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Does wireless internet have same speeds as wired internet?

A

AirForceElite

Senior member
i have never bothered to actually read up on wireless internet because I never had the need before (always had 1 computer in my room)

Now, my sister also needs a computer with internet (nothing major..she just needs to use internet for kids stuff) so as you can understand, the connection has to be shared between me and her.

problem is, we are in different rooms, so going with wires is kinda hard..have to drill holes and such...

I am thinking about buying a wireless thingy.
the reason why i call it a "thingy" is cause i dont actually know what i need.

Do i need wireless router? Do i need wireless modem? (i already have 1 modem that is given to me by ISP)
can you guys help me with the set up?

and 2nd part of the question, is wireless conection the same speed as wired?

we live in an apartment, not a house...so it will not be some super duper huge distance between router and computers...the range will be 6 feet at max, with only obstacle as a wooden door.

if you need any more questions, just ask and i ll answer them. thanks
 
Okay, what is that exactly?
I understand it goes into PCI slot..but whose? Mine or hers? (if it makes any difference, i am the one who doesnt have cable outlet in my room)..

Also, i dont do i understand this set up correctly?

Wall>>>Cable outlet from wall>>>cable goes to router>>>from router there are 2 cables going to computer#1 and computer#2
if anybody could give me a diagram of where each thing goes, it would be awesome
 
Old Hippie, that is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you.

Now that everything is cleared up, I want to move on to the second part of the question.

Will wireless network have same speeds as wired one when the range is about 6-8 feet?
The only possible "barrier" between my computer and the modem is a wooden door. No walls or anything. So with that in mind, will I have same speed as I do currently with wired connection?
 
Originally posted by: AirForceElite
Will wireless network have same speeds as wired one when the range is about 6-8 feet?
The only possible "barrier" between my computer and the modem is a wooden door. No walls or anything. So with that in mind, will I have same speed as I do currently with wired connection?
Click to expand...

This really depends on where you live and how much interference you have to deal with. If you're isolated in a farm house, more or less in line of site to the router, then you'll have good speeds. If you're in a populated area, have radio static or competing networks, then you'll probably notice a difference in speed testing, but probably not in real life day to day performance.

Security is another thing that effects speeds, encrypting and then decrypting. You can isolate your wireless network nicely by using a MAC filter, and only allowing machines that you personally enter into that filter.

If you're a power user then using a wireless connection will probably get tiresome. For example to reconfigure your router or modem you need to hardware to it. Also the small drops and consistency may effect gaming, if that's your thing also.
 
I use a D-Link wireless G (54Mbp). Even with WEP enabled, you can't tell the difference between the computers hooked up wired vs wireless for websurfing and most tasks. Son runs PS2 & XBox games over a wireless access point with no complaints. For that matter, the old 'A' I had ran pretty darn close to websurfing speeds. But, occasionally you'll see the wireless slow down, usually due to signal strength issues. (Oddly, I notice this most on the USB adapter that came with the network starter kit.)
 
Hey 1 more quick question.
I went to bestbuy website and searched for routers. There are few that i would like to buy.
So question is, does the wireless adapter that goes into PCI slot need is own power?
Because i already have 2 hard drives + dvd burner + AGP video card, so thats 4 slots taken..i have none free right now. Does wireless adapter need its own power?
 
So question is, does the wireless adapter that goes into PCI slot need is own power?
Click to expand...
PCI slots provide power.
Because i already have 2 hard drives + dvd burner + AGP video card, so thats 4 slots taken..i have none free right now.
Click to expand...
I have no idea what you're talking about. You have all those things in PCI slots? AFAIK PCI cards and AGP slots don't do well together.
IF you need a USB wireless connection for your unit look here. There's about a kizallion of 'um.
 
its fast enough for most connections but unlike wires its all sharing the same bandwidth, so if say 4 people try to transfer files between each other on a lan ..wired they'd all have 100mbs each wired, wireless it would be shared and bog down big time. but i doubt you need to transfer large files in home so it would be fine
 
I think you might be a bit confused still. You don't need to add anything to your computer.

Modem -> router (via ethernet cable).
router -> your computer (via ethernet cable)
router -> your sister's computer via wifi

Your computer can use the existing NIC, but you will need to install a wireless NIC into your sisters computer. There are PCI and USB versions. Both are fine for your purposes.

Wireless is slower than wired, but you won't notice it browsing the internet. The only time you will really notice it is doing file transfers across the network. But as far as internet goes, wireless is probably faster than your internet connection. Now at my house, the wireless uses encryption so we lose about 33% of the speed due to encryption overhead. But you can hardly notice the difference when browsing the internet.
 
i have never bothered to actually read up on wireless internet because I never had the need before (always had 1 computer in my room)
Click to expand...

I interpreted this to mean that he already had an existing wired connection to his computer.

Now I'm confused.
 
Oh sorry Leros and Hippie, i wrote it confused

Yes it's true, I do not have cable in my room, I have to bring a LONG cable from the cable outlet to my room.
I know its messy, but since I was the only one using the cimputer, I never bothered to spend the extra $50-100 to get wireless router+adapter.
Now, like I said my sister is also getting a computer, and that means double the messy'ness of cables. So thats why i decided to get wireless router+2 adapters so we would eliminate cables all around our 2 bedroom apartment.

Thanks for the help guys and sorry for the confusion. I have already decided what to do:

1x Wireless Router sitting right beside the wall near the cable outlet
2x Wireless adapters on my and sister's comp which goes into PCI slot.
0x messy 🙂

I am wondering if i should get USB adapter or PCI adapter...hmmmmm
 
Originally posted by: AirForceElite

I am wondering if i should get USB adapter or PCI adapter...hmmmmm
Click to expand...

I think its mostly preference. I prefer PCI because I don't like having dongles hanging out the back of my computer.
 
i would suggest usb due to ease of connectivity. and it really depends on your isp speeds, but or surfing you will be fine 🙂
 
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