I’d like your opinion on what PCMCIA card and Router to get to set up a wireless network at my home.
The relevant infomation
2 computers = 1 laptop + 1 desktop (desktop will probably just go into one of the ports with cable)
Windows XP on both
1br apartment, but the greater the range, the better(it’d be cool to use my laptop down in the courtyard)
Under or around $100
I’m using a Linksys WRT54G router on our network and a Linksys WPC54G adapter in my laptop and everything seems to be working.
My setup:
2 desktop computers using physical connections
1 laptop using a wireless connection
1 PDA with a Netgear MA701 (802.11b) adapter
Internet connection via a Linksys cable modem
The range is pretty good - I can get access anywhere in my house although some of the walls block a bit of signal. Supposedly the latest firmware update might help that. I’m also thinking of getting a better antenna to help the range.
I don’t have experience with any other wireless equipment so I can’t comment on other stuff that might be better.
I have the Linksys 802.11b wireless router (not sure of the model #, but I know it is version 2) and a Linksys card for my laptop, and it does pretty good through walls. THe router is against one far wall and I can surf in my bedroon which in on the totally opposite side of our L shaped ranch house. There’s 3 solid walls in between. The signal is low, but the connection is still good.
Get a Linksys wireless router. I’ve tried others (including Netgear) and the Linksys is less trouble to configure and generally works without tweaking right out of the box.
PCcard notebook wireless units can work great unless you are at the end of the router’s broadcast-receive range or the signal is weakened by having to punch through a lot of walls. The most sensitive wireless send-receive unit I have worked with is the Netgear MA101. The unit can be moved around at the end of it’s 2 meter USB cable for best reception and can be placed higher than the notebook. This can make a big difference in receiving a useful signal.
I have the Netgear MR314 wireless router and everything works beautifully.
I have 3 computers physically hooked up to it and one laptop with a wireless connection. All 4 systems have Windows XP.
The only problem I’ve had so far is that I can’t host games when I try to play them online with my friends. I am able to join games though, so it’s not that big of a problem.
I’m not sure what the ranges on the routers you’re looking at happen to be, and you didn’t mention how far your apartment is from the courtyard. If there isn’t any more than just the outer wall of your apartment between the router and where you’d sit in the courtyard, my guess is that it would work. The signal probably won’t be as strong though, of course.
When you say that the signal isn’t strong, but the connection is still good, what exactly does that mean? What are the implications of having a strong vs. weak signal?
THere are a few different signal ratings - Excellent, Very Good, Good, Low, Very Low. In my bedroom ( I don’t know the distance in feet, sorry) I get a Very Low, but I can still connect and surf fine. Every once in awhile the connection will drop, but usually if I move the laptop a little bit, I will get it back.
If you already have a good set-up with your router and all, and only want to hook one or two wireless connections, is there some sort of adapter you can attach to the regular router to connect wirelessly? Rather than buying a whole new router, can I not just attach some sort of dongle to a network-socket on the existing router?
Iteki - my understanding is that you could get a wireless access point such as the Linksys WAP54G. It would attach to your existing router or network hub and provide wireless access.
