Cable modem and wireless router

[PaulMP3]

i have a linksys wireless router.

I have it hooked to my pc on the 3rd floor and our laptop can be used anywhere in the house or even outside. ( i use this often when im in my car downloading new maps for my piggyback) My house was built in the 20's so it is lots of plaster,block, and brick.

I have DSL not cable.

 

[zcast]

the 36.00 netgear laptop card in your list there is ONLY 802.11b....i know it says its 802.11g compatible, but its not. that is why its so much cheaper than the other netgear one, which is actually more than you really need b/c it supports ALL standards 802.11 a,b,g (for traveling though...its great!)

the PCI card from Cisco is 802.3, which is weird, but it looks like its backwards compatible. Anyway, not worth it. Cisco markets to businesses, so stick with the comsumer line. Of those, I favor the Netgear, but not the USB one....it won't make the distance u need.

Router = SWEET! It's the newest of the new....but just remember, if you want the superspeed that this router offers (802.11g) then you need ALL your devices to have hardware that supports 802.11g. REMEMBER, unless you're getting a T1 LINE, you will NO WAY experience 108Mbs or even 54Mbs online! The faster speeds are for home network beneifts and businesses. I see the benefit when I transfer LARGE files from my desktop (wired to the router 100Mbs) to my laptop with the 802.11g card.


Cable Modem.....FINE! I wasn't aware you were buying one, I thought you were supplied one from your cable company. But if you are buying one, the netgear is fine. Pretty much all cable modems are the same. Some offer built-in firewalls (NOT RECOMMENDED!), others are wireless capable (i wouldnt go this route either). Just make sure it is compatible with your cable network.


Suggestions....look harder and you might find other options....here is what i found you might like:

Netgear 802.11b/g 108 Mbs PCMCIA card

and

Netgear 802.11 b/g 54Mbs PCMCIA Card (This is the one I have!)


Check em' out.


zcast

 

[1sty]

I think the cable company charges a few bucks per month for th emodem so I will jhust get my own. Also most all the devices seemed to be the g standard but I kind of want to get all g so they aren't obsolete in a few years. However that is probably unlikely.

Yep cable access, it only cost $19.95/month so I am all for it after this dial up BS. The HD TV with the package will be cool too. Now I just need a better TV

So netgear and linksys are good products?

If the cable modem comes with a built in firewall can it usualy be disabled?

Aslo how do I secure this network, although so long as people can't get me in trouble legaly I don't care if they use it too

 

[zcast]

well its pretty straight-forward in the manual. Eventually, all you need to do is enable encryption on your router. Basically, you type in a word and the encryption breaks that up into a 18 or so character code. You input that code into the software that controls your wireless cards and you're done. so that way, your router will only accept signals from the code you assigned it, and since you input the encrytion code on all your wireless cards, they will connect to it. You can still connect to anyone else's non-secure wireless networks too. Also, then you can enable your firewall as well. Firewall protects FROM the internet, Wireless Encryption protects TO the internet and home network.


Trust me....wait till u get the stuff and read it, and if u have ?'s, let us know.

BTW, setup your wireless Cards BEFORE the router!

zcast

 

[1sty]

WOuld getting all g level equipment be a good idea to handle the added security options that need bandwidth or am I way of coarse here?

 

[Rotus]

I've set up 2 customers with wireless and was thouroughly uninpressed with the results. One house had all the computers on one floor, so you would think that it would be ok. Nope, the furthest computer only gets about 33% of the signal. That's enough, though. The other house had the router on the first floor and we could not get much of a signal on the second floor. I think it was all the wireing and a/c ductwork.

My recommendation is that you do a wired network. I know that's tough in a 4 story house, but you can do things like run it in the a/c ductwork to help you out.

If it has to be wireless, you are definately gonna have to use signal extanders or repeaters to get that signal up to the fourth floor.

Try with one wireless router first and see if you can get a signal on the 4th floor. If not use the signal extender.
You can also try a wired/wireless hybrid if you can get signal from 2 floors up, hard wire the cablemodem in the basement to the wireless router and put that thing on your second floor. remember, you don't have to have that thing visible, you can put it in a crawl space or closet with thw wire coming from anywhere. It just needs juice.

As far as what wireless spec to get, get the cheapest. 802.11b 11Mbs. Your cablemodem is only gonna give you 1.5Mbs transfer, so anything more is overkill for internet usage only.

Hope this helped.

 

[zcast]

getting all G stuff wont give you added security. It all about keeping the home network speed up. Honestly, unless you plan on sending HUGE files on a regular basis back and forth from dektop to laptop, then G is kinda overkill. You are already going to go balls out once you get into the High Speed Access, you may not even see a difference between G and B. Honestly, I would keep the router as G and maybe the PCMCIA card. or...u could save some money and go with their special. But remember 802.11g at 54Mbs is fine, why spend the $$ on 802.11g at 108Mbs?

 

[toucci]

the actual thoroughput of wireless networks is pretty dissapointing. you'll get maybe 2 megabytes per second over the G network. But remember to enable WEP, or else people can drive around and connect to your network and have some fun, like me for example. (It's called wardriving and is very fun) (laugh)

 

[DooMer_MP3]

Try to think of a way to get the cablemodem/wireless router upstairs. The higher the router/WAP, the better.

Chris

 

[1sty]

I have several clients that buisnesses all run them and for my work I need to constantly deal with the IT guys.

I guess I need to ask them some advice to. After all they are responsible for keeping a building of hundreds of employees all connected wirelessly. The one building I have used it in I can go anywhere in and still have connectivity. Thats a totaly cisco equip building.

 

[Rotus]

the actual thoroughput of wireless networks is pretty dissapointing. you'll get maybe 2 megabytes per second over the G network. But remember to enable WEP, or else people can drive around and connect to your network and have some fun, like me for example. (It's called wardriving and is very fun) (laugh)

2MBs is 16Mbs, still way way faster than 1.5Mbs

 

[MinnowGT]

If you are buying a cablemodem. I have a motorola surfboard
SB4100 cablemodem which has the usb & rj-45 connectors.

I'll sell it for $20+shipping. Don't need it anymore since I
went with DSL. I hate the cable company so I'm now with
the Dish Network & Yahoo DSL. Nobody's upgraded to
the New Docsis 2.0 standards so this is as good as the
netgear one.

[edit] although, you should check out the best buy or circuit
city and see if they have the free cablemodem deal. You just
have to sign up for a year of cable internet service and you
get the new models free.

Also, if you get that netgear G router then get all G stuff.
There was a performance test done on CNET which shows
that mixing 802.11b & 802.11g on the same wireless network
degraded performance.

 

[1sty]

I picked up a Netgear WGT624 wireless router and a Netgear WG311. Any thoughts on these? Both are 802.11g

 

[zcast]

those are both great products.

 

[nitelite]

the linksys wireless routers are pretty good too.

 

[tonkabui]

if your house is that big, you might need a bridge. it's just a signal repeater. and like linux said... it's recommended you turn on at least 64 bit WEP protection. otherwise, someone in your complex might be able to get wireless cable internet for free. my friends in san francisco bought a bridge and now all 3 of them have wireless internet. hee hee... except no one knows where or who the signal is coming from!