Finding your way around in an unfamiliar city is sometimes difficult, which is especially inconvenient when you’re trying to attend an important meeting. The Garmin Mobile 10 for Laptops offers navigation software to give your Bluetooth-enabled laptop GPS capabilities. Garmin Mobile XT, nRoute navigation software, and City Navigator NT street maps are all included. Points of interest such as restaurants, hotels, and gas stations are also incorporated.

The Bluetooth technology eliminates the need for cords, so all you have to carry is a clip-on receiver the size of a pack of gum and your notebook. You won’t have to worry about fumbling around with your laptop as you try to decipher directions because the Mobile 10 has turn-by-turn voice-prompted guidance. If you do happen to miss a turn or an exit, the Mobile 10 will recognize it automatically and give you directions to get you back on track.

Click for more: Garmin Mobile 10 GPS for Bluetooth Laptops 010-00579-00

Tags: Wireless

When you need to quickly sync your mobile devices to your notebook or PC, Bluetooth is a quick and easy way to go. The D-Link Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 Adapter (DBT-120) is small, lightweight, and perfect for a frequent traveler who regularly synchronizes documents, calendar appointments, and contact information with a notebook or PC. You can also connect Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as mice,
keyboards, and headphones.

The Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 Adapter is a plug-and-play device that comes with software to help you manage and pair Bluetooth-enabled devices. Your data is protected with 128-bit encryption and FHSS technology. With support for Windows 2000/XP and Mac OS X, the Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 Adapter is
flexible enough to use anywhere.

Click for more: D-LINK Wireless USB Bluetooth Adapter – Model DBT-120 Wireless USB Adapters

Tags: Wi-Fi

We sometimes get so caught up in the excitement of the next big thing we throw the baby out with the bathwater. Based on the performance of the Wi-Fire Wi-Fi adapter, that might just be the case with IEEE 802.11g wireless routers.

If you value range over throughput, this is the Wi-Fi adapter for you. This ungainly device doesn’t rely on MIMO or IEEE 8011.n, it doesn’t even require a PCMCIA slot. When we plugged it into the notebook USB 2.0 port, it delivered unbelievable range with a year-old Asus WL700gE router equipped with a single antenna.

Indoors, the Wi-Fire performed no better than Linksys WPC600N adapter, and no 802.11g router can match the maximum throughput of an 802.11n model. But the Wi-Fire lived up to its name when it moved the notebook outdoors, delivering TCP throughput of 15Mb/s.

The speed constantly as when moved the notebook ever further away, 350 feet from the router, with the signal passing through an insulated, double thick interior wall and a steel garage door, the Wi-Fire delivered TCP throughput of 14.5Mb/s. Maximum range dropped to 135 feet on the other side of the house, but throughput remained steady at 13.2Mb/s.

The antenna is extremely directional, which wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t mounted so loosely to its plastic stand. You can set it on a tabletop or clip it to your notebook screen, but after you’ve painstakingly located the reception sweet spot, the simple act of breathing is enough to move it out of position.

Tags: Wi-Fi

Most current Mac models include an AirPort wireless card that supports the latest high speed 802.11n wireless format. However there are plenty of relatively recent Macs that shipped with older 802.11g card in them. You can upgrade your Mac’s wireless capabilities by installing Sonnet’s new Aria Extreme-n wireless card.

The Aria is the same size as Apple’s AirPort cards, so it can replace the AirPort card in most Mac models, such as the Mac mini or iMac. You’d need to be pretty brave to dismantle a Mini yourself, though, so the Aria is probably best suited to more upgradeable models such as the Mac Pro or MacBook Pro.

Tired of playing hide and seek with the Internet? Get the AT&T Laptop Connect Card and easily access the Internet at mobile broadband speeds when you’re out of the office, on the road, away from hotspots.

• Delivers mobile broadband speeds in more than 165 major U.S. markets and more cities worldwide than any other U.S. carrier.
• Send and receive email, download large attachments, and access corporate systems at mobile broadband speeds.
• Enables secure laptop connections to AT&T BroadbandConnect and EDGE networks.
• Fast and easy set up.

For more information, visit AT&T.

The Sierra Wireless AirCard 875 gives your laptop the ultimate in international connectivity: I got online in Spain at speeds over 300 kilobits per second, with peaks above 650 Kbps. It works also on Cingular’s HSDPA high-speed network here at home. Beware the monthly fees, though: An international, 100MB data plan costs $139.99 a month.

Don’t let your wireless network hold you back. D-Link’s High-Powered Wireless 108G Notebook Adapter (DWL-G680) offers superior bandwidth and consistent signal strength whether you’re on the road or in the office. When paired with other D-Link Wireless 108G devices, the Wireless 108G Notebook Adapter is capable of nearly twice the bandwidth of standard 802.11g adapters. And it’s backward compatible with other 802.11b/g access points, bridges, and adapters.

This AirPremier notebook adapter is no security slouch; it offers 64-bit and 128-bit WEP as well as Personal and Enterprise versions of WPA and WPA2 security. Network traffic is encrypted using the AES or TKIP protocols. Furthermore, the unit supports three EAP WLAN authentication protocols.

D-Link also ships the adapter with business class WLAN software that stores multiple SSID profiles to make accessing frequently used networks easy. The DWLG680 adapter can connect to other 802.11b/g wireless enabled computers, access points, and routers in both peer-to-peer (ad-hoc) mode and client (infrastructure) mode.

D-Link High-Powered Wireless 108G Notebook Adapter Features:

• Up to 108Mbps (when used in conjunction with other D-Link Wireless 108G devices)
• High-power antenna for twice the range of typical 802.11g adapters
• Fully 802.11b/g-compatible
• Supports WEP; Personal and Enterprise versions of WPA and WPA2 security and TKIP and AES encryption
• Wi-Fi and Microsoft WHQL Certified

The 1.3 by 3.0 inch Novatel Wireless V640, the first Express Card for the Verizon Wireless Broadband Access EV-DO network, performs on a par with much larger (2.1- by 3.4-inch) PC Card versions like the Editors’ Choice Kyocera KPC650. More important for many, it works in ExpressCard/34 slots such as those in new Apple, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo laptops. The card uses the same VZAccess Manager software as Verizon’s other EV-DO cards.

In an ASUS laptop, the V640 more than held its own against the KPC650 (installed in a Toshiba Qosmio) when the signal was moderate to strong. But for areas with a weak signal, you may want to pick up an external antenna. I was also easily able to install the V640 in a MacBook Pro after loading the drivers.

As the first EV-DO PC ExpressCard for laptops, the V640 represents a greatly needed upgrade option. Novatel Wireless is working to get the card out on Sprint. Dell sells an identical card, at the same price, for its laptops. But those who don’t own Dells can get online fast with the V640.

Based on Atheros Communications’s Xspan draft 802.11n technology, Belkin’s N1 Wireless Router and N1 Wireless Notebook Card are easily the most attractive of the gear. At the front of the glossy, black N1 Wireless Router is a series of glowing blue LED indicators that provide a clear and understandable view of the router’s connection status. The display indicates when wired and wireless clients are present, if wireless security is enabled, and whether the router can communicate with the Internet.

The N1 Wireless Router also has three antennas, although their range of motion is limited when compared with the Buffalo Technology and Linksys units, making it a little more difficult to optimize performance through minute adjustments. Unlike Broadcom-based devices, the N1 Wireless Router does not offer automatic channel allocation, nor does the device let users choose whether to assign the 20MHz channel in the upper or lower positions.

Instead, the narrow channel is allocated on the same channel as the wide channel. Fortunately, the N1 Wireless Router displayed none of the irregular backward-compatibility issues with 802.11g client adapters with other products. The N1 Wireless Router was also the only product that shipped with protected mode enabled by default. Protected mode is preferred to maintain higher speed when lots of legacy 802.11b traffic is nearby.

Unlike routers from Netgear and Buffalo, the N1 Wireless Router supports the enterprise flavors of WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2, enabling businesses or advanced users to tie in with a RADIUS server for the strongest wireless security alternatives.

Wireless Internet connection is a must have for most users these days. There are many Wi-Fi hotspots around town and most homes would have installed wireless routers. But Wi-Fi, as we now know it, does have limitations, notably a relatively short distance and speed ceilings. A new standard, 802.11n, which promises greater range and higher speed, is emerging. However, there is as yet no agreement on specifications for a common standard.

Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, has come up with two products, a Wi-Fi router and a PC card, based on 802.11n draft specifications. The WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband router and the WPC300N Wireless-N Notebook Adapter promise up to 12 times the throughput of Wireless-G and 4 times the range. Testing of this combo on a PC laptop confirms that surfing speeds are descernibly faster.

How much faster as a function of the broadband connection, the website visited, the laptop’s CPU and a host of other factors. But it is definitely faster. As for the range, much depends on the kind of walls and obstacles in the home. What is also important is that Wireless-N is backward compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g. The router works well with an Apple Powerbook with Airport Extreme Card (802.11g) and download speeds are higher.

The question one might ask is: What happens to this router when Wireless-N specifications are finally drawn-up and what if they are different from Linksys’s earlt products?

This should not be a major worry. So long as the router works with one’s current setup, the benefits of being an early adopter of Wireless-N can still be reaped further down the road.

But there is still one hitch, though. Newer laptops come with Express card slots. So there WPC300N PC card would not fit if the user upgrades his laptop unless someone comes up with an Express Card adapter, which will happen if there’s a demand for it.