OT: wireless networks

OK, i dont know anything about this, but am after some info. I understand the principle of it, but is it possible to have a wireless connection from a phone point without a PC (say in a lounge) to a PC (say in a study next door) so it gets web access without running stupid wires everywhere that look untidy.

If that is possible could you point me towards some decent hardware. Nothing spangly, only needs to be for a couple of computers.

Moving house at the weekend in case you hadnt guessed :)

Cheers

Carl

Reply to
Carl Gibbs
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You need a WiFi router and WiFi USB dongles / PCI cards.

This looks good for the money:

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(Combined ADSL 'modem' with WiFi router and USB dongle)

Additional PCs can be added to the network using more USB dongles / PCI cards or PCMCIA cards in laptops.

Reply to
SteveH

Thats the sort of thing I'm after. Plus the old laptop (mostly just an MP3 player) has a PCMCIA Lan card thingy so I could easily hook that up too. Bit cheaper would be better though. Gotta persuade the missus its a good deal compared to a £10 phone extension lead :)

Maybe this:

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Reply to
Carl Gibbs

That'd do it.

Reply to
SteveH

in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, "Carl Gibbs" slurred :

Yup, as SteveH said, you need a wireless router/ADSL modem, plus wireless network cards/usb dongles/pcmcia adapter.

For the router I would recommend Netgear stuff - it's good reliable kit with good support and instructions which don't appear to have been translated via several other languages before reaching english, and offers good customisation if you need it.

I'd suggest getting pcmcia/pci lan cards rather than USB dongles, 'cos the usb dongles do present a CPU load, plus they stick out and they use up a USB port.

You'll need a wired connection to get the ADSL and wireless security stuff set up initially, but after that you can go wireless.

I'd look at ebuyer.com for buying - they normally seem to be about the cheapest, and I've never had a problem with their service.

Good luck with the move...

Reply to
Albert T Cone

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Cheers for your advice Steve. Got the router/modem, PCI card, PCMCIA card, network lead, phone lead, 2 filters and software for £63 delivered. Happy with that :)

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

You want an ADSL Wireless Modem Router, to plug into your phone line.

Then, you want Wireless cards in your PCs (PCMCIA cards for your laptops, and PCI cards for your desktops - avoid USB adapters, they can be troublesome if you've got a shitty (read VIA) USB controller). AVOID no-name kit - you need to be looking at 3Com, Netgear, Linksys, etc.

I set these up for people regularly - the current buy of the moment is the

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- comes with a free Laptop card too ! It's about the best around at the moment - the bargain price is a free bonus :) PCI adapters, I'd go for
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- they're not bad for cheapos. PCMCIA adapters,
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- as above, they're ok if you're on a budget.

Once you have all your kit, go and read a beginner's guide to WiFi - you need to use (and understand !) the security.

Firmware and Drivers are both more important than usual, when you're using WiFi. Make sure you update the 3Com router to the latest firmware (it's on their site, and it's very simple) before you start, and and go and download the latest drivers for your kit (ie, don't use the out-of-date CDs that you got with them).

Reply to
Nom

That's a keen price ! I've never used BT's kit though, so I've no idea if the router is any good. I can't be arsed to find the specs, but if it doesn't support UPnP, good luck setting up your port-forwarding rules :)

Reply to
Nom

I hope it's good :)

Reply to
Nom

USB dongles are rubbish! Apart from that, when you get it all set up, make sure you password your router and set up the encryption.

When I did my setup without doing the above, I got home from work the next day to find someone in my neighbourhood had hijacked it - encrypted and passworded me out of my own router! Thankfully it had a factory reset button on the router.

Life is much better now I ditched USB dongles and went for PCI cards / PCMCIA for laptop.

It is better, infinitely better than trailing wires everywhere. And a bit tech cool.

Reply to
fishman

A good site with very cheap kit is

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They are in Park Royal in London and you can collect if nearby as the postage is a bit dear IMO.

I got a couple of safecom usb wireless adaptors (ebuyer sell the exact same ones) which are b+g which I use in adhoc mode to connect a couple of PC's together and use ICS on one to share the broadband.

LL

Reply to
LiviLion

Last time I moved I swore blind that next time I wouldn't bother!

Reply to
AstraVanMan

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I thought so. And if it sucks and I can just it back on ebay.

No idea what that means. think i'm gonna need a computer geek to help me :)

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

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"UPnP (Internet Gateway Device) with NAT traversal capability" apparently. So i guess thats a good thing

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

Exactly :) Providing your applications support UPnP, then it basically makes the router set up everything automagically - no knowledge is required. Although, if you're never going to serve anything (XBox Live!, Online games, Web, FTP etc.) then you'll probably never notice anyway...

Reply to
Nom

That's the beasty.

Providing your applications support it, UPnP directs unsolicited incoming traffic to it's correct destination on your LAN, without you having to setup port-forwarding rules.

So if you were to host a game on XBox Live!, the router would know where to send the incoming connection requests (because the XBox would have told it, via UPnP), from people wanting to join your game. If you had no UPnP, and you hadn't setup port-forwarding, then those connection-requests would never make it to your XBox - because the router would have no way of knowing which of your machines should be getting them (cos they're all sharing a single IP address).

If you have it, then turn it on - but make sure your WindowsUpdate (Control Panel --> System --> AutoUpdates --> On) and AntiVirus is all uptodate first !

Reply to
Nom

Well its only going to be used with one main computer. Occasionally a 2nd and a laptop so probably wouldnt notice it anyway

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

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