need to setup wireless LAN for parents-in-law

[mitchie]

The in-laws are finally going to dump AOL and are getting roadrunner cable. Now I have to set them up with a wireless/wired network. At least one PC will be hardwired into the router, and 2 more will be wireless (on a different floor in the house). So my questions are:

1) Do I want 802.11b or 802.11g? Stability and range are more important than raw speed so I'm leaning towards 802.11b based on the little reading I have done. Still, I feel strange buying them a technology that is on the way out.

2) Is it cheaper to buy a single wireless access point for the 2 PCs which are going to be on the second floor or a dedicated wireless PCI card for each PC?

3) Linksys, D-Link, or ..... what brand is the most reliable?

Thanks!

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: mitchie
The in-laws are finally going to dump AOL and are getting roadrunner cable. Now I have to set them up with a wireless/wired network. At least one PC will be hardwired into the router, and 2 more will be wireless (on a different floor in the house). So my questions are:

1) Do I want 802.11b or 802.11g? Stability and range are more important than raw speed so I'm leaning towards 802.11b based on the little reading I have done. Still, I feel strange buying them a technology that is on the way out.

2) Is it cheaper to buy a single wireless access point for the 2 PCs which are going to be on the second floor or a dedicated wireless PCI card for each PC?

3) Linksys, D-Link, or ..... what brand is the most reliable?

Thanks!

Definitely G, you get the speed of A and the range of B ( i think thats right )

Not sure about that price...

Linksys and D-Link are both great, whatever you pick should suit you fine.

 

[scorpioLP]

1) Go with B. Unless there will be some major file-sharing going on wireless G is too expensive for just internet use.

2) I wouldn't get PCI cards. USB wireless nics are better because you can move them around to get a better signal. It would probably be cheaper to get one access point, but I would definitely just spend a little more to get 2 wireless NICs.

3) I use Linksys, no problems. D-Link is very popular too, I say they're both about equal.

 

[mitchie]

scorpio

Thanks for the advice. I think B is the way to go as well. But I'm afraid that performance with USB NIC will suck. Will it affect latency with regards to online gaming to use USB vs PCI?

Can you comment on that?

 

[mitchie]

bump

 

[scorpioLP]

your bottleneck is the internet connection, then the wireless, and finally USB.

With a PCI wireless NIC you can't adjust the signal strength, well, it's not as easily adjusted as you can with a USB adaptor.

Regardless or which wireless adaptor you get, either of them have much greater bandwidth than the internet connection. So gaming won't be affected in the slightest whether you go the PCI or USB route.

 

[Sketcher]

Before you settle on ABG, are there any wireless devices in the house? Phones, Intercom, pagers, microwaves...

The A or G gear IS more spendy up front (not all that much) but replacing all your offending gear (if any) just to make your WAN stable would likely cost more.

 

[pcdeatherage]

USB vs PCI

for some time now have been using 2 pci's at home and 2 pci's at the office with no problems...at the time, having a mishmash of 98, ME & 2k - I didn't "trust" USB on setting up and/or keeping it going...

With USB, you have an extra piece of something laying loose outside the case, yes? In my situation, less is better...even if they don't ever have to see it or touch it, when they see it the first and only time it becomes complicated and now that they've seen it, it will be come disconnected somehow (read ripped out of the socket)...

 

[Pudgygiant]

Two cards has higher latency than a card and an AP (you have to run it in ad-hoc mode). USB I've heard is better than pci cards. And I use linksys, but netgear is pretty good too. Just whatever you do, don't buy blitzz. They're the worst products EVER.

 

[mitchie]

Regaqrding frequencies and interferece. The In-Laws have cordless phones and a microwave. Does that eliminate B as an option?

 

[QueHuong]

Originally posted by: Pudgygiant
Two cards has higher latency than a card and an AP (you have to run it in ad-hoc mode). USB I've heard is better than pci cards. And I use linksys, but netgear is pretty good too. Just whatever you do, don't buy blitzz. They're the worst products EVER.

Why is USB considered better?