Wireless Dongle For Vista 64-bit

Trying to help my mum out here!

She has Sky broadband with the router near the phone socket. Her PC is upstairs and she connects to the net using a Netgear wireless dongle. She recently bought a new PC and selected Vista 64-bit as the O/S. There began the problem.

It seems Netgear doesn't like Vista. There is a page on their site where they complain about having to create new drivers just because Microsoft decided to release a new O/S i.e. Vista. Good business plan there, eh?

It has been suggested she try Belkin models but looking at the reviews on Amazon there is still doubt over whether they would work with Vista 64-bit. Running an ethernet cable from the router to her PC is not an option (would be about 30 metres).

So the question is whether anyone out there is running Vista 64-bit and connecting to a router via a wireless dongle and, if so, which make/model?

TIA

Most reliable network equipment manufacturers have been supporting Vista-64bit for some time now. Most of the problems come when buying budget home equipment as until recently most home users weren't using it and at that end of the market anything that cuts development costs to reduce price is essential so they don't develop drivers for what is seen as a minority market (Vista 64-bit customers wouldn't normally skimp on cheap equipment)

If you're unsure check for driver support on the manufacturers website for the product you're thinking of buying. Of course the alternative is to use a HomePlug network if the machine isn't moving off the mains. This would normally be a better connection for most people but a more complicated system to install initially and also a cost premium.

Oh, almost forgot. There is a third alternative I'll add here for completeness but not recommended for a normal user as they aren't always the easiest thing to install. Wireless Extenders. I use one myself but then that is because I'm piping the wireless connection to several cabled machines so it doesn't connect to a single PC but an old switch box

Thanks for the suggestions.

As for getting info from the manufacturer sites, that has shown how poor some of the sites are e.g. found one on Belkin where the device was only compatible up to XP on the overview but is Vista compatible in the specs!

Had already considered the Homeplug option but kept that one back as the final choice due to cost. Another option is to uninstall Vista and go back to XP (don't want to get mum confused by going dual boot). She only got Vista as this came as the first option for an O/S on a custom-build PC site and she didn't realise the potential issues.

However, there might be light at the end of the tunnel. I did a little more searching and it appears there is a Belkin wireless card (as opposed to the USB dongle I'd been looking for) that does work with Vista. Can get this at Amazon who seem pretty good with returns if there did turn out to be a compatibility issue.

(05-10-2009 19:07 )fatcrutch Wrote:  Thanks for the suggestions.

As for getting info from the manufacturer sites, that has shown how poor some of the sites are e.g. found one on Belkin where the device was only compatible up to XP on the overview but is Vista compatible in the specs!

Don't go via generic specs, especially Belkin, as they normally have several revisions of the same model
Always goto the support section with the full model and version number for driver downloads

Word of caution if you're thinking of rolling be to XP. Most machines sold with Vista-64bit have 4Gb of memory or more. If you still want to address 4Gb ormore you need to install the 64bit XP revision which TBH can be even more difficult to find drivers for sometimes.

Personally I'd hang tight if possible for a few weeks. Windows 7 is out then. That way you'll be able to make sure what you get works with MS's new OS as well

(07-10-2009 01:55 )Red Wrote:  Word of caution if you're thinking of rolling be to XP. Most machines sold with Vista-64bit have 4Gb of memory or more. If you still want to address 4Gb ormore you need to install the 64bit XP revision which TBH can be even more difficult to find drivers for sometimes.

She could always give me any extra memory No, I couldn't do that to my dear old mum!

Fortunately, she purchased the new PC from a vendor running the Windows Upgrade plan so has a voucher to get the Windows 7 upgrade for free so maybe that is worth looking at. However, it doesn't solve the immediate problem of no internet (other than trailing a very long ethernet cable) and her new suspicion about what else might not be compatible with W7.

I should give a quick explanation of what I'm up against. Mother is...ahem...in her late sixties but don't assume she is into knitting pattern progs or little puzzle games. No Sirree, she is a serious gamer, into the likes of Half Life 2 and Call Of Duty. She got a right strop on about COD4 as it was "too easy" on Veteran level She just got the new Wolfenstein game and had that finished in 6 days If anything stands in the way of her using her PC then I get it in the neck big time.

At this stage I'm hoping that the Belkin card does the job as it would at least give me some temporary peace and quiet and she can keep her Steam account up to date, get patches etc. Meantime it will be doiwn to me to research the pros and cons of W7 when I should really be looking at naked laidies!

Oh dear, one of those users
Get a console
PC gamers are always the ones causing issues trying to get that extra 1 FPS
As for the free Windows 7 upgrade... check the site. They'll still be admin/shipping fees normally

(09-10-2009 00:52 )Red Wrote:  Oh dear, one of those users
Get a console
PC gamers are always the ones causing issues trying to get that extra 1 FPS

Aw, c'mon, I'd like to see any other ladies approaching 70 years old whipping the arse of Call Of Duty 4.

As for the console, she has got a Playstation 2 but sadly, due to her age, arthritis began to be a problem and she couldn't use the controller any more.

(09-10-2009 00:52 )Red Wrote:  As for the free Windows 7 upgrade... check the site. They'll still be admin/shipping fees normally

She just ordered it using the voucher supplied with her new PC and no charges.

Also the internet issue was indeed solved with the Belkin Card rather than a dongle. However, as I should rename them, Bel-End-kin made it difficult.

According to their website the card (Wireless G+ Desktop Card) only supports 2000/XP. I tried searching the product ID for drivers which led to a nice FAQ page on the Belkin site where you can click a question and thee the answer. Well you might if every link didn't take you back to the home product page

When the card arrived the packaging stated 2000/XP only which got me nervous but, and here is stupidity on an epic level, open the box and there is a leaflet advising that Vista was released at the time and gave instructions on how to install under Vista (basically, don't use the supplied software and go through Vista Network And Sharing option instead). Okay, so replacing all the packaging would be expensive but what about printing up some 'Vista Compatible' stickers? Oh well, their loss, I suppose.