help: connecting wireless router using wireless lan card.

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Hello

I'm trying to connect my wireless dsl router to my computer using a
wireless card. Currently I have only 384kbps speed as the Westel-
327w is connected to my regular lan card.
I also have a 11b wireless card and I tried to connect to the gateway
using it and removed the rj45 connector from router to my regular lan
card, and, it works, but way too slowly.
I am thinking of purchasing a 11g wireless card and try to connec it
to the router. The main question is this: Will 11g card improve the
speed and up to how much? is 54Mbps greater or less than 384kbps?
I have read before, 54Mbps is not truly 54Mbps, and the speed is only
1/2 of it due to some kind of synchro and verification process.

And, if you should suggest that 11g wireless card is going to work
well, which brand of card should I get.?

Thanks for your input.

Peter.

ps. the jack and my computer is about 20 feet away, across the room.
 
Hello

I'm trying to connect my wireless dsl router to my computer using a
wireless card. Currently I have only 384kbps speed as the Westel-
327w is connected to my regular lan card.
Click to expand...

What do you mean, "only"?
A wireless card won't make your 384kbps connection any
faster, if anything the latency of the wifi will make it
even slightly slower. It is a downgrade to use wireless
over wired, except for that bit about portability and not
needing wires.

I also have a 11b wireless card and I tried to connect to the gateway
using it and removed the rj45 connector from router to my regular lan
card, and, it works, but way too slowly.
Click to expand...

Too slowly for what?
11b is 11Mbps, much faster than 384kbps. If the signal
strength is too low then perhaps you have to take care of
that by moving the antenna around and/or the base station.
I am thinking of purchasing a 11g wireless card and try to connec it
to the router. The main question is this: Will 11g card improve the
speed and up to how much? is 54Mbps greater or less than 384kbps?
Click to expand...

The fastest thing is the wired connection you already have.
It is MUCH faster, but even so, anything you've mentioned is
still much faster than the 384kbps internet connection. The
additional speed would only be of benefit for filesharing on
a (local) network of your other PCs.
I have read before, 54Mbps is not truly 54Mbps, and the speed is only
1/2 of it due to some kind of synchro and verification process.
Click to expand...

True, you'll never get full 54Mbps throughput, but it is
significantly faster than 11b. Even so, it won't make your
internet connection any faster.
And, if you should suggest that 11g wireless card is going to work
well, which brand of card should I get.?
Click to expand...

Anything that comes with an external antenna on a cord, so
you can place the antenna in an optimal location instead of
at the back of a large metal barrier (PC case).

ps. the jack and my computer is about 20 feet away, across the room.
Click to expand...

In the same room I suggest using the wired connection, it's
far more reliable in adverse conditions, always lower
latency, and lets you reuse the wireless card somewhere else
where you need it more.
 
What do you mean, "only"?
Click to expand...
I got a relative who's dsl goes at 1.5Mbps. She lives near her
Telephone company's Central Office.
A wireless card won't make your 384kbps connection any
faster, of course.
if anything the latency of the wifi will make it
even slightly slower. It is a downgrade to use wireless
over wired, except for that bit about portability and not
needing wires.



Too slowly for what?
Click to expand...
the web pages load way way slowly, as if I was on a 9600 baud rate.
11b is 11Mbps, much faster than 384kbps. If the signal
strength is too low then perhaps you have to take care of
that by moving the antenna around and/or the base station.
Click to expand...
I had the dsl modem/router behind my computer, the antennas were about
less than 6" of each other.
The fastest thing is the wired connection you already have.
It is MUCH faster, but even so, anything you've mentioned is
still much faster than the 384kbps internet connection. The
additional speed would only be of benefit for filesharing on
a (local) network of your other PCs.


True, you'll never get full 54Mbps throughput, but it is
significantly faster than 11b. Even so, it won't make your
internet connection any faster.


Anything that comes with an external antenna on a cord, so
you can place the antenna in an optimal location instead of
at the back of a large metal barrier (PC case).



In the same room I suggest using the wired connection, it's
far more reliable in adverse conditions, always lower
latency, and lets you reuse the wireless card somewhere else
where you need it more.
Click to expand...
Currently I only have 1 working computer. The other one is not
working. I haven't had the need to fix the other one.
 
I got a relative who's dsl goes at 1.5Mbps. She lives near her
Telephone company's Central Office.
the web pages load way way slowly, as if I was on a 9600 baud rate.
Click to expand...

See if the wifi card's installation CD has a utility to
check signal strength, or if it's available for download
from manufacturer.

Currently I only have 1 working computer. The other one is not
working. I haven't had the need to fix the other one.
Click to expand...


Since the system isn't too far from the connection you'd be
best off with it hard-wired instead of wireless. A typical
100Mb wired connection is more than twice as fast as a great
54Mb wireless... but again it shouldn't matter IF the
wireless is working properly since even the 11b/11Mbps is
more than 10X faster realized throughput than the 384kbps
internet connection, but wireless has more security issues,
is more susceptible to cordless phones, microwave ovens,
antenna placement, etc.
 
Hello

I'm trying to connect my wireless dsl router to my computer using a
wireless card. Currently I have only 384kbps speed as the Westel-
327w is connected to my regular lan card.
Click to expand...

Is this correct:

phone
I also have a 11b wireless card and I tried to connect to the gateway
Click to expand...

What gateway? (gateway and router are not the same)
using it and removed the rj45 connector from router to my regular lan
card, and, it works, but way too slowly.
Click to expand...

Do you mean that the wireless connection is slower than the wired
connection you used before? The reason I ask is that if it is, then you
have some kind of problem with the wireless connection. Since both wired
LAN and 11b wireless are much faster than 384kbps, you should see about
the same performance as you did before. Your 384kbps connection is the
limiting factor.
I am thinking of purchasing a 11g wireless card and try to connec it
to the router. The main question is this: Will 11g card improve the
speed and up to how much?
Click to expand...

Until you understand why the 11b connection is not working well it would
be unwise to purchase 11g hardware. The same issue may come up again.
Also, the 11b hardware should provide all the performance that a 384Kpbs
connection needs. In other words, The 11b connection should work as well
as your wired connection did assuming your feeding your home network
through a 384Kbps connection the the WAN(internet). Finally, an 11g
wireles setup won't provide any more performance than the 11b setup would
because the 384Kbps connection will limit the performance of your home
network. The 384Kbps is limiting your performance and it will limit both
the 11b and 11g hardware. You don't need new hardware. You need to figure
out why the 11b is not working better.
is 54Mbps greater or less than 384kbps?
Click to expand...

54Mbps is more than 384Kbps

54Mbps = 54 million bits per second
384Kbps = 384 thousand bits per second
I have read before, 54Mbps is not truly 54Mbps, and the speed is only
1/2 of it due to some kind of synchro and verification process.
Click to expand...

There's some overhead but not to the extent that it uses half the
bandwidth.
And, if you should suggest that 11g wireless card is going to work
well, which brand of card should I get.?

Thanks for your input.

Peter.

ps. the jack and my computer is about 20 feet away, across the room.
Click to expand...

At twenty feet away in the same room your wireless connection should be
running essentially at full speed. Concentrate on fixing the 11b
connection.

Did your service provider install the wireless router? Can you
get a service call out of them. Where did you get the router from? Is your
router approved by your service provider?

Do you have any software to configure and monitor the router? You should
have gotten software to install on your PC to monitor and configure the
router. Check signal strength. Your signal strength should be very good
being so close and in the same room. Also, the software or the router may
have been logging errors. If errors have been logged, the error reports
may help determine the problem. If error logging is turned off, you should
turn it on to see if you get anything reported.

At the very least you should be able to access a web page on the router that
shows its status. Check the documentation to determine the IP address to
access the page. For example, if I enter

http://192.168.100.1/main_page.html

into my browers address bar, I will see a web page with all my cable modems
current status and connection information. I've done this on a DSL modem
before so your router may have this feature as well.

Are there sources of interference nearby? For example:

Phones, TV's, microwave ovens or other electronic equipment.

Does your router have switches for setting the transmitter channels? If it
does then try a different channel. You may need to use software on your PC
to do this if switches are not present on your router. Is there a lot of
metal between the router and PC. If there is, try moving some of it out of
the way. Try moving the router and PC closer together temporarily to see
if things improve. If they do improve you may have an interference
problem.

Make sure your router and the wireless card are configured compatibly. Are
DCHP and TCP/IP and the rest setup correctly. Maybe you can use the wired
card setup as a guide for the wireless card. There will be some differences
though.

Another place to ask is the forums at www.dslreports.com.

Is this your router:

http://www.westell.com/content/products/pdf/versalink.pdf

They also make a USB PC wireless adaptor:

http://www.westell.com/content/products/pdf/adapters.pdf

Westell Product page:

http://www.westell.com/pages/products/products.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@186313707
3.1102856333@@@@&BV_EngineID=fadcjiiekdgdbedcfkcfkcfin.0

You shouldn't have to use their adaptor, but I guess you could try it if
purchasing new hardware remains an option.

Found some links at dslreports:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/westell
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,12039703~mode=flat

Good Luck

P.S. Are you sure your wireless connection is going thruough YOUR router? To
test this, try connecting to the internet wirelessly. Once you are connected
to the internet disconnect your router from the phone jack. Did you lose your
connection to the internet? If yes, then your connection IS through your
router. If no, then your connection IS NOT through your router. Maybe your
connecting through your neighbors hardware and your connection is so bad
because your not getting a good signal from your neighbor.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in
Click to expand...
Is this correct:

phone
jack<-->Westel-327w Wireless DSL Router<--wireless link-->PC
Click to expand...

Yes that is what I want to do, but the bandwidth is low if i do that.
I get 384 if I do the wired link between Router and PC
384Kbps


What gateway? (gateway and router are not the same)
Click to expand...

sorry didnt know.
Do you mean that the wireless connection is slower than the wired
connection you used before? The reason I ask is that if it is, then you
have some kind of problem with the wireless connection. Since both wired
LAN and 11b wireless are much faster than 384kbps, you should see about
the same performance as you did before. Your 384kbps connection is the
limiting factor.
Click to expand...
Ok that's what I needed to confirm.
54Mbps is more than 384Kbps

54Mbps = 54 million bits per second
384Kbps = 384 thousand bits per second
Click to expand...

Ok that's what I needed to confirm. Thanks.
At twenty feet away in the same room your wireless connection should be
running essentially at full speed. Concentrate on fixing the 11b
connection.
Click to expand...

Ok. Will need to try that.
Did your service provider install the wireless router? Can you
get a service call out of them. Where did you get the router from? Is your
router approved by your service provider?
Click to expand...

I got it thru a self install kit. Sent by the DSL provider. I'll
check the CD to see if it has any documentations or any diagnosing
pgms.
Do you have any software to configure and monitor the router? You should
have gotten software to install on your PC to monitor and configure the
router. Check signal strength. Your signal strength should be very good
being so close and in the same room. Also, the software or the router may
have been logging errors. If errors have been logged, the error reports
may help determine the problem. If error logging is turned off, you should
turn it on to see if you get anything reported.

At the very least you should be able to access a web page on the router that
shows its status. Check the documentation to determine the IP address to
access the page. For example, if I enter

http://192.168.100.1/main_page.html

into my browers address bar, I will see a web page with all my cable modems
current status and connection information. I've done this on a DSL modem
before so your router may have this feature as well.

Are there sources of interference nearby? For example:

Phones, TV's, microwave ovens or other electronic equipment.

Does your router have switches for setting the transmitter channels? If it
does then try a different channel. You may need to use software on your PC
to do this if switches are not present on your router. Is there a lot of
metal between the router and PC. If there is, try moving some of it out of
the way. Try moving the router and PC closer together temporarily to see
if things improve. If they do improve you may have an interference
problem.

Make sure your router and the wireless card are configured compatibly. Are
DCHP and TCP/IP and the rest setup correctly. Maybe you can use the wired
card setup as a guide for the wireless card. There will be some differences
though.
Click to expand...

Ok. I'll need to read the pdf file mentioned below for that. But, I
think I had it connected right, because it does load up a web page,
and it can refresh it, except it does it kinda sloooowly.
Another place to ask is the forums at www.dslreports.com.

Is this your router:

http://www.westell.com/content/products/pdf/versalink.pdf
Yes.

They also make a USB PC wireless adaptor:

http://www.westell.com/content/products/pdf/adapters.pdf

Westell Product page:

http://www.westell.com/pages/products/products.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@186313707
3.1102856333@@@@&BV_EngineID=fadcjiiekdgdbedcfkcfkcfin.0

You shouldn't have to use their adaptor, but I guess you could try it if
purchasing new hardware remains an option.
Click to expand...
Found some links at dslreports:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/westell
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,12039703~mode=flat

Good Luck

P.S. Are you sure your wireless connection is going thruough YOUR router? To
test this, try connecting to the internet wirelessly. Once you are connected
to the internet disconnect your router from the phone jack. Did you lose your
connection to the internet? If yes, then your connection IS through your
router. If no, then your connection IS NOT through your router. Maybe your
connecting through your neighbors hardware and your connection is so bad
because your not getting a good signal from your neighbor.
Click to expand...
Yes, I checked the SSID on the back of the router and in the ID that
pops up when I scan the nearby networks.

& thanks for the different options that I need to check. I'll fool
with it more and see what I can get.
 
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