ignore built-in wireless, use pcmcia wireless instead?

[3rail]

Looking for suggestions on how to get tc 2.x to ignore the built-in wireless in my laptop (which is recognizes and sets up wifi0 for) and use the wireless card I stick into the pcmcia slot (which it also recognizes upon insertion, loads the ath5k module, and sets up wlan0)?

The reason is that the built in wireless' antenna is too weak to connect to my distant AP but the pc card is not.

Is it as simple as something like

iwconfig wlan0 essid "myap"
udhcpc -i wlan0

Add on question:  how can you turn off internal wireless so it doesn't use power?

TIA

[Juanito]

Usually the bios or a hardware switch can be used to turn off wireless?

Failing that, the internal wireless is often a small card under a removeable cover and can be removed?

[3rail]

a hardware solution, that's an interesting take... thanks