> I don't know that I "need" it, but it generally provides for greater > range without the need for an external antenna...
Perhaps in the unusual case where all it's clients are similarly well endowed. An AP with the best receive sensitivity (and a well chosen antennae) will provide the best range for normal clients. There are cards that might meet your criteria. Ath(4) have very good receive sensitivity but I have not yet seen 11g hostap work. You could settle for 11b and hope the situation improves. Ral(4) have awful receive sensitivity but do 11g hostap really well. If you need 11g hostap and more range than a ral(4) can provide you could add more AP's and read up on hostapd(8).
