O/T - Help re Wireless Broadband Internet

[Sonic]

I've decided that when I move next week, I really don't fancy having 50 feet of cabling from my NTL Broadband set top box, to the back of my PC, so am looking at a wireless router.

Being a novice in this field, I am looking for advice from anyone with experience in these things.

Can anyone tell me if I need a particular bit of kit to keep it up to speed (600K), or should any compatible hardware do the job? Anyone got any recommendations on a particular brand of hardware they have found to work well, or know of somewhere I can pick a good one up fairly cheaply.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Wireless works at two speeds 11meg and 54meg. If all you have is one PC ( i.e. you don't have a network ) then it doesn't really matter which one you go for apart from 54meg is rapidly becoming the standard. Both speeds are faster than your ADSL so the bottle neck will still be your ADSL link rather than your wireless kit.

You'll need a wireless router and wireless network card. Any make should generally do but keep the router and the network card the same make. Don't buy Belkin ( complete and rubbish hardware regardless of what it is ), Netgear is middle of the market whilst if you've got the dosh, Cisco is one of the market leaders ( probably easiest to get Cisco stuff off Ebay ).

 

[seagull over sevenoaks]

Linksys would be your best bet if you can hide it away behind the tv or something (they are really ugly!!) They are made by Cisco so have the build quality behind them.

Whatever you go with try and make sure that it has a firewall built in. If you want to check out some reviews of the kit you're looking for try Digital home Magazine.. think its available online at www.digitalhomemag.com

 

[fatboy]

We've got a wireless LAN in our house. It's very convenient.

When I am in a rush I can read my emails on the toilet.

 

[Simster]

Wireless works at two speeds 11meg and 54meg. If all you have is one PC ( i.e. you don't have a network ) then it doesn't really matter which one you go for apart from 54meg is rapidly becoming the standard. Both speeds are faster than your ADSL so the bottle neck will still be your ADSL link rather than your wireless kit.

You'll need a wireless router and wireless network card. Any make should generally do but keep the router and the network card the same make. Don't buy Belkin ( complete and rubbish hardware regardless of what it is ), Netgear is middle of the market whilst if you've got the dosh, Cisco is one of the market leaders ( probably easiest to get Cisco stuff off Ebay ).

Well Belkin did the business for me. I have a wireless WAN using a Belkin wireless network cards and a Belkin wireless router and was relatively straight forward to install. I agree that he should definitely go for a 54g though.

What is your problem with them then?

 

[Bozza]

This may sound stupid, but I'm gonna ask anyway...

Is it possible to have a wireless connection from PC to monitor?

 

[seagull over sevenoaks]

Yes but its quite expensive..

what are you trying to do?? How far are you trying to send it??

 

[Bozza]

I dunno really.

Currently do everything both at work and home with my trusty work supplied laptop and work paid for ISDN.

Don't own a home PC because of having a laptop supplied but mainly because living in sticksville, we don't have Broadband yet. But we're getting close to the required number of registrants - so it may be coming our way soon.

So thoughts turn to a PC purchase. I was going to get a desktop with 17 or 19" flat-panel due to value of processing power per £ (compared to laptops), ease of expansion etc. and the machine would go in the study at home.

But...I do like being able to surf etc. with the laptop on my lap, on the sofa watching TV etc. And it's more sociable than disappearing off to another room too.

So, I guess I was thinking about what wireless options there are to enable me to be able to have options of using it in the study and in the loungs without having to cart the box around. I know you can get cordless keyboards and mice (though not sure of ranges etc).

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Well Belkin did the business for me. I have a wireless WAN using a Belkin wireless network cards and a Belkin wireless router and was relatively straight forward to install. I agree that he should definitely go for a 54g though.

What is your problem with them then?

I've found their hardware is far less reliable than others. I've used the wireless routers ( some required rebooting after sustained periods of use) but not the wireless NICs. Their keyboard / mouse switch boxes and cables are truely awful and fail on a much more regular basis than say Compaqs version ( or HP if you're feel perdantic ).

All in all, if it were my money, I'd pay a little more and avoid Belkin. That said if cost the the main concern then get Belkin.

 

[Sonic]

Thanks for your help so far guys. Especially as I was advised by a colleague (with little knowledge of Wireless Comms) to go for Belkin. Don't think I'll be doing that now.

I know what you have said about the higher speed, but if for instance I went for the standard one, would this do the trick?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3074883717&category=176

Looks nice and small. Would it work for me or is this not what I need to plug into the PC?


Also, I've found this Wireless Router.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3075257409&category=3706

Again, I know it's not the high speed one, but would it do the job?

I really am looking for a cheap cable free option at the moment. Then I can upgrade when I feel a bit more flush. Moving home has enough expenses already!

 

[sleepytom]

i have a linksys wireless router - very nice and cheap too (£40 from www.ebuyer.co.uk ) good security and ability to setup port forwarding / DMZ for anyone who wants to run home servers - you can allso restrict wireless acces to the internal network to known machines whilst leaving the internet side open for anyone to use (if evyone had there wirless net setup like this there would be free wirless internet allmost everywhere in town)

Bozza your dreams of wireless monitors are not quite there yet - the technology exists but is mega expensive for anything that provides a decent quality (like you could buy a laptop and a descktop computer for the cost of any decent high resolution wireless monitor system) - best bet would be a cheapo secondhand laptop with a wireless pcmcia card in it - you don't need a high spec machine to surf the net and you could still have a desktop for when you have to do proper work.

anyone i brighton wanting assistance in seting up wireless stuff can PM me here and i'll give you a hand (for a very reasnoble fee)

 

[sleepytom]

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=51436
thats the link to one i have.

they also do wirless pci cards for desktops for a tenna!?! - god know how but they do

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Thanks for your help so far guys. Especially as I was advised by a colleague (with little knowledge of Wireless Comms) to go for Belkin. Don't think I'll be doing that now.

I know what you have said about the higher speed, but if for instance I went for the standard one, would this do the trick?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3074883717&category=176

Looks nice and small. Would it work for me or is this not what I need to plug into the PC?


Also, I've found this Wireless Router.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3075257409&category=3706

Again, I know it's not the high speed one, but would it do the job?

I really am looking for a cheap cable free option at the moment. Then I can upgrade when I feel a bit more flush. Moving home has enough expenses already!

I've never heard of the makes so can't comment on their value or reliability but the specs indicate that they should work together. The USB part looks very useful - much better than fixing a PCI card in.

Beware - I notice that the auctions have a while still to run. Have a look at the PC World web site ( or similar ) and make sure the price doesn't go over what you could get the kit for in one of the big stores - much easier to take back if it doesn't work.

 

[marvin]

My suggestion would be to have a wired and a wireless router like I have (I can have 4 wired computers and a whole load of wifi ones all at the same time)

I too have a linksys (orible blue thing it is) I would advise against Belkin as I have never had anything of theirs that works fiorst time out the box. Still have a 7 port hub where 3 of the ports won't work where 4 will.

 

[seagull over sevenoaks]

Bozza, depending on the amount of money you want to spend you have a couple of options really..

You could buy one of the new sparkly Media Center PCs as approved by Microsoft. These are designed as front room appliances so many of them look similar to av equipment you already have. They are expensive but include features such as pause live tv, hard disk recording of tv, sharing of digital media (photos) they are also really well spec'd XP computers so should handle all of your requirements.

Logitech make a rnage of very good IR keyboards and media controllers - the range is limited and needs line of sight. You could go bluetooth but would need a card for your PC. and would stop you being able to use the tv also

I would say the cost of what you want to do would make it best to just buy a high spec'd laptop (will cost you around £950)

if you just wanted internet access and have a reasonable av set up in your lounge you could go the same route I have with something like a Philips iPronto. This lets you surf the web, check mail and control anything that is either ir or wireless.

Its a great boys toy also.

sorry if this is a bit rambling...