Planning Wireless LAN

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

> I have a desktop and am getting a wireless ready notebook and
> want to setup a wireless LAN. Before I do, I need to get a few
> things straight...Firstly, why would I ever want an access point?
> Connecting it ad hoc seems so much simpler and saves me $100
> right there.

Go to www.amazon.com and enter this in the search box:

linksys wireless router

$49 ($39 after rebate) for an 802.11b router. A wireless card or USB adapter
for your desktop will cost about the same. Look farther down in the search
list to get some prices.

The wireless router will let you use your notebook even if the desktop is
turned off. It will also give you some protection by putting both your
machines on NAT (Network Address Translation). It's a much better way to go,
for about the same money.

> PS, would it make sense to skip the desktop's wireless nic and just
> get the access point? If that plugs directly into the computer and
> the cable modem into it, that would be the only thing I need right?
> Cost effective?

I couldn't have said it better. :-)

-Mike

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

If I do go the way of a wireless router, do I want to get the b or the
g? I know that I won't see any difference in internet speed between
the g and the b, but is the additional signal strength worth twice the
cost? What brand is preferred? I was thinking linksys but read some
bad things about their products, but netgear seems to share similar
problems. What about the microsoft brand? Although I think of their
brand stuff as almost generic the b and g routers are dirt cheap and
have a big name behind them. What do you think?



"Yousuf Khan" <news.tally.bbbl67@spamgourmet.com> wrote in message news:<nlLoc.9436$mP11.7165@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>...
> Scott <scott4508@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I have a desktop and am getting a wireless ready notebook and want to
> > setup a wireless LAN. Before I do, I need to get a few things
> > straight...Firstly, why would I ever want an access point? Connecting
> > it ad hoc seems so much simpler and saves me $100 right there. Are
> > there any disadvantages to this? Is it correct that the only thing I
> > need to do is purchase a wireless card for the desktop so the desktop
> > has two, with the wireless card transmitting the signal to the laptop
> > and the other one gets the internet through the cable modem? Do I
> > want a card with a wire on it so that I can position the antenna best?
> > Is this all fairly simple to do with a windows xp machine and limited
> > cisco networking knowledge? I was looking at the internet sharing
> > features, and it looks like I didn't make any changes, but I suppose
> > that could be because it doesn't have a wireless card installed.
> > Thanks for any help.
>
> How does going Ad Hoc save you any money? You still have to buy an expensive
> wireless NIC for your Internet access desktop -- the wireless NIC will cost
> almost as much as a full blown wireless router. Then you have to also leave
> the desktop running all of the time just so that the other computers can
> access the Internet.
>
> Yousuf Khan

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Scott <scott4508@hotmail.com> wrote:
> If I do go the way of a wireless router, do I want to get the b or the
> g? I know that I won't see any difference in internet speed between
> the g and the b, but is the additional signal strength worth twice the
> cost? What brand is preferred? I was thinking linksys but read some
> bad things about their products, but netgear seems to share similar
> problems. What about the microsoft brand? Although I think of their
> brand stuff as almost generic the b and g routers are dirt cheap and
> have a big name behind them. What do you think?

Again, it comes down to a matter of economics. If the G can be had for not
much more than a B then go for it. You set the criteria yourself for what is
defined as "not much more".

I recently went looking for a replacement for my laptop's B card, which had
become bent in a fall. I couldn't find a single store that still held the B
cards anymore. One store said that the manufacturer (Dlink) had even
recalled all of their B cards, probably because the profit margins had
plummetted on them, so that they could sell only the G cards. So I went and
bought a G card, but before I opened it, I managed to unbend the old B card,
so I returned the new G card.

If you can buy a B card and router, and it's half the price of a G card and
router, then go for that one. But that's subject to whether B hardware is
still availalble. There are versions of B hardware that give you nearly the
same throughput as G hardware. For example Dlink sells hardware which it
calls "B Plus", which originally was upto twice as fast as a regular B (22
vs. 11 Mbps), then with a driver update one day they doubled it one more
time with what they called "4X technology" to 44 Mbps. 44 Mbps is a stones
throw away from a standard G card at 52 Mbps. Of course all of this
proprietary "Plus technology" and "4X technology" can also be applied to G
hardware so G can be made upto 200 Mbps in certain circumstances.

You obviously won't notice a difference when surfing the Internet. But the
extra speed is noticeable if you do anything locally on your network like
sharing drives between your desktop and laptop or printing remotely between
laptop and desktop.

Yousuf Khan

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Oops, hit send instead of close. Sorry about that.

In any case here is my opinion (and it echo's others):


Things you have to ask yourself before designing a wireless network. First
what use do you intend to put the network to. If it is Internet surfing and
occasional sharing of files and resources then an 802.11b will do. If you
intend to play games on your local network -between machines or do extensive
file serving with large files on one machine that another uses then 802.11g
would be better. You asked, why use a wireless access point? If you go on
the internet it will act as a Network Address Translation Server (NAT) with
firewall properties. It will also act as a Dynamic Host Control Protocol
(DHCP) server so you can set the network so it will automatically assign
your network address and Internet access information on your computer.
Another reason to have a WAP is that you can get a print server(s) that
connect directly to your printer(s). That way you do not need to have any
specific computer on to share print services across your network. I do
suggest that you use encryption and if possible MAC address locking as well.
(Much better security than adhoc.)

Rich
"Scott" <scott4508@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7e0af77f.0405121442.134e7d98@posting.google.com...
> I have a desktop and am getting a wireless ready notebook and want to
> setup a wireless LAN. Before I do, I need to get a few things
> straight...Firstly, why would I ever want an access point? Connecting
> it ad hoc seems so much simpler and saves me $100 right there. Are
> there any disadvantages to this? Is it correct that the only thing I
> need to do is purchase a wireless card for the desktop so the desktop
> has two, with the wireless card transmitting the signal to the laptop
> and the other one gets the internet through the cable modem? Do I
> want a card with a wire on it so that I can position the antenna best?
> Is this all fairly simple to do with a windows xp machine and limited
> cisco networking knowledge? I was looking at the internet sharing
> features, and it looks like I didn't make any changes, but I suppose
> that could be because it doesn't have a wireless card installed.
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Scott
>
> PS, would it make sense to skip the desktop's wireless nic and just
> get the access point? If that plugs directly into the computer and
> the cable modem into it, that would be the only thing I need right?
> Cost effective?