What's a good wireless network setup?

[Ben50]

I am looking into setting up a wireless network for my home. I have not really heard much about the new 802.11b networking equipment, which ones are good and are reasonably priced? I have 2 desktops that I will want to hook up and I want to leave room for adding a laptop in the future. Also, it needs to have a router/firewall built in so I can share DSL when the phone company in our area finally figures out how to do it. (Its been six months since DSL was supposed to be ready but they say they are still working on it.)

 

[HansXP]

IMHO, Lucent's WaveLAN/ORiNOCO is the best. I currently have a desktop, a laptop, and a Pocket PC using their wireless cards, all connecting to a Lucent Residential Gateway, which connects to my cable modem. They don't come with a built-in firewall, but everything else you need is there.

 

[Shadow07]

The ORiNOCO system is probably the best you will find. But, it is not owned byt Lucent anymore. The Semi-Conductor section of Lucent split and became Agere Systems, then was bought buy Pinacor. The wait time for all ORiNOCO products is not until July 2.

I would look at either the Cisco AeroNet 340. Cisco is blowing those out at unbelieveable prices on both the AP and the NICs. I believe you can get the AP for about $550.

You can look at the NetGear or Enterasys/Cabletron system. The Enterasys/Cabletron is better than the Netgear.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

 

[spidey07]

yeah, we tested some of the linksys, d-link, netgear stuff. boy did it blow.

lucent or cisco works very well

Just got done with an IP multicast video (cnn live and company training material) to stream to a wireless card (cisco 350) in a compaq Ipaq. talk about cool.

 

[Eug]

spidey07, which models did you test? I've read some terrible reviews about the Linksys stuff, but most of the reviews of the d-link indicated that it was adequate for vast majority of home users (while the linksys wasn't). Interestingly, the only review of the Netgear I've been able to find actually showed a better result (with and without WEP active) than the Orinoco (Silver).

Anyways, based on the reviews of the Netgear access point and wireless card I bought them both and they work well for me. Here are my impressions.

One thing to note about the Netgear though is that it only functions as a bridge.

 

[spidey07]

i can't remember the model numbers of the d-link stuff.

only that it had a VERY hard time keeping reception above 5 megabits unless you were standing right next to it. any kind of obstruction would hinder performance.

 

[Shadow07]

You know. The Buffalo wireless gear is supposed to be the hotest selling manufacturer on the market. We tested out the AP with the PCMCIA cards, and THEY SUCKED!!! We also tested out the ORiNOCO Enterprise version (AP-1000), Enterasys, SMC, and the Symbol products. The ORiNOCO came out on top with the overall performance. Ther Enterasys was a close second.

 

[Eug]

spidey, the reason I ask is because you mentioned Netgear. Their wireless stuff only very recently appeared on the scene (April, 2001).

 

[ktwebb]

Poster, you mentioned router/firewall as a requirement. While the Cisco 340/350 usually edges out the competition in raw throughput, neither has those capabilities and even the 342 series (Which is on the way out) is too expensive to justify buying one for the home unless you just have to have it and have the means. Orinco has pretty nice equipment, but for the money and feature set, I like SMC. Router, built in printserver, decent RF power output with pretty good penetration. Nice device for the home.

 

[Ben50]

What are the prices on these wireless setups? Some of the ones mentioned sound really expensive, I was hoping to do this for about $500 or less if I can. Its only for my home so I don't want to spend a fortune on it.

 

[Eug]

List your equipment including PCs, network equip, etc.

 

[WoundedWallet]

Anybody knows anything about the SMC(SMC7004AWBR) wireless router? If it works it seems pretty nifty.

 

[xyyz]

Go with Cisco... but instead of the 340 series... get the 350 series... they are newer (obviously) and they have some new features... also, they are priced less than the 340 series units.

 

[jus10]

I have been using a dlink DI-713P wireless router and it has been very stable and works great with my laptop and PC hooked into it...also has a built in print server.

 

[Salvador]

Man.. I'd like to go wireless. The cheapest setup that I can find with all the MIR is about $400 USD to wireless network two computers together.
This is for the bad stuff according to this thread.

I think I will stick to be wired for now.

Sal

 

[Shadow07]

The Cisco AeroNet 350 is not cheaper than the 340 series. If you want the best, go with the Cisco 350 or the ORiNOCO AP1000E Access Points. But, a word of caution. The ORiNOCO series is on back order due to the Semi-Conductors section of Lucent broke off and create Agere systems, but they were baught by Pro-something. There is about a 4-6 week wait for the ORiNOCO systems.

 

[ktwebb]

"350's are priced less than the 340 series units"

Would be really great if that were true, however sadly, it is not.

BTW. It's spelled Aironet and actually, Aironet does not exist anymore. Hasn't for over a year. It's just the Cisco 340/350 AP/Bridge Series.

 

[Hoober]

WoundedWallet --

I've got the SMC wireless 4-port. Love it. The built in print server is great, and I've never had a problem with the unit at all. Sometimes it takes it a few minutes to pick up an IP and the ISP gateway when you change the settings, but other than that its great.

 

[Moshster]

Beware that the Cisco 340 series AP's have a MUCH lower power output then the 350 series, Cisco did this for reasons obvious to some.
It all depends on what you are going to use it for. Cisco, Lucent and Symbol are Enterprise solutions where as most of the others are not.
I am partial to the Symbol products, they sign my check.

Bert

 

[nexus9]

Has anyone gotten wireless gear to work under linux? I'd love to get my hands on some the the netgear stuff (price seems great!).

-Nexus

 

[WoundedWallet]

Thanks Hoober, but how about the distance versus obstacles performance?

And when you mention 'pick up an IP', is it for PPoE or the internal IPs?

 

[Eug]

<< ...how about the distance versus obstacles performance? >>

Dunno about the SMC, but here is impression of the Netgear. In a nutshell, it does very well through several wood floors or several layers of drywall (with some metal), but it does poorly after several brick walls.

 

[tom3]

To bump an interesting thread and add my own question:

Would wireless NIC's made by any manufacture work with a SMC wireless router? And why is it that most PCI adapters I see have this slot for a PCMCIA card and requires one to operate? Doesn't anyone make any &quot;pure&quot; PCI wireless NIC's?

 

[Eug]

 

[Eug]

Ack!