Plug a wireless adapter into your USB Port

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, Jakarta

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) has been one of the advances in computer technology that I appreciate the most: It has opened up a lot of possibilities.

To begin with, you no longer have to use a large, space-hungry casing for your home-built PC if you want to load it fully with expansion cards such as an internal modem and a radio/TV tuner.

Unlike in the past, you need not worry if you have only one or two free PCI expansion slots left on your mainboard. If you want to be able to watch TV on your computer screen, for example, all you have to do is buy an external TV tuner and plug it into one of those USB ports.

It is detected immediately and the right software driver for it is automatically uploaded.

USB ports can also expand your connectivity, both wired and wireless. So, for instance, if you have a Bluetooth-capable cellphone or PDA and you want to be able to synchronize the data on this mobile device with the data kept on the PC, all you need do is plug a Bluetooth transmitter-receiver (transceiver) adapter into one of the USB ports.

Of course, your cellphone or PDA may already come with a data cable that will connect it directly to the PC. However, more often than not, you will prefer to do the data-synching without any cable. Here is where the Bluetooth can serve you.

Besides, adding Bluetooth to your PC, Mac or notebook can make it easier for you to connect it to another Bluetooth device such as a print server or a modem.

Which Bluetooth adapters can be fitted into the USB port? There is plenty of choice on the market, including those from 3Com, AmbiCom, Belkin, Billionton, D-Link and Zoom. Most of them can connect devices as far as 10 meters apart.

If you need a more powerful Bluetooth transceiver that can cover a distance of up to 100 meters, it is also available and it usually comes with an antenna outside of the casing. Keep in mind that you need the same powerful Bluetooth adapters on both ends. Otherwise, it will not work, as the communication between these devices should be two-way.

Some Bluetooth transceivers also come in the form of a PC- Card, and they are more suitable for notebooks. The advantage is that, because it is inserted into the PC-Card slot, you can leave it there while you are traveling and you are less likely to lose it.

You can choose your PC-Card Bluetooth adapter from companies such as Billionton and D-Link. Others even come in a CompactFlash format, and are meant to be used with a PDA that still has no built-in Bluetooth capability. An example of a CompactFlash Bluetooth adapter is the Billionton CFBT02.

What about Wi-Fi? Is there a Wi-Fi USB adapter available? There are many available in computer stores. The top names in networking gear, such as 3Com, D-Link, Netgear, LinkSys and Tekram, will offer one or two for you to choose from.

What should you check if you are looking for a wireless USB adapter, whether Bluetooth or Wi-Fi?

First and foremost, check whether they are compatible with your current operating system. If you have installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), for example, make sure the device is compatible with this OS.

Some users of Bluetooth adapters have reported having really bad migraines trying to make them work with SP2.

Next, make sure that it also supports USB 2.0, which is faster than the USB 1.1. This is especially preferable in the case of the Wi-Fi USB adapter. Most likely, though, it already does.

Finally, if you tend to break things that you work with, it may be better for you to buy a PC-Card wireless adapter rather than a USB adapter. The former will last longer.