Have card, will travel

By J.B. MilesSpecial to GCNThanks to the Internet, many Americans work in virtual environments without the constraints of desks, cubicles and specific office locations. A telecommuter's office can be a living room, patio or spare bedroom. Mobile professionals spend a lot of their time working from airplanes, automobiles, hotel rooms, conference centers and client locations. Doctors, lawyers and government workers use cellular phones and notebook PCs to conduct business from places all over the world.It's easier than ever to go mobile. All it takes to function as a productive road warrior is a notebook PC, the right software and a credit card-sized PC Card modem or multifunction 56-Kbps modem and LAN card.If what you need while traveling is to browse the Internet or check your business e-mail from a hotel room or conference center, you probably can get by with one of the inexpensive 56-Kbps analog modem cards listed in this guide.Modem makers such as Actiontec Electronics Inc., Archtek America Corp., MagicRAM Inc. and MaxTech Corp. focus on 16-bit Type II PC Card modems for the general marketplace. These cards are usually priced well under $100 and represent bargains for users of notebooks running Microsoft Windows.PC Card modems provide near-56-Kbps data transfer rates and 14.4-Kbps fax transfer rates and are compliant with the full range of data modulation, compression and error-correction standards. Nearly all of them are bundled with excellent data communications and fax software, and a few offer limited voice services and some are cellular-ready.Because most PC Card modems are compatible with Microsoft Windows 9x'and Windows 2000 drivers are increasingly available'all of them are Plug and Play units that present few if any configuration or setup problems.If 56-Kbps analog connections aren't enough, you can get extra speed from a multifunction 56-Kbps Ethernet, 10/100-Mbps Ethernet or 56-Kbps Integrated Services Digital Network card. Or you can get a card with optional wireless digital Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or analog Advanced Mobile Phone Services (AMPS) cellular services. Some multifunction cards listed in the accompanying chart are 16-bit Type II PC Cards; others are 32-bit CardBus designs.The 16-bit multifunction PC Cards generally mix 56-Kbps analog service with AMPS cellular or GSM digital services, although Eicon Technology Corp.'s $239 Diva Mobile V.90 PC Card adds 128-Kbps ISDN services in place of cellular. Linksys Group Inc.'s $139 EtherFast 10/100 + 56K Modem PC Card and D-Link Systems Inc.'s $135 DMF-560TX combine 56-Kbps analog and 10/100-Mbps Fast Ethernet services.Intel's $99 Pro/100 LAN+Modem56 Mobile Adapter Model MBLA3356 is designed to provide both 56-Kbps and 10/100-Mbps Ethernet services. IBM Corp.'s $165 International PC Card is another 16-bit Type II card that adds country-select software and GSM digital cellular capability to basic 56-Kbps analog and fax services.If your notebook is equipped with a CardBus slot and you want a full 100-Mbps connection between a Fast Ethernet LAN and your notebook, you should choose a 32-bit CardBus card instead of a 16-bit PC Card version.The leaders in the field of multifunction CardBus technology include 3Com Corp., Intel, Ositech Communications Inc. and Xircom Corp., although Best Data Products Inc., IBM and Psion Connect Inc. all offer at least one CardBus model. Other companies will add more multifunction CardBus products to their suites as demand for them increases.3Com's 10/100 LAN+56K Modem CardBus PC Card brings 56-Kbps data and 14.4-Kbps fax, 10/100-Mbps Ethernet LAN and AMPS cellular services for $210. The 32-bit CardBus architecture observes the N-way 10/100 autonegotiation feature, but offers full 100-Mbps LAN connections to the notebook.Windows compatibility provides Plug and Play and the unit is guaranteed to be compatible with all portable computers that comply with the PC Card standard. 3Com's Direct-Connect Cellular and DynamicAccess features provide easier access to AMPS cellular services and one-step mobile configuration and connectivity for multiple locations.Intel's $300 Pro/100 LAN+Modem56 Mobile Adapter Model MBLA3456 offers the same basic features, along with Wake-on-LAN and Desktop Management Interface 2.0 features.The Ositech $359 Jack of Spades with DPI and $309 Jack of Hearts with DPI units also provide connectivity with digital private branch exchanges.CardBus has become the preferred high-speed bus technology for mobile computers and is now included in virtually every high-end notebook on the market. You can use a 16-bit PC Card in a CardBus slot, but if you're using a new notebook PC with a 32-bit microprocessor and Win9x, Windows NT or Win 2000, a 32-bit multifunction CardBus card will give better overall results.Here's why: A CardBus slot offers 32-bit input/output via a high-speed 33-MHz bus, compared with the 8.33-MHz bus speed of 16-bit PC Card slots. This translates into a 132-Kbps throughput for CardBus vs. PC Card technology's 20-Mbps maximum. CardBus devices run at 3.3 volts, compared with 16-bit PC Card devices' 5.0 volts. So CardBus uses less power than a PC Card. When combined with Advanced Configuration and Power Interface hardware support, CardBus takes better advantage of the power management capabilities of Win98 Second Edition and Win 2000 than does PC Card technology. This includes Microsoft's OnNow power management policies and remote power management such as Wake-on-LAN. CardBus technology allows hot insertion and automatic device configuration and enables the sharing of multiple resources on a single card with no need for special drivers.So multifunction CardBus cards are easier to install than 16-bit PC Cards and present fewer compatibility problems. CardBus connectors are shrouded with a metal cover near the 68-pin connector.This reduces electromagnetic interference and supports higher bus speeds than PC Cards can offer. Thirty-two-bit CardBus slots can support 16-bit PC Cards; the reverse isn't true. CardBus bus mastering allows data transfers to take place directly to memory without using the notebook's processor. This boosts overall system performance and increases performance if the system is connected to a Fast Ethernet LAN.XXXSPLITXXX-XXXSPLITXXX-