Newbie Confusion About Components for Wireless Networking

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alan Rosenfeld
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A

Alan Rosenfeld

Sorry if this question (or questions) are in an FAQ somewhere that I
haven't discovered.

I currently have two PCs (a Dell running under Windows ME and a
Quantex running Win95) networked using Intel Anypoint Phoneline
adapters, which have worked reasonably well. In my little network, the
Dell is the server, and is connected to the Internet via a Toshiba
PCX100 cable modem.

I've upgraded the Quantex to Linux (Suse 9.0), and plan to upgrade the
Dell to both WinXP and Linux, which will presumably render my current
network hardware useless. So, I'm considering going wireless, but I'm
getting confused about what I'll need to make this work for me.
Presumably, I'll need a wireless router to connect betwixt the Dell
and my cable modem. But I'm unclear what additional component(s) will
be required to network the Quantex, and I'm confused by the variety of
devices and how they're used.

Could someone explain to me (excuse my profound ignorance) the
differences and advantages/disadvantages of Wireless Network Adapters,
Wireless Ethernet Bridges, Wireless Access Points, and point me toward
the optimal devices that I will need for both PCs?

FWIW, the Quantex does have an Ethernet connection to an Intel
Phoneline adapter.

Thanks in advance.



Alan
 
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Alan said:
Sorry if this question (or questions) are in an FAQ somewhere that I
haven't discovered.

I currently have two PCs (a Dell running under Windows ME and a
Quantex running Win95) networked using Intel Anypoint Phoneline
adapters, which have worked reasonably well. In my little network, the
Dell is the server, and is connected to the Internet via a Toshiba
PCX100 cable modem.

I've upgraded the Quantex to Linux (Suse 9.0), and plan to upgrade the
Dell to both WinXP and Linux, which will presumably render my current
network hardware useless. So, I'm considering going wireless, but I'm
getting confused about what I'll need to make this work for me.
Presumably, I'll need a wireless router to connect betwixt the Dell
and my cable modem. But I'm unclear what additional component(s) will
be required to network the Quantex, and I'm confused by the variety of
devices and how they're used.

Could someone explain to me (excuse my profound ignorance) the
differences and advantages/disadvantages of Wireless Network Adapters,
Wireless Ethernet Bridges, Wireless Access Points, and point me toward
the optimal devices that I will need for both PCs?

FWIW, the Quantex does have an Ethernet connection to an Intel
Phoneline adapter.

Thanks in advance.



Alan
Click to expand...

Home phone network adapters work with linux.

As far as wireless cards - generally well supported - for USB/pcmcia cards,
you can use windows drivers for the cards via http://ndiswrapper.sf.net,
and for USB cards, there are native linux drivers for many cards at
http://at76c503a.berlios.de

Fred Emmott
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Sorry if this question (or questions) are in an FAQ somewhere that I
haven't discovered.
Click to expand...

I'm as guilty as anyone, but when a quick Google doesn't turn up an
answer to a "basic" Linux question, I go to the source -- ie., the
lpd's All-HowTos (on my hard disk, no less):
http://www.tldp.org/docs.html
See the Wireless HowTo ;-) It's a little dated but will get you
started.

Your other questions will be best answered after you make some basic
decisions based on current/future needs. Do _not_ assume your current
hardware is of no use under Linux -- the older it is the _more_ likely
it's used/supported (if at all possible).

[snip]

hth,
prg
email above disabled
 
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