wireless net advice

[Floodie]

Howdy,

Moving in new house VEERYY soon.. Got Sky full package coming with 16meg Bband and wireless router thingie(not sure what make)… Im sure I will be able to sort it as im a little geeky but never done it before.. What will I need for it to connect to the 3 PCs in the house?.. Will all PCs need to have a wi-fi dongle thingie?... Any pitfalls to avoid or anything?.. I just cant be arsed making it "cabled" that’s all..

Thanks

Floodie

 

[KDF]

I would avoid dongles.. get proper PCI cards as the range will be better.

Spend a bit of money on the wireless router as you want a decent one with a good range.. stay away from Netgear and Belkin. Make sure you secure the wireless using at minium WPA, at best WPA2 !

Depending on the size of your house, thickness of wall etc. you may need a repeater station.

 

[Floodie]

thanks KDF... what PCI card would you advise mate?

Also, the wireless router is already in the package so we dont get a choice.. im assuming its good enough from Sky...

Any idea how i set up the security of it? i.e i dont know what WPA or WPA2 is at all

 

[Daz]

The Sky router is a rebadged Netgear DG834G..

 

[Floodie]

thanks daz, not good considering kdf said no to netgear... damn

 

[Daz]

They're OK.. for what they are.

Cisco Aironet stuff though.. VERY good for wireless range so it does make a big difference.
I've found Linksys etc.. really poor with anything more than paper between the access point and the device. It's luck more than anything a lot of the time, Heh.

For home use tho, I'd say the Netgear's are quite acceptable..

 

[andywright182]

I have a netgear router, not had 1 single problem. been fantastic.

As for sky broadband - expect lots of problems. unlucky

 

[Floodie]

thx daz nice one..

andy: balls.. will see how it goes.. think you get 8 days testing...

 

[quickshift]

yep got this sky package last week and well not convinced to be honest but only for a tenner a month so cant do much wrong

kdf? i cant connect my wireless modem to my laptop any chance u can help me ?? so just using the lead straight into the laptop

 

[Final Maxim]

I have a netgear router, not had 1 single problem. been fantastic.

As for sky broadband - expect lots of problems. unlucky

im with sky broadboand and had no problems. lucky

 

[KDF]

yep got this sky package last week and well not convinced to be honest but only for a tenner a month so cant do much wrong

kdf? i cant connect my wireless modem to my laptop any chance u can help me ?? so just using the lead straight into the laptop

If your using Sky broadband with the wireless router and your connecting your laptop you should just have to plug the cable into the the laptop. If it doesnt work after about 10 seconds (if the laptop was already on) or immediatly after a cold boot then check your network settings and make sure they are set to DHCP and not static.

 

[Alan]

I've got an ASUS wireless router that, i got from a local computer component place, £30 and its spot on, it also has 4 wired ports at the back, meaning i can put my 360 through for live etc.

 

[Floodie]

sorry back now... thanks for the replies... how does this wireless lark work then.. Does the Wireless router basically emmit the 20meg signal and our 3 PCs can just tap into it, obviously 1/3'ing the signal... i think i need to learn about wireless security and stuff too, havnt got a clue....