Networking question

  • Thread starter Thread starter MICHAEL
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MICHAEL

Just got my wife a notebook for Christmas,and I was wondering what the easiest way would be to allow it to share my desktops DSL connection.I suppose the cheapest solution would be a router and a extra long connection cable.But I was wondering how good the wireless routers and USB wireless adapters that would work with both systems are.
 
There are tons of sales going on right now.

A notebook wireless card + wireless router.

Theyve been selling two major types right now - the older "b"
standard and newer "g" standard.

Heres a b - 802.11b and a b wireless card for your notebook $30+30
total

http://compusa.dailyshopper.com/ind...deptid=10258&title=Networking&circularid=2779


The stronger new standard are "g" routers and cards.

Do you need "g" ? I have no idea. G obviously claims to allow faster
speeds at farther distances. Youll see some horrible reviews online
and some good ones on "b" routers and even some "g" ones. Frankly my
"b" - Belkin works great as I posted. It takes up to 4 wired
connections (besides the input for my cable or your DSL modem of
course).


I use one of them for my PC . I have another PC 35 feet away with a
wired PC card. You would use a notebook card of course. Ive never used
a notebook card so they might or might not be weaker so you might want
to get a "g".

Are there differences in "b" and "g" s - brandwise? I dont know. Some
people bash Belkin since they are cheaper and claim they had all sorts
of problems and claim netgear or Dlink, etc. is better. Im using a
Belkin and it works great as I said and others Ivetalked to said their
belkin works fine. Compusa's current sale is Netgear "b" stuff.



They had better sales on Belkin stuff a few weeks ago which youve
missed. As low as $10 for the router after rebates at Compusa several
times and at CC too I think. They also had somesales on "g" routers.

Sale prices really make a difference. So id get one on sale. Sale
usually means rebates. My Belkin "b" uses 2.4 gig spread spectrum
technology. Do all bs now use it ? I dont know. Its like cordless
phones - they went from 900 mhz to 2.4 gig SS.

You can try www.newegg.com they might have as cheap or cheaper prices
with and w/o rebates. The thing is if you buy from Compusa its easier
to return if a particular setup doesnt work for you though many stores
now have fees for returning non-defective items.

For me and some others - it works great and was easy as pie. For some
- well you can do a search and see lots of really negative reviews .
Could be they were early versions of some of the gear or they had some
kind of unique interference issues.
 
I'm not an expert so someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Looking at the
transfer speeds, "b" is much faster than most high speed connections, so "g"
would be advantagous for mostly home networking. I love being able to
relocate my computer to wherever I choose to be in the house. Also having a
router gives you better protection from incoming threats.

Personally I have a Linksys "g" wireless router, and my laptop has a dell
card that I bought with it. Works great, but sometimes my connection gets
dropped. It is probably something to do with my placement of the router on
the floor behind a bed.
 
I'm not an expert so someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Looking at the
transfer speeds, "b" is much faster than most high speed connections, so "g"
would be advantagous for mostly home networking. I love being able to
relocate my computer to wherever I choose to be in the house. Also having a
router gives you better protection from incoming threats.

Personally I have a Linksys "g" wireless router, and my laptop has a dell
card that I bought with it. Works great, but sometimes my connection gets
dropped. It is probably something to do with my placement of the router on
the floor behind a bed.
Click to expand...

Some things affect the connection drastically as I posted in another
post. When I use the microwave oven - the speed and connection meter
goes almost to zero.

The stated maximum speeds - well most consumers seem to suggest they
are a wildly optimistic. However , in review tests they get fairly
robust speeds . The bashers claim to get really pathetic speeds.

They have this optional antenna which has a wire so that you can put
the antenna on your desk instead of have a stubby antenna stuck on the
back of your PC in the case you are using the PCI card (not a notebook
card) so that the antenna isnt stuck in back of your big metal case.

Maybe they have something like that for routers too though you can
usually move your router easily so they might not have one for a
router.
 
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