Budget wireless and Xbox set up.

[timmcat]

Help!

Just decided (finally) to get Broadband here at home. I have a scenario for which I need to work out the most cost effective solution.

Main PC is in the rear lounge of the house, with an adjacent telephone point. The modem being supplied by the isp is a USB model, which can sit beside the PC and phone point.

In another ground floor room (son's bedroom) is another PC which I wish to share the broadband service - more importantly, next to the PC is his beloved xbox which he is wanting to use on the 'xbox live' service.

Now, I have a vague understanding of the router / adapter theory, but, more precisely, what do I need? Son has agreed to pay for the wireless setup and as he is on limited funds, I'm intending getting the gear off ebay and dont want to make any mistakes. So, my questions - do I need a standalone wireless router, or, as the modem is USB, do I need a combined modem / router? Secondly, what do I need at the other end? The PCI wireless adapters I have seen don't seem to have an ethernet socket in so I can hook up the xbox. Do I just plug it in to the network card in the PC? Thirdly, is there a particular standard / speed of data transfer I should be aiming for?

Cheers in advance.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Couple of choices.

At your PC if you wish to keep your USB modem then it will just need a wireless pci card or wireless USB dongle. You can then use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in your PC and it will then act as the gateway/router for your son's PC and Xbox.

Alternatively you could sell your USB modem and go for a wireless router/ADSL modem. It will act as the internet gateway and you won't have to use ICS on your pc. This means your pc won't have to be always on for your son to access the internet via his Xbox and pc. The savings on the electric bill will probably mean the wireless router is the more cost effective option, plus it's better to have a hardware firewall. If you get a wireless modem/router with a built in print server even better; you and your son will be able to share a printer across the network, again without the dependency of one or the other PCs being on.

Best architecture at your son's end is to go for a Wireless Access Point (WAP) with a built-in 10/100 Ethernet switch (at least 2 port). You can set this up in bridge mode to connect wirelessly to your modem/router. You then connect your son's pc and Xbox to the WAP ports using Cat 5e patch cables.

I would go for 802.11g 54Mbps wireless. If you want to get the best speed and connectivity, particularly with the full security options available, make sure you buy the same brand for all your wireless devices.

[timmcat]

Many thanks - that seems to have cleared it up.

Just a thought - I dont suppose that a wireless pci card in each PC with an ethernet wire ( from the network card fitted in the second PC ) to the xbox would work?

Don't laugh - the lad's on a pocket money budget and I'm not helping!