn't been so powerful before I'd just chalk it up to it being a cheap card, but... ?!
I've changed computers and reinstalled the OS (XP, not my choice) since then, so possibly the driver has changed slightly or the CardBus slot is different. Also the laptop moves around a lot so it may have taken a hit, though I've popped the cover off and don't see anything obvious. (I'm not afraid to solder if it might help... :)
Any thoughts or recommendations?
Thanks, Tim