Originally posted by: dfnkt
Ok we can start with the basics:
You need to look at what you have; here are some questions:
A.) Do I have Laptops or PC's or both? (the answer is both....3 desktops and a laptop for work which I forgot about)
1.) If you have laptops see if they are new enough to have 802.11b/g support built in.
2.) If you have PC's do you want to use wireless for all of them? (I would imagine at least 3 of the 4 would be wireless)
3.) Pick which hardware you want for the PCs (Internal PCI Cards or USB Adaptors) is there any difference in terms of price or performance?
B.) What speed do I want my Network to be?
1.) 2 Most common standards are 802.11B and 802.11G
2.) Draft-N Is a newcomer that looks very promising (802.11N)
802.11B is the slower than both 802.11A and 802.11G but it does have better range than 802.11A. 802.11G is the most common right now because its faster than B with the same range. 802.11A is more rare, its the same speed as 802.11G but has terrible range. Draft-N is looking to be much faster than G or at its worst, the same speed at extended ranges.
Sounds like I want 802.11G. My D620 has an Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (Tri-mode 802.11a/b/g)
You will see alot of talk about products like Speedbooster (Linksys). This is said to speed up your throughput by as much as 35-40% but ONLY if you are using 2 products with speedboster i.e.- A speedbooster router and a speedbooster laptop PCMCIA card. Another term you will see is MIMO which is basically "Multi in, Multi Out"
As far as prices go, they can vary a lot depending on brand and your total cost is going to be dependant upon how many devices you want to run off this network. Good brands IMO are Linksys, D-Link. I havn't used very many products from netgear or belkin so I don't want to speculate on them but I have heard Buffalo also has some nice stuff.
To get started, your going to want the wireless router this could run you anywhere between $40 and $175 depending on features and the brand. Next for your desktops decide if you want USB adapters (what I use) or the cards you actually have to install into the PCI slot of the computer, these will run anywhere between $40 and $60 a piece, you need as many of these as you want PCs connected wirelessly. Next your going to need a PCMCIA card for any laptops you have, these run anywhere from $30 to $60.
So, I already have a card for the laptop. I will most likely have at least one dekstop connected directly. So I will probably need a wireless router and two wireless USB adapters/pci cards? My company may actually give me a wireless router that is configured with specific security settings.
So lets say you want to setup your network with the Wireless router and you choose lets just say you choose the D-Link DGL-4300 series wireless router ($125) and you want to hook 2 computers wirelessly to it, you could pickup 2 D-Link DWL-G120 USB Adapters ($25). Then you just need to hook everything together.
So let me get this straight...I can get two of these USB adapters for $25 a piece? Froogle comfirms that. And then all I need is a wireless router?
It shouldn't matter whether you go with DSL or Cable, you could talk to some people you know and see what they have and if they like it. Where I'm at, the cable is terrible but I have ATT DSL and I havn't had any problems at all.
As far as deals, just watch the clearance deals at your B&M stores, I picked up a $80 switch the other day for $25.
Sorry for the long post, I sure hope it helps you out, feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I have a wireless network setup here, and I put one up for my mom at her house.
