Networking nwebie

[BathroomFeeling]

Hi guys, I have a problem that I need assistance on (couldn't find any answers online). Here's my situation, I have a PC with a 100M broadband connection. Its either cable or ADSL, I'm not sure, but I don't use any cable modems (connects directly to my PCI ethernet card in my PC). I have a Compaq Laptop (Presario 900), and according to the specs, it supports WiFi. I unscrewed a panel, and saw the hidden antenna, just to confirm. I'm not sure which WiFi version it supports though, 802.XX something or another... it didn't say anywhere.

My laptop currently does not have access to the internet, but I want it to using WiFi. And if possible, I'd also like to get a little network action going between the PC and the Laptop through the same system. I want to exchange files between both systems, and obliterate my bro at Quake3 during tea time.

Most of the guides on the web talks about the cable modem connecting to the wireless router. Since I have no need for the modem, I was wondering what my options are. Can I just buy a wireless router, stick my broadband cable to it, and away I go? I see there's something called 54G and 108G, these are speeds right? What brand is good for my needs? Nothing too fancy or over the top, I won't be exchanging files or gaming everyday. I will be browsing the web daily, so just adaquate for everyday needs.

Appreciate any help, thanks.

 

[Madwand1]

Find out what you have from the ISP to start -- what the service is, and the details of any devices involved. Post a link to the web site if you can.

There's a chance that a modem's involved somewhere. You'll need to know about the details of the modem or the service for the next step in any case, and there's a small chance that such a modem would have built-in wi-fi.

If you really have a 100 Mb/s Internet service, then you'll want a modern high-end router, and not just anything off the shelf. E.g. D-Link DIR-655. See Small Net Builder's router chart WAN to LAN performance for an indication of performance.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com...,com_chart/Itemid,189/
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30087/96/

 

[JackMDS]

If your Wireless computer has a regular Card (Not a Draft-N) you would not benefit from a costly Draft-N Router.

In such a case, this is a good inexpensive solution.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16833162017

http://www.ezlan.net/buffalo.html

 

[BathroomFeeling]

Okay thanks. Um, on my service provider, I wasn't able to gather much. I know that they didn't install any devices anywhere in my flat or immediately outside my door. Its a FTTB connection straight to my building, afterwhich it gets split to individual flats via CAT5-E cables (looks like a beefy phone line). I suppose there might be something at the base of my building, enough to serve hundreds of flats, though I can't be sure. They also mentioned that I can't use my own cable modem, whatever that means. The website is as follows, but its not in english so it won't be of much use here:
http://www.hkbn.net/bb1000/index.html


The D-Link DIR-655 device looks great, but it looks way overkill for my needs. The Buffalo device does appear much more fitting, but do they work basically the same way? Both has a socket where it looks like my cable can go ("Internet Port" for the D-Link, and "WAN Port" for the Buffalo). Is that how its supposed to be? I'm not sure because I don't have a cable modem.

So if I got this straight, I'm to plug in my internet cable to that Internet/WAN socket, get another ethernet cable and stick it to one of the four LAN ports, with the other end to my PC LAN card. With the WiFi running, both my PC and Laptop will have internet access? Does this also mean I can send stuff from one system to another, and vice versa?

Oh and another thing, I estimate the maximum distance between my PC and the Laptop would be about 12 feet, if that helps.


Thanks again guys.

 

[Madwand1]

At 100 Mb/s, your Internet service is much faster than what North Americans are used to, including the vast majority of posters here. If you can, I suggest that you to get the advice of some local people who are used to this sort of service speed -- they'll be more likely to be able to tell you from experience what sort of speeds you get and which routers are up to the task.

The Buffalo WHR-G125 is a new device which should perform better than the older generation which is based on well-aged hardware, but I'm not aware of any real performance data on it, and there's a pretty good chance that it won't really be up to a 100 Mb/s Internet service. It'll work, but probably not allow the maximum speed capability of such a service. You can ignore this aspect and live with the potential performance loss, or try to do better with a higher grade device which can guarantee that level of performance. Note also that with wireless-g, you have no chance of getting this level of performance (regardless of marketing claims) -- these max out at around 22 Mb/s actual throughput for standard g, and somewhat higher for proprietary and draft-n wireless.

One caveat is that even if your local Internet service is 100 Mb/s, there's no guarantee that the Internet sites that you hit will be accessible at anywhere near that speed from your location. Here's where local information trumps, and my above concerns about router performance may be moot.

The standard way of connecting a router is as you wrote, and this would be the recommended way -- the built-in firewall will keep others out of your local network (provided that you secure the wireless with at least WPA (and a long randomized password)).

Once you have the basic network set up, you can set up data sharing between your computers. You'd just have to make some security changes to set up the sharing. There are some guides available for doing that.

 

[BathroomFeeling]

Awesome, appreciate the help thanks! I'll look at which routers are available locally and see how it goes .