(e-mail address removed) (Jeff Lanfield) wrote in
1) What do I need to look for in a router to cover the whole
house? Where should it be located?
I assuming you are looking for a combined router / switch / wireless
access point. Most of the major consumer brands (D-Link, Netgear,
Linksys, Belkin, USR, 3Com, SMC etc) are similar in specification and
performance.
To get the best wireless coverage and the best security, a wireless
router should be in the centre of the property. However, this may not
be convenient - it depends on where your phone line or cable
connection terminates, where you have extension wiring, or if for
example you want to connect (say) several PCs close to each other
with wired connections.
I have a large old house (v. thoick walls!) with 5 rooms on each
floor. I get excellent coverage throughout the house and 30m away
from a wireless router at the front of the property.
You will only need more than one device if there is a weak or low
quality signal at a point where you want to place a computer.
You can fill in gaps in coverage with a repeater, or with an
additional access point wired to your router. Or - cheaper - fit
higher gain antennae (say 5dBi to replace the stock 2dBi gain
antennae) on the router and/or wireless cards in PCs.
Suggest that you don't but all your kit at once: buy the router +
modem (as required) and use a wireless laptop to undertake a site
survey. Walk round the house and check the signal levels, using
either the utility which comes with the laptop card or a copy of
NetStumbler (which will work with most cards under WinXP).
3) What are the general characteristics a wireless newbie (but an
otherwise very techinically astute geek) should look for?
As I said, most of the consumer brands are similar. Suggest you go by
personal recommendation and reports of service quality from the
manufacturer. A good place to start (you're in the US?) is likely
the forums at <
http://www.dslreports.com/>. I'm in the UK; the best
place there is <
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/>.
Each brand has a mix of happy and unhappy users; remember that people
who post to such forums usually have problems while the (larger
number of) happy users stay silent - it's easy to get a distorted
view...
4) I would like to make the setup secure but I keep reading
everywhere that it's an enourmous hassle. Is that true or is it
only a hassle for non-technical people?
No, it's straightforward. If your router and cards support WPA, use
it. If they support WEP, use that instead. WPA is considerably more
secure than WEP, but any form of encryption will deter all but the
most determined and technically knowledgeable.
There may be debate, but techniques such as disabling SSID broadcast
are bogus forms of security. Similarly MAC access control will
provide little or no security. Encryption is the best form of
wireless security - others are readily overcome.
Hope this helps
PS: For what it's worth I have an fairly extensive network which
supports two home-based businesses and family use. I use D-Link
equipment and am satisfied with its price and performance. I have had
little or no problem in over a year of wireless use, and I have
multiple PCs, laptops, servers, print servers, an iMac and a PS2
ganes console.
--
Richard Perkin
To email me, change the AT in the address below
richard.perkinATmyrealbox.com
It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it
is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's.
It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News
