Easily installed Wireless Router

[Flypro]

O.K. heres the problem:
1. I am a computing dwarf.
2. My (WinME) computer is connected to Tiscali broadband. Mrs F has demanded her own computer with which to 'surf' and it will be installed in another wing of Flypro Towers (and will no doubt be XP Home).
I can forsee us both fighting to be on the net at the same time and on different computers. From my very limited knowledge, I think I will have to install a wireless router to accomplish this.
A visit to the Belkin website has terrified me!. Are these things easily set up, or what?
Which make is easiest to instal?
Belkin offer speeds of 54Mbps (£49.99) and 125Mbps (£79.99), would I notice the difference?
Which manufacturer would you go for?

Recommendations gratefully received

[goates]

Wireless isn't too bad to set up. The biggest problem will most likely be making sure the wireless connection will reach to where ever the computer is.

The official speed rating for 802.11g is 54Mbps. Many companies use different tricks to "double" this speed to 108Mbps or more. Each company's solution usually only works with other products from that company, so I would avoid those products if you don't want to worry about adding more wireless products later.

As virtually all home internet connections are less than 10Mbps, you won't notice a difference while surfing. File transfers will be slower than a wired Ethernet connection, but for home use that probably isn't an issue.

802.11b products are slower (11Mbps) than 802.11g, but the effective range is also shorter. As the price difference isn't that large anymore, you might as well look at a 802.11g wireless network. All devices should be 802.11g compliant too, other wise the entire network will slow down to the slower speed.

goates

[Flypro]

Thanks for the advice so far chaps.
Looks like even I can cope with this technology!:ok:

[Koyo]

You don't even need a wireless card for your PC if the cable/DSL modem is already in your room where the PC resides. Most of the new wireless router have 4 LAN ports in the back. So just get a wireless card for your wife and make be a set of antenna (but test out the receptions first as those things is a bit expensive). Also, I suggest you go with Linksys, D-Link, or Netgear. Belkin isn't really that good and you can get a better quality router for a few bucks more.

PS: Don't forget to secure your wireless access points. Other people can easily hi-jack your connection and have access to the Internet for free.

[Daysleeper]

PS: Don't forget to secure your wireless access points. Other people can easily hi-jack your connection and have access to the Internet for free.

unless of course you want to set up your own free hotspot in a community minded way.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

This (http://www.adslguide.org.uk/hardware/reviews/2004/q4/usr-9106.asp) and this (http://www.adslguide.org.uk/hardware/reviews/2004/q4/3com-g72.asp) will give you some idea of typical wireless router performance and set up. I'm not endorsing these products as there are many other good brands such as Billion, Buffalo, D-Link and Netgear to name but a few.

If however distance and number of walls may be an issue take a look at the 'behind 4th wall' performance of the USR in the first link.

It is worth noting that 802.11g (54Mbps) and 802.11i (Wi-Fi Security) are both IEEE emergent standards and subject to change. In fact both are due for a significant update this quarter. The knock-on effect of this is that the standards can be subject to differing interpretation by the programmers who write the firmware for these devices.

This frequently leads to incompatibility issues between the different bands particularly if you want to run at speeds around 100 Mbps with WPA encryption and MAC filtering.

As such I would urge that you buy the same brand router and pci card as obviously the same company will have thoroughly tested and debugged any connectivity issues amongst its own products. I'm sure we'll hear on here from lots of people who say 'my product A and product B work fine together' but you have been warned because you will only be seeing an insignificant sample on here. The industry consensus is that it remains a risk that's not worth taking unless you have plenty of cash to throw away.

If you don't wish to fit a pci card in your wife's PC you could always go for a USB dongle.

Finally to make sure you are fully secure change your SSID to something like "FLYPRO", set up in infrastructure rather than ad-hoc mode, use WPA-PSK encryption and apply MAC filtering.

[AH64 APACHE]

I have a belkin adn have had a lot of problems with it - the helpline is most unhelpful and wish I had bought any other one now.

[Flypro]

Thanks for the advice Apache. I went looking for the Netgear DG834G recommended by M.J. today, but they were out of stock, and I very nearly bought a Belkin - it was only terminal indecision on my part that prevented me. A poor helpline is absolutely not what I want!:eek:
The website mentioned by Toxteth is very helpful - thanks:ok:

[Flypro]

If anyone is interested.....
On the above advice, I bought a Netgear DG834GT wireless router (a developement on the DG834G) and a Netgear WG111T Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter from Transparent Communications, all for £116.
The installation proved a nightmare as expected - though mainly because of a faulty cable. I spent just over an hour on the phone with a very helpful Indian gentleman - who answered the helpline number very quickly.
The laptop now works throughout Flypro Towers, with only a slight diminution of signal when in the furthest dungeon!
I'm very pleased, and thanks for the advice.............now, if I can just get the laptop to print from the main computer printer......:confused:

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Get a print server and plug it into your router. You can then print from the laptop without main pc even being on. A single port USB/Ethernet server will cost you about 30 quid.

[BEagle]

I use an Anycom Bluetooth adapter to connect the laptop to my Epson printer in another room. Only problem is it doesn't seem to be fully bi-directional as I don't get the ink level feedback from the printer.

Unless it's a switch-pigs on my behalf!

Just for the heck of it, I tried using a wireless mouse, wireless router and Bluetooth printer all at the same time that the Vodafone Mobile Connect card was running - all on the same laptop.....

Much to my surprise, all worked fine! Even with another GSM phone connecting to a DECT next to the laptop!