Airport Extreme - best wireless option for connecting a Windows XP PC?

First post on this board - forgive the long-windedness.
Relatively new to MAC, not to UNIX / IT in general and, sadly, Windows.
As well as the MAC mini, my wife has a black MACBook, running Tiger and Parallels. We have acquired an Airport Extreme to replace the old 802.11b WAP. This works well with the MACBook, but I have had a few problems finding a suitable wireless client / adapter for the younger son's Windows XP PC, an HP Pavilion with USB2.0 ports. I started with a Linksys WUSB54G, with the latest drivers downloaded from Linksys. This worked well for a couple of weeks, using Windows Zero Config, after which it dropped out and refused to reconnect to any network, even the unsecure old 802.11b WAP.
The replacement began well, but then required reinstall of the drivers after every reboot of the PC, which allowed it to work. Eventually, this remedy failed; although other networks remained visible, the Airport one did not.
I will be taking the second one back! But I need an alternative.
Is there an issue with Linksys / Airport connections in general?
A colleague has suggested that an internal PCI card might be a better option than an USB based adapter, but he has no MAC experience.
Can anyone recommend a suitable card or an alternative USB solution?
TYIA
Robin

robinm0 wrote:
First post on this board - forgive the long-windedness.
Welcome to the discussions.
Is there an issue with Linksys / Airport connections in general?
Generally no.
Problems connecting an XP PC to an Airport Base Station
http://tech.ifelix.net/2002.html
A colleague has suggested that an internal PCI card might be a better option than an USB based adapter, but he has no MAC experience.
Yes generally they are better choice, another option would be an ethernet wireless bridge such as the WET54G which would require NO installation of software or drivers on the PC - it can be configured via a web browser.
Regards
iFelix
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

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