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July 15th, 2005 13:00
Upgrade Inspiron 4150 Networking?
I own an Inspiron 4150 notebook which includes an 1180 MiniPCI wireless network card. It and my desktop Dell connect to a Dell 1184 wireless router (the desktop via Ethernet cable).
Based on my recent reading on WiFi security issues, I'm getting the impression I need to somehow move from the WEP security offered by my current WiFi gear to WPA or WPA2 security. The notebook itself still serves my purposes well, and (believe it or not) the 802.11b speed hasn't really been a problem since I mainly use the WiFi connection for e-mail and Web surfing.
I'm looking for ideas on whether such an upgrade (from WEP to WPA security) is feasible (possible and affordable), and what it would take to make this sort of upgrade. I've searched for firmware upgrades that would enable this change, but, as expected, haven't been able to find anything. Assuming a software or firmware upgrade isn't in the cards, I'm entertaining these possibilities:
- Buy a new wireless router and a PC card that offer WPA and deactivate the 1180 miniPCI card
- Buy a new wireless router and a replacement miniPCI card, if such a miniPCI card is available for this notebook (I'm not the type who enjoys breaking into the internals or a notebook, so this option would entail paying someone to do the replacement)
- Bite the bullet and buy a more up-to-date notebook with more recent networking hardware
- Some other clever solution I haven't thought of
Anyone have any ideas or recommendations on solutions?
Thanks!
--Larry
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larryc
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July 17th, 2005 23:00