Vista - Which x64 Wireless PCI card??

Hi all,

Am having a complete mare with my wireless LAN since switching to Vistax64. It's not Vista's fault, it's a distinct lack of 64-bit support in the drivers from manufacturers.

Initially i had a cheap-o Buffallo USB dongle. No 64bit support from Buffallo, never was, never will be. No problem, probably about time i upgraded anyway.

So, i opted fro the Linksys WMP300N (v2) card as i will upgrade the router at some point in the future and the new Linksys routers have been getting good reviews.

This was my first mistake. I have spent pretty much all weekend trying to get this ruddy card to work. It just will not! I've tried linksys drivers, i've tried Atheros drivers (manufacturer of the chipset for the euro version of this card) but nothing works.

The closest i can get is the most recent linksys drivers whereby the system will see the card, and it seems to work - i can find my network, but as soon as i enter the Passphrase to connect, system locks up completely. no BSOD, just completely frozen. Only option is to hard reset. oh and then, 9 times out of 10, the system wont even boot fully, usually locking up at the circular win vista logo.

So, unless anyone knows of a working x64 driver for the EU (ver2, Atheros chipset) of this card, and can piont me in the direction of a download, the Linsys is going back to the store.

My question for you guys is...

Which PCI wireless adapter (preferably with an external antenna) can i get that will work in Vista x64. I will be looking to stream media over the network so a decent N-spec would be preferable. Tried and tested solutions would be best of all!

Many thanks in advance,

Jim.

I hate anything to do with networking when it comes to drivers, they are always behind the times. I use a belkin f5d7001 as it uses windows drivers, it has 64 bit support. Its only a G+ card but serves me well. Might be a good cheap solution until 64 bit compatible drivers are actually thought of.

Belkin G+ Wireless PCI Adapter - Ebuyer

Hi Fieseler, cheers for the reply.

Funnily enough i've used Belkin gear in the past and found it to be nice and reliable but several of my colleagues have had nothing but trouble with recent Belkin products (i work in IT and have seen problems there too) but maybe i'll give a belkin product another go.

I was ideally looking for a PCI card with some kind of external antenna as PC is under desk which has panel ends so is effectively surrounded by wood on all but 1 side.

Do any of the Belkin N products have 64-bit support? Or does anyone else have any N-spec 64-bit friendly card recommendations?

Cheers,
Jim.