Wireless Home Networking....

[Gametime69]

Hello all,
I have a laptop computer with Windows XP home edition and 2 other computers with windows 98 (with installed patches), my question is which wireless system would work the best for me. My home is a 2 story and 1 of the computers will be upstairs and 1 downstairs, the laptop will be roaming of course. Price for me is only minor but it can not be excessive (600.00 or more) I would like the flexability of cable/dsl and dial up connection. The only computer machine with a network card right now is the laptop (Dell I8100) and I understand that it will require a wireless card. Any help with this matter is greatly appreciated.

 

[JackMDS]

Wireless LAN consists on two main components.

1. Access Point (A/P).

Access Point is the Main Transmitter/Receiver that mediate between your LAN, and main computer, to the rest of the Network. It is connected to the LAN?s Hub/Switch. It usually supports an excess of 100 clients.

2 . Wireless Client Card.

Wireless Client Card is the LAN card that you should install on your network computers.

Most Client cards are PCMCIA, which work very well with Laptops. For Desktop, it is usually better to use USB Wireless Card. Most PCMCIA Wireless Cards with fixed antenna (stuck behind the PC) yield inferior results versus the Flexible Antenna on a USB card.

If you don?t have an established Network with a Router, and a Switch. You need to buy Wireless Cable/DSL Router instead of the A/P.

A typical Cable/DSL Wireless Router, is a Combo unit, it is comprised of one A/P, three RJ45 connection (for three stationary computers), and one WAN connection for Internet sharing.

Conventional Wisdom* claims that the combination Orinoco Gold (About $90) SMC Wireless Router (About $150) yield the best results.

This link:
ORiNOCO PC Card - Gold.

There are no real big differences between the entry level Routers.

As can be seen in this link:

Wireless Routers Compared

========================================================
When it comes to Wireless your mileage may varied, there are too many environmental variables that are unique to each individual setting.
========================================================

 

[Dunbar]

I just setup my laptop with a SMC WAP (2652W) and card (2632W) and it works great. I had a 3COM card that didn't work with the SMC WAP. I have the access point on the 3rd floor and I can go to the opposite end of the house on the 1st floor and throughput only drops about 20%. This is fine as I only use it for web surfing, a little less download speed is a good trade for complete mobility.

 

[littleprince]

I use an SMC barricade wireless router.
I think it would also be a gd choice for you, because it has the wireless component, and still maintains 3 standard ports for wired networking. Many ppl regard this as the best price/performance home router. It has a few security features over the linksys.

For your laptop, I'd go with the Orinoco gold. Mine connects with a good signal throughout my condo, and I also use it to connect to the wireless network at school.
The linksys, and smc wireless pc cards I've read are not that good.

 

[PlatinumGold]

ya, i have a linksys wap w/ linksys cards. only thing to remember is it's best to get all one brand. whatever brand of wap you get, get the same brand cards. so i think you should purchase based on availability. there isn't that much of a performance difference amongst them.

one final word, if you don't have a hup or a cable/dsl router of some kind then get the wap that has a router and hub built in. the linksys i got didn't have that, but no matter i had a netgear router. if i had to do it over again, i'd probably get the wap that had a router built in, that way i could use my netgear elsewhere or sell it.

good luck.

 

[need4spd]

You can't go wrong with the SMC7004AWBR (Access Point / Cable Router) ... I use one in my 2 story home and it works great. I have the main PC on one side of the house connected to the SMC router (with a Linksys Cable Modem connected to router too)... then I have my 2nd (wireless desktop) about 55 ft away on the other side of house.. I use the Orinoco Gold USB client adapter with no troubles... very strong signal!

Upstairs I have my laptop with a Orinoco Silver PCMCIA adapter... again it works great !

Total cost about $350 for the SMC and 2 client adapters.

The SMC is available at CompUSA for under $200 and sometimes you can find them on sale for about $150.

Good luck!

 

[manly]

The advice to stick with one brand is just plain wrong.

As already stated very well by JackMDS, the best price/performance combo is the SMC wireless Barricade unit w/ the Orinoco Gold cards. 802.11b (aka WiFi) is a standard, folks.

Or should I buy two crap Linksys devices instead?

 

[JTKGY]

I have D-Link DI-713p with Orinoco USB Client...

I'm using the client to connect with the router at my brother's house.. (around 30ft away).. but the signal is
not so great... (sits at marginal, most of time)...

Does anyone know if I could boost the signal on my router or client??
thank you,

 

[ktwebb]

If your router/AP had detachable antennas, probably reverse TNC connectors, then yeah, its pretty easy to upgrade your coverage with aftermarket antennas. Just have to buy the antenna(s).


Here's a decent place to start. Depends on what you want but the 8dBi omni if you want 360 degree coverage would work well, or either of the 8 dBi patches if you wanted a more contained radiation pattern. Make sure what type connectors you have. Should be R-TNC female but I am not sure, haven't played with any D-Link Wi-Fi hardware.

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/antennas_2400.html

 

[cipher00]

FWIW, I've got an SMC 7004AWBR wireless Barricade; it works quite well. I also bought the SMC wireless cards (2632W) which also perform well, though I yield to the experts on this forum that the Orinoco cards are superior, and that given that I've not worked with the Orinocos.

The Barricade is in my basement in a corner (I know, I know) but I have no problem with my laptops connecting all over the house (2 storey) as well as a limited distance outside.

The customer support from SMC is, imo, nonexistent, but the manuals and other documentation are excellent. That, coupled with the folks on this forum, made the choice easy for me. YMMV.

 

[need4spd]

fwiw, before I settled on the SMC/Oricoco set-up.... I did evalualte a 100% Linksys system (Wireless AP+Cable router and a Linksys USB adapter) and this set-up worked very well in my house too.

Although after testing and taking some notes...I believe the SMC/Orinoco was slightly better... but not a huge difference. The SMC i got has a built-in print server which was a nice bonus for me.

I believe the biggest performance differences are in the client adapter cards (usb or pcmcia)... not the Access points.. so make sure you invest in decent adapter cards.. like the Orinoco gold which everyone here seems to agree on is the best for the $$..

 

[Zaphs]

Who sells orinoco Cards?

**update**

Found it at CDW

 

[SaigonK]

I love my Cisco setup, a few Cisco 340 cards and an Aironet ap4800 series wireless AP.
Very nice and easy to setup, I have a Cisco 350 setup at work that i have been playing with and it is nice too, good signal strength even without the rabbit ears.
We are picking up a Nortel solution with a Contivity VPN box to go with it for remote wirelss and Vlan setups, getting curious as to how it will be!