Howdy folks:

Finally upgraded from dialup to cable Internet access at home. At this point I'd like to add at least the capacity to network some other computers. My daughter's laptop already has a wireless networking card (802.11b) in it as they have wireless access at her college.

So... I need a wireless router. Are these things plug and play easy to install and get the resulting network running? Main computer is running XPpro. Daughter's is running Win2000. Other behemoths around here are running Win98 and Win95. Any hope of getting either of the old ones 'on line' (wired network connection is OK)? Do they have home-grade routers that support both wireless and wired network connections? Don't care if its 802.11b or g :-)

Thanks for listenin'!

Originally posted by mhardy6647
Howdy folks:

Finally upgraded from dialup to cable Internet access at home. At this point I'd like to add at least the capacity to network some other computers. My daughter's laptop already has a wireless networking card (802.11b) in it as they have wireless access at her college.

Yes, I believe that I can assist you. When I am not writing songs, I am a computus geekus primus. Uber-geek, as it were. I have not one but two wireless networks at home.


So... I need a wireless router. Are these things plug and play easy to install and get the resulting network running?

Yes, they are fairly simple to get up and running, with a couple of caveats which I'll explain later.

Main computer is running XPpro. Daughter's is running Win2000. Other behemoths around here are running Win98 and Win95. Any hope of getting either of the old ones 'on line' (wired network connection is OK)? Do they have home-grade routers that support both wireless and wired network connections? Don't care if its 802.11b or g :-)

The Win98 and Win95 PC's *can* be done in a variety of ways - you may not wish to do it. But let's talk.

First, let me describe my wireless network(s). Not to show off, but to demonstrate what can be done.

For my newest wireless network, I went with g technology, 'cause it is faster. And the prices have dropped quite a bit. I chose d-link as they have a pretty good rep with this stuff.

I have a wireless g router sitting next to my cable modem. My wife and I both have laptops, they both have d-link g cards. We used them all over the house, no problems. We have a Brother all-in-one printer/scanner/fax machine that we put on a g printer server, basically because we wanted it to be in an upstairs hallway and didn't want to drag cat 5 network cable to it.

Downstairs, I have an ANCIENT Mitusbishi tablet PC - the first generation. It runs WIn 95 on a 486-100 chip, 40 megs of RAM, 130 meg hard drive. But it has an early version of MS media player and an integrated soundblaster-compatible card. I have it set to boot up and connect to my wife's favorite NYC classical station's streaming audio web-feed. I put an old b wireless card in it ('cause it had drivers for Win 95 - most g cards don't), and I have a seperate older b wireless network router (linksys) that supports that - I connect the b wireless router to my g wireless router just like it was another ethernet switch, no problems. I have a Radio Shack adapter from the headphone jack on the tablet pc to the RCA inputs on the cheap-ass Sony stereo downstairs. My wife is thrilled - the streaming audio is MUCH better than FM and only a touch worse than a CD. I was happy cause I put it together out of spare parts, cost was basically nothing and made me look like a Wig-genius.

Now, this applies to your Windows 95 and 98 devices. As I said, mostly g cards do not have drivers for 95, and a bit iffy on 98. So, you could go with an older/slower b network, and that should work (check beforehand to make sure the drivers are available). Or, there is another solution. There are g 'wireless bridges' available. If your units have an ethernet card in them, here's what you do. Take an ethernet cable from the PC to an ethernet hub or router (pretty cheap these days). Then another ethernet cable to this 'wireless bridge'). You can hide the thing back behind the PC. Now you have g wireless (much faster) without having to tell the PC anything - it thinks it is using wired ethernet. Much more economical if the 98 and 95 boxen are close together and can share a single wireless bridge.

Do you want g instead of b? Yes, you do. Especially if you plan to move files from one PC to another inside your network. To access the internet is not so bad - the choke point will be your cable modem anyway. But I find g much nicer to have. They also seem to have better range and are less temperamental, IMHO.

I prefer d-link at this point in time. Consider this link:

D-Link (http://www.dlink.com/products/category.asp?cid=1)

I like to buy from newegg.com or tigerdirect.com, but your milage may vary.

On setting the thing up. Yes, it is easy to get it up and running under most circumstances. Read the 'getting started' stuff and do what it says. In some cases, you have to install the drivers before you hook up any hardware, or it doesn't work right - and getting it going at that point can be a bear. If you follow the instructions, it works pretty well.

However, I should also say that the 'default mode' for most wireless networks is 'wide open' in terms of security. No encryption of any kind. That's fine if you don't mind having neighbors hop on your connection for free (assuming apartment dwellers or close houses), but consider the risk. Someone drives by with a wirelss laptop (war driving, they call it), jumps on your connection, and sends spam or a threatening letter to the president, etc. On YOUR IP address. Bad mojo.

G has better encryption than b. B can and has been hacked, and apparently not hard to do. G is much more secure, *IF* you turn the security features on. My advice is to get everything running first, and THEN turn on the security features, one by one.

Another reason to get g instead of b - streaming media from the 'net. You may at some point want to consider adding streaming capability to your HT or stereo setup. There are a number of wireless devices for that now, like what I cobbled together, but already done in a nice single box for you. As well, there are units that can find and pull MP3 and video files from various PCs around your house and display / playback them on your TeeVee, assuming you might want that. Better to use g, much faster for big bandwidth hogs and the new stuff coming out will all be g.

Hope you find this helpful. Feel free to ask me anything, but I'll be in Raleigh today entertaining my mom-in-law and perhaps perusing a thrift or two.

Best,

Wigwam Jones

Curious...Is wireless now as fast as having a Cat 5 network?

Originally posted by WildWest
Curious...Is wireless now as fast as having a Cat 5 network?

Nope, not if you're using 100baseT. It is faster than 10baseT under many circumstances. However, hard-wired in general is faster and more reliable than wireless.

It is a convenience thing, not a speed thing. Wireless phones don't sound as good as hard-wired, but we've trained ourselves not to be bothered by the static, etc. We like the convenience. Pick up an old hard-wired phone sometime and see what I mean.

Best,

Wiggy

Very helpful Mr. Jones (may I call you Wiggy?)!

The old 'puters would only be for internet, but your point on security vis a vis "g" is well-taken. Our daughter already checked to see whether there were any 'wide-open' wireless connections she could squat on here :-) But folks in this town are pretty tech-savvy ('cept for me, of course).

Hope the weather in NC is better than here in MA today... cool and rainy (like mid-September).

Originally posted by mhardy6647
Very helpful Mr. Jones (may I call you Wiggy?)!

The old 'puters would only be for internet, but your point on security vis a vis "g" is well-taken. Our daughter already checked to see whether there were any 'wide-open' wireless connections she could squat on here :-) But folks in this town are pretty tech-savvy ('cept for me, of course).

Hope the weather in NC is better than here in MA today... cool and rainy (like mid-September).

Hot-n-humid here today, like nearly always. High of 84 today, currently 77 with 84% humidity. Feels like the surface of the sun when it gets over 85 degrees.

Sure, call me Wiggy. Ever buddy duz.

And yer welcome. Trying to pay back a bit for some of the chit I've pulled here recently. Bad Wigwam, no Jack Daniels.

Best,

Wiggy

Originally posted by Wigwam Jones
It is a convenience thing, not a speed thing. Wireless phones don't sound as good as hard-wired, but we've trained ourselves not to be bothered by the static, etc. We like the convenience. Pick up an old hard-wired phone sometime and see what I mean.

Best,

Wiggy

Hmmmm doesn't this sound like when solid state hit the market. A convenience thing not a sound thing. Hmmmmm doesn't this sound like when seedees hit the market. A convenience thing not a sound thing. Lazy bunch we are, will settle on anything as long as it makes life easier....sigh.

Yup, I have cat 5 strung to all the puters in this house and yes I still listen to tubes and vinyl. I like the best! ;)

Originally posted by WildWest
Hmmmm doesn't this sound like when solid state hit the market. A convenience thing not a sound thing. Hmmmmm doesn't this sound like when seedees hit the market. A convenience thing not a sound thing. Lazy bunch we are, will settle on anything as long as it makes life easier....sigh.

Yup, I have cat 5 strung to all the puters in this house and yes I still listen to tubes and vinyl. I like the best! ;)

The trick, I think, is to find appropriate uses for technology and not to let it run your life simply for the sake of convenience. I have two wireless networks in my house because it is a 1923 Stickley-Style Bungalow and I didn't want to drill big holes in the 300 year old heart-pine floors (the trees averaged about 200 years old before they cut them down to build my house 80 years ago - basically extnct now). But I also have vintage audio and vintage cameras and vintage watches because a) they are mucho mucho cooler and b) they look/sound/work better.

But my computer network is top-notch - I've got stuff NASA ain't got. I run Linux and recompile kernals in my spare time. Vintage is NOT better in that regard. And I'll eventually add a top-notch digital SLR camera body to my stable of vintage prime lenses - because digital is coming, like it or not, and it will eventually be as good as film.

"Appropriate Tech." This is the life we've chosen for our family. We moved to a town of 40,000 in the backwoods of NC because we were tired of city life and wanted a slower pace and to be able to afford to buy a house. We've got it now. It is a balancing act.

Best,

Wiggy

Originally posted by Wigwam Jones
The trick, I think, is to find appropriate uses for technology and not to let it run your life simply for the sake of convenience.
It is a balancing act.


That's a big 10-4! :thmbsp:

I recently had setup a home network just to share the high speed internet between two computers, first i tried wireless, that was medeorcre at best, and when i moved the computers apart it didnt work at all, returned that. Then i went and bought a cable modem. my ISP doesnt allow for buying your own modem. returned that, so i still have the router i bought and i got some cat5 from an electrictian we're building a house for and setup a network that way and it works far better than the wireless could dream of. No waiting for it to connect etc.. Much more reliable. and alot less of a headach to setup.

Wiggy et al.

Just bought a D-Link AirPlusXtremeG :-) router at the "local" (20 miles away!) Best Buy. My daughter and I installed it (with only minimal hassle related to reconnecting to the Internet via the cable modem) and we've got it up and running.

Probably going to try hardwire Ethernet from the router to the Win95 machine (looks like there's hope for that to work).

Thanks for the advice!