Can a Wireless card work if it is a different company than the wireless router?

My brother installed a wireless card in his desktop and it is not reading any networks. We have a linksys wireless router that already works for my laptop and the card is not a linksys card. Any help would be appreciated.

Public Comments

1. You can mix and match makers of wireless cards and routers. Make sure you installed the proper software and drivers though.
2. Yes you can use a different brand, however the right drivers need to be installed on it. You can check under device management by right clicking on my computer and select properties. From there go to device manager and see if there are any messages or errors.
3. Yes and no. Yea not much help. The issue with the card could be two things. One - it is not working correctly because the drivers are not properly installed. Make sure the card has all it's drivers installed. Two - the chip set in some cards, hate the chip sets in others. This is true of many VIA chip set network cards, and Intel chipset network cards. They just do not play well together. If the card you are talking about is an internal card, inside the computer case. The metal of the case itself, or the metal of a desk or cabinet next to the computer can keep the card from seeing the networks. If it is a USB adapter, then make sure it is in a port that is not surrounded by metal to shield the signal. Also go into the control panel - systems and check the workgroup listed on the computer name tab. It should be the same on all computers. If his is different, he may not be able to see the networks.
4. Yes, any brand of wireless card should be able to talk to the Linksys network. The most common reason why he would not be able to see your wireless network is that they may be on different protocols. Currently there 4 different wireless frequency protocols (A,B,G, and N). How new is his card and your router? If it is a G then make sure the card and router are both set to listen on B and G. The label on the card and the router both should have a letter stating the protocol. A works with A B works with B G works with B and G N works with B, G, and N While checking your router settings also make sure that your router is does not have wireless OFF or Hidden SSID. For security reasons I set my router SSID to be Hidden. This doesn't make it completely secure but it helps from people that drive around looking for a free signal.