Here we’ll cover:
1. The 3 places an broadband card can fit into your laptop.
2. How to pick one that satisfies your needs.
So Where Do You Plug It In?
Depending on the aircard, it can fit into either a USB, PC Card, or ExpressCard slot. The only major advantages each has over the other is the form factor.
USB Cards
USB slot aircards are the most compatible across the board. Whether you’ve got a Macintosh or a PC, it’ll most likely work with this universal standard.
Now, there are exceptions to this rule. Not all USB aircards will point up. Some point to the side and look like our affectionate brick above.
Avoid that at all costs. It’s a recipe for disaster.
It might not be too much of a problem if you’re sitting in one place all the time. However, if you’re in confined spaces (think airplanes, cars, subways), you’re asking for your card to bump into something, twist the USB drive and damage itself and your laptop.
That’s no good. I’m dealing with that right now. If you go with USB, get one that points up and is not so intrusive. Bottom-Line?
1. Familiar USB interface for high compatibility
2. Can be plugged into USB cradles or docking stations easily
3. Compatible with certain wireless routers
4. Depending on the model, they don’t stick out too much.
PC Cards
These are also known as PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) Cards. Originally designed for computer memory expansion, manufactures soon found it could be used for a variety of things like mobile broadband and WiFi.
While most PC’s come with PC Card slots, many laptops manufacturers are excluding them in favor of ExpressCard slots since 2007. Furthering the image as a dying breed, all mobile broadband providers except T-Mobile (who carries one card) no longer sell PC Cards.
Bottom-Line: It fits snug and works great, but unfortunately, they are on their way out.
ExpressCards
ExpressCards do the same thing. They just look and fit differently. While USB fits into the oh-so-familiar spots, ExpressCards are the upgrade from PC Cards. You’ll be able to identify them by how slender they are.
Like PC Cards, they also fit pretty snug in laptops. While ExpressCards can be 34mm or 54mm wide. Mobile broadband cards are exclusive to the 34mm size to conserve on space.
Here’s why that’s important.
If you go with an ExpressCard, be sure that your computer supports the 34mm size. That way, you’re not stuck with a card that can’t fit your laptop.
With everything taken in perspective, ExpressCards come off as the best of both worlds:
1. There’s a high range of compatibility for both PC’s and Mac’s.
2. They don’t stick out too much.
3. Less likely get damaged.
4. Certain models come with retractable antennas for better reception.
5. Compatible with certain wireless routers for sharing your mobile broadband connection.
What It Comes Down To
Here’s the deal. Your choice is between ExpressCards and USB cards. If you’d like a little extra functionality and your laptop supports it, then go for the ExpressCard. If you don’t care too much for bells and whistles, USB cards will pretty much work with anything.
One other technical aspect to the cards is this:
PCMCIA Cards (PC Cards) are ’slower’ than USB and ExpressCards. PCMCIA has a max transfer rate of 12 Mb/s while USB has a max transfer rate of 400 Mb/s. Now, this would actually matter if the speeds mobile broadband companies could utilize that potential.
The max speed you can get from Verizon, or Sprint is 3.1 Mb/s…much less than the 12 Mb/s a PCMCIA card can handle (AT&T is less but working on upgrading to 7.2 Mb/s). Will Sprint, Verizon or AT&T be upgrading their network to max that out before you can upgrade again? Probably not.
What’s more is that when Verizon and AT&T do upgrade, it’ll be to LTE (Long Term Evolution) which is based on GSM technology (similar to AT&T’s network). Sprint has started mixing in WiMAX. Regardless of which technology comes along, it won’t be backwards compatible with older cards. While new cards may support both, the old ones won’t have the hardware to support it. No worries though, LTE isn’t until 2011-2012. While WiMAX is rolling out now, the expense to get the card that supports both isn’t worth it yet (WiMAX is only available in a couple cities).
Checking Technical Specs
The last thing anyone needs is to end up with a broadband card that doesn’t work. That’s why it’s absolutely crucial to make sure your laptop’s operating system is supported. When looking at a particular card, be sure to check the specifications to see that it runs on Windows XP, Vista or Mac OS X.
N.B. If it works on Windows Vista, then it’ll work on Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7. I’ve been testing it myself and its very smooth.
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