Adding wireless
Im going to add wireless for my network for my laptops and I am unsure what to do to set it up. Its currently a linksys router that goes throughout my house and into one switch in another room.
What do you think I should buy and should hook it up. Is there one so i can keep the current router. And what ways are their to secure a wireless network.
I looked online and they have wireless accsess points that are not routers at newegg however some of the ones that are routers have a combo deal so you can get a card with it and are also cheaper. What do you think I should do.
What do you think I should buy and should hook it up. Is there one so i can keep the current router. And what ways are their to secure a wireless network.
I looked online and they have wireless accsess points that are not routers at newegg however some of the ones that are routers have a combo deal so you can get a card with it and are also cheaper. What do you think I should do.
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Quick question, though. Will you be doing a lot of file transferring? If not, an 802.11b wireless access pont will suffice, and it's cheaper. However, it's limited to 11Mbps speeds, which is ten times faster than an average high-speed internet connection.
Here's a LinkSys 11Mbps WAP (wireless access pont): http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=33-124-105&depa=0 ($49.99)
If you're going to do a lot of file transferring, then you'll want an 802.11g WAP: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=33-124-012&depa=0 ($69.99)
Now for your laptops, you generally have three options:
1. Buy an internal mini-PCI wireless card (reccomended). This is the best option as laptops that support this have a large internal antenna and you don't have anything sticking outside of your laptop. You have to check if your model laptop supports it (on a side note, most Dell laptops do). On average, they're about $35. They can be had here: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=31&manufactory=1157&DEPA=0&sortby=14&order=1, although it's generally better to buy direct from your manufacturer.
2. Buy a PCMCIA wireless adapter which fits into the PC slot on the side of most laptops. The only drawback is the antenna usually sticks out about half an inch. Take your pick here: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=34&manufactory=1413&DEPA=0&sortby=14&order=1. If you go 802.11b, you can still get an 802.11g PC card and it will work.
3. Buy an external USB wireless adapter (best for desktops).
Ways to secure a wireless network:
1. Enable encryption either by WEP or WPA
2. MAC address filtering.
3. Disable the access pont's wireless broadcast.
4. RADIUS server authentication.
Personally I've never had any bad problems with linksys yet however I know some poeple that have. I have however had a lot of trouble with dlink wireless in the past and I wouldn't recomend them. The M$ and apple Apple wireless devices all work flawlessly from what I've heard via my friends.
Bottom line is they all come with at least 30day store warranties so if you get one and it's not working for you take it back and exchange it. They shouldn't drop connections on you if they are set up correctly. If you already have a router that you want to use then getting a wireless access point is easier to set up. However often they are a little more expensive and have less features. Routers though (at least the Linksys ones) can all be set up to act as a standard Access Point and won't affect anything that you have set up on your existing router.
As for setting thins up read the link versello pointed to it's very good. But the nutshell is punch in the ip address of the router into your browser and just go to the security settings and turn MAC filtering and other security measures on as you like.
It tells you how the D-Link reaches 108Mbps at http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=6. I really think it's just compression that comes into play.
With 802.11b (11Mbps), you actually get around 4 Mbps. With 802.11g, I think it's somewhere around 20-30Mbps. I'm not sure about D-Link's Extreme G products... but if using D-Link Extreme, you need D-Link wireless adapters.
As far as I know (someone correct me if I'm wrong), 802.11g was never finalized by IEEE (the group that sets a lot of standards). 802.11b was, however. Draft doesn't mean anything bad.
I own a Linksys WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway/Router (that model only available in Europe) and a Linksys WMP54GS WLAN card. This generally works very well. But recently I've been having some problems. At random times the connection would simply cut off (very annoying
I guess luck plays a factory, and so does configuring the network well.
And yep as the people before say, best security trio is MAC filtering, WEP/WAP encryption, SSID broadcast disable. These should deter any hacking wannabie, but I'm afraid that a real advanced computer user could break that security.