Using 2 USB adapters on same PC

Wondering if one can install two adapters on the same PC and whether there is any advantage to doing so.

Note that Netgear has an adapter that supposedly can connect to two networks simultaneously (the WG111U). See

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's where I got the idea of using two adapters.

Your thoughts please.

-- ================================ Leo Bueno LeoBueno @ USA.net Check out the MiamiWine blog.

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Reply to
Leo Bueno
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The very plain language used to describe that animal along with the specs have me scratching my head.

"compatible with 802.11g, 802.11b,and 802.11a", yet the operating frequencies are only in the 2.4Ghz range. (?)

"The first 108 Mbps is 2X the range of 802.11g, while the second 108 Mbps stream is free from interference from other wireless devices."

Holy marketing babble-talk, batman...

Alright, I'm going to assume that the silly thing is basically just two wireless clients in one. It can connect to two different SSID's, obtain two different IP's, etc.

I am struggling to think of a situation where I would need to be connected to two SSID's simultaneously with that animal or even two seperate devices. (Watch two videos simultaneously off my WLAN?) My internet pipe is only

5Mbps, so having two devices gives no advantage here...

Maybe in an environment where you need/want to be connected to two different networks simulateneously? Still can't think of anything. If those two networks are close enough to wirelessly overlapped and they aren't already bridged, isn't there a reason for this? I.e., one is probably intended to be ultra-secure with no "gateways" to any other networks. This animal would defeat that whole purpose.

It seems very silly to me...

Reply to
Eric

Leo Bueno hath wroth:

My thoughts are currently on preparing my income taxes. However, I do have a few CPU cycles left for interesting questions.

I check the FCC ID page and found that it has 4 different FCC type certification pages for each frequency band. 2.4Ghz and 3 bands on

5.x GHz.

The inside photos show Atheros AR5523-ES and AR5112A chips. The AR5523 is the MAC layer processor. The AR5112 is a dual band "radio on a chip".

I see no evidence of two separate processors, adapters, or two even separate radios as everything appears to be shared. There's nothing in these data sheets to suggest that it can do multiple simultaneous connections (but I may have missed something as I was up most of the night fighting with my worthless bookkeeping mess).

However, my foggy memory recalls that Microsoft was working on a multiple connection scheme called MultiNet, which virtualized the adapter into multiple virtual wireless NIC's:

This might be what Netgear is shipping (or it might not).

Also see the "papers" listed near the bottom of the article. Note that it doesn't work with any form of encryption and failed with every

802.11g card that I tried. Works with older 802.11b and 802.11a cards. USB support is unknown. It also blue screens far too often to be considered ready for distribution. However, it's possible that Atheros, Netgear, or MS may have fixed the code or borrowed the technology. Dunno. It sure would be nice to have as it would make seamless roaming really seamless, instead of an exercise in fast switching.

Meanwhile, I agree with Eric.... there's an awful lot of marketing-speak mixed in with technobabble in the Netgear product literature to make a determination of features and functions.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

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