A home network with Dell equipment. Help please!!

[dissonant]

Ok so I'm trying to help my gf set up a wireless system in her house. I'll probably have to do it all cause she's totally lost. Basically it comes down to this...

2 desktop computers
1 laptop
1 cable Internet connection

For security and less hassles we were thinking we'd want the 2 desktops to be wired and just have the laptop wireless.

She's getting the second desktop from Dell soon and she'd prefer to get the network equipment from Dell at the same time (financing).

Here's what they offer...

Wireless Routers (For High Speed Internet Access)
- Netgear WGR614 Cable/DSL Wireless Router [$55 $50 or $1/month
- Netgear WGT624 108Mbps Wireless Firewall Router [$80 $72 or $2/month
- Netgear WPN824 RangeMax Wireless Router [$100 $90 or $2/month
- Netgear Wireless Router and McAfee Home Security Software Bundle [$90 $81 or $2/month

I'm going to try and read up on them after the game tonight but I was hoping maybe somebody could give me a heads up. I appreciate it.

 

[skyking]

Unless she is trying to move large files over the wireless, the cheap one is fine.

 

[dissonant]

Hey thanks for the replies. She's a gamer so she wants a solid connection but she won't be transferring large files.

Should that router be pretty self explanatory? I just follow the instructions? Any other equipment? The laptops got a wireless card.

 

[skyking]

Plug it in to the modem, put power to both of them, hook up the two wired computers. Log into the router configuration page from one of the wired computers, and set up the wireless as needed. :sun:

 

[cmetz]

dissonant, financing is the most expensive way to buy anything. Wireless routers are *cheap* and 'tis the season to find deals - check the Hot Deals forums. I would suggest you pay the $20 - $30 cash on a good deal rather than buy something from Dell for double that and finance it for even more cost.

 

[dissonant]

Originally posted by: cmetz
dissonant, financing is the most expensive way to buy anything. Wireless routers are *cheap* and 'tis the season to find deals - check the Hot Deals forums. I would suggest you pay the $20 - $30 cash on a good deal rather than buy something from Dell for double that and finance it for even more cost.

Ok I can do that. I'm just looking for an easy and reliable set up. Someone told her to get a "Lynxis wcg200 wireless g cable"

 

[fartbag]

You sound damn near as lost as she is... You better let her set it up.

 

[dissonant]

Originally posted by: fartbag
You sound damn near as lost as she is... You better let her set it up.

Hey thanks for the help and encouragement.

 

[ITJunkie]

Hey Dissonant...ignore the troll. Listen to what cmetz said earlier. Wireless routers are pretty cheap so there isn't any reason to finance through Dell.

It sounds like you have the right idea in terms of wiring the desktops and leaving the laptop wireless. JackMDS has a good site for getting the info you are looking for. Check it out at EZLan.

Good luck

~Will

 

[cmetz]

dissonant, if you are cost sensitive, just get what's cheapest. SOHO routers are so cheap these days it's silly. Again, check Hot Deals.

I would strongly recommend you get a wireless router and then a cable modem or DSL modem, as appropriate. They do make all-in-one units, but those are rarer, more expensive, and putting all your eggs in one basket. That is, a cheap cable modem and a cheap router will be less money than a cable modem+router combo, and if one part fails you can replace one part.

I am a huge fan of the Linksys WRT54G routers because there is a lot of third-party (hacked, if you prefer) firmware available for it. These add features too high-end for a SOHO router, and can fix bugs in Linksys's firmware. Long after Linksys stops updating their firmware, hobbyists will continue to update these devices. And if you read around on SOHO routers, the majority of problems people have are with firmware problems (crashes, bugs, connection drops, etc.), so having third-party ability to fix those things is a major advantage. Unfortunately, Linksys has a nasty habit of changing what's inside and not changing the model number, and they just did that on these units - so you need to do a Google search and figure out how to get a WRT54G that is less than hardware v5 (the serial number is on the box, you need it to start with CDFA or less, NOT CDFB). If all this sounds annoying and complicated, well, it is. Thanks, Linksys. But it's still a good little unit, I've deployed tons of them. They are on sale this week at Staples for $45 with a $15 rebate, for a net cost of $30ish. That's a great price. Just look around for the older units, they're more capable.