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Wireless Cable/Routers.. Any good?

N

need4spd

Golden Member
Hey all.. Just trying to get my new AT&T Cable Internet to another room in my house. The problem is that my cable modem is in my office on 1st floor and i really would like to get access in my upstairs bedroom...with my Laptop.

I thought about running cat-5 .. but that seems like impossible for me to do (limited understanding of how to run wire through walls and ceiling of house)

So I see these fairly expensive Cable routers by Linksys etc and thought WTF maybe I should bite the bullet and give one of these a try.

QUESTION: do these wireless systems work any good? we're talking about sending the signal about 35-40 feet ...

 
They work just fine but, in addition to the added cost, they are slower and less secure then hardwiring. Now, the speed isn't really an issue if all you're doing is sharing a net connection since it's still well above any broadband that's available. But, the security is a concern.

Russ, NCNE
 
Well, 30 - 40 feet should be cake for any current setup for a wireless AP, provided you don't have a cement floor between your first floor and second. Don't laugh, you never know. Generally though the only thing that will limit the AP is solid objects between the AP and the node. The harder the object, or the more objects, then the lower your signal strength will be. Only you know!!!! Enjoy though, I don't forsee any problems.
 
Well, 30 - 40 feet should be cake for any current setup for a wireless AP, provided you don't have a cement floor between your first floor and second. Don't laugh, you never know. Generally though the only thing that will limit the AP is solid objects between the AP and the node. The harder the object, or the more objects, then the lower your signal strength will be. Only you know!!!! Enjoy though, I don't forsee any problems.

Ok this is good news... the floor is wood and I don't think there is any cement 🙂 ... so now I need to figure out what the best deal is out there for a Wireless cable/router and laptop card.

Any other comments..

TIA
Steve
 
If you want the best setup, IMO, go with the SMC wireless router (they only make 1 currently, don't remember the model number) and use an Orinoco Gold Card for the laptop. Enjoy!
 
Thanks guys.. Nice to receive such solid recommendations for this equipment...
SMC router and the Orinoco Gold PCMCIA card.

Sounds like a good combo... Not bad $250 or so.

Also, I read that the SMC has a built-in print server....does this mean the others (like Linksys) will not allow me to print from the remote laptop.



 


<< does this mean the others (like Linksys) will not allow me to print from the remote laptop. >>



Having a built-in print server just means that the printer can be plugged directly in to the router, rather then a computer system. You can still print to the laptop with any setup simply by mapping to the system that has the printer attached.

Russ, NCNE





 
At the risk of repeating myself, my SMC AWBR7004 wireless router, with print server, and my SMC 2632W wireless card pcmcia work very well in my house. Cinderblock degrades the signal significantly but I can access the router in the basement from the second floor. Setup is fairly straightforward and the documentation is very good.

Good luck.
 
cipher00: I have that same router sitting here next to me and I am still trying to decide what to do about wireless adapters, since I can't afford 3 Orinoco Gold USB adapters (nor the silver) for my 3 desktop computers. Have you had any experiences with the SMC USB wireless adapter? My router will be in the garage and the farthest computer will be on the second floor. With a direct path from where the adapter will be, there are no walls in the way, just the floor and it is about a 25 foot straight shot through the floor. Suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Have you had any experiences with the SMC USB wireless adapter?

Alas, no. I've only used the 2632W wireless cards for my notebooks. However, my experience with them has been very good. (Note: I tried installing XP Pro on my notebook and got horribly fouled up. The driver for the 2632W was the latest SMC had on their website and would *not* work with XP. XP helpfully tried to search the MSFT website for the correct driver, but since it was the wireless driver I hit an obvious Catch 22. No problems with 2k Pro.)

In my layout, 25' through 2 floors but no concrete or cinderblock works just fine. That is, I've hooked up the router in the basement in one end of the house (I know, I know) and can pick up a signal on the second floor on the other end of the house. That's maybe 50' as the ghost travels. I'm down to 2 Mbit max, but since I usually am just surfing that's not a problem.
 
hi there,

you've probably received quite a few responses already, but just wanted to let you know I've just set up something similar to this in a neighbor's house; He has his main workstation in his den/office, and he wanted (needed!) 🙂 another PC for his kids to work on. I got him the Linksys 4 port switch + router + Wireless AP from Fry's. He connects his main workstation via the Linksys switch, which is uplinked to the cable modem. I set up his kids' new PC with a Linksys USB 802.11b adapter, which comes with a nifty little velcro attachment so you can stick it out of the way [behind a cabinet, in this case]. Basically right above his den, signal strength is 85-95%. Make sure you understand the security risks with 802.11b, you may hear a lot about WEP (in)security, but it's better than nothing. Make sure to enable the strongest key algorithm possible [128-bit is currently best of breed in consumer gear] to keep random passer-bys from attaching to your network! Hope this helps.
 
OK, sounds good. I would only have to go through one floor (no concrete, obviously) and half that distance, so I hope to be able to get an 11Mbps connection to the router on that far computer (the other two are much closer to the router).

I'll check prices on the SMC USB adapter. I wanted to get the Orinoco Gold or Silver USB, but they are too expensive for me to get 3 right now for my desktops so I'm trying to find the next best thing...

Thanks
 
absolutely. just plug the uplink port on the last tiered router [wireless one?] into a regular port on the first router. then leave everything else as it is, with the uplink on your first router being connected to the cable modem / dsl connection or whatever.
 
<<so I hope to be able to get an 11Mbps connection to the router on that far computer (the other two are much closer to the router).>>

Double post?

Hope may be the operative word here. 🙁

I've placed my SMC wireless NIC directly across from the Barricade (line of sight, 18 inches) and not been able to get 11 Mbps. From other threads I've read here, very few if any have been able to get 11 Mbps with any of their (entry-level) equipment. The best I've gotten is 6, and if I have to go through a floor it's 2, which is ok for surfing and perhaps all but the most disk-intensive file swapping.
 
cipher: Just to be clear, I am not talking about actual tranfer speed, I was just talking about the connection which the NIC says it has (11, 5, 2, 1Mbps). Is that what you are talking about, or are you saying that you actually get those speeds when you clock it?

Thanks! 🙂
 
Not clocked, but reported by the configuration utility that comes with the wireless NIC. Oh, sure, it starts out reporting a jolly ol' 11 Mbps, but hit 'Rescan' and watch it drop to 2.

I haven't gotten around to checking transfer speeds under a variety of conditions (yet) since mostly the LAN is there for surfing from whatever/wherever, and even 2 Mbps is fine. My next dragon is the new Comcast changeover, but after that I may check a bit. What few transfers I have done feel like 2-5 Mbps, though I recognize that 'feel' isn't very scientific.
 
I'd take 2-5Mbps over the current 200kbps _max_ that I get with this buggy HomeRF setup! 2-5mbps would be plenty for using the DSL and streaming MP3's and playing LAN games.. practically all simultaniously 🙂
 
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