Network Configuration Advice

teflemingtefleming
edited January 2004 in Science & Tech
I finally am replacing my HPNA networking (its served me well) with wireless. I found this stuff on Outpost for DIRT CHEAP: cheap wireless and so my new configuration will go:

Comp1 (wired)
Comp2 (wireless) <--AP<--Router<--Modem

Any thoughts on how to configure this? Is the above good? I'll still use the router as a DHCP right?

Comments

  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    So comp 1 is wired to the router right?

    Sounds fine. You might have a little trouble doing stuff between the computers... I'm not sure with APs.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    You do realise 11b is REALLY slow, I mean 11g is slow but, you get the idea.

    Just think of an Access Point as a hub, you dont need to do anything special, just check the setting on the AP itself and make sure DHCP is off, otherwise you will have 2 machines doing DHCP servering and you will have a problem.
  • teflemingtefleming
    edited December 2003
    11b is actually faster than the HPNA I'm using now. (11 > 10) Thanks for the advice.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    That 11mbits is closer to 4 or 5 in real use (400 or 500 KB/s). Wireless throughput is roughly half its rated capacity.

    54mbit (5.4 megabytes per second) 802.11G is really about 20-27mbits (2 to 2.7 megs/s).
  • teflemingtefleming
    edited December 2003
    The original config won't work, the AP only has one Cat5 plug.
    new config?

    Comp2 (wireless)<--AP<--Comp1 (wired)<--Router<--Modem

    Does the connection between comp1 and the AP need a X-Over cable or just a normal one?

    Comp 1 has an A7N8X-D w/ Dual LAN. Eventually I need to get a 4pt router to replce my one port Linksys.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I think you should just pick up a cheap 100Mb hub or switch and plug the Access Point, Wired PC and the Router into it, thats the easiest thing to do.

    54Mb Wireless actually seems to be about 1600-2200KBps (1.5-2MBps) which when you compare to 100Mb (10MBps) wired lan is pathetic (11b being 0.3-0.5MBps).
  • TemplarTemplar You first.
    edited December 2003
    Random Smiley! :woowoo:

    Anyway, make sure you secure that wireless network. Never can tell the geeks from the jocks these days.. Unfortunately, I'm just the reminder boy in this case, since I don't know much about it. When in doubt, Ask Thrax :p
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    If you're getting 100% linksys and using Windows XP, I'll help you set up WPA.

    If you're using any other combination of devices (Linksys WAP, but not card, or Linksys card, but not WAP), I'll help you set up 128 bit WEP. I'll also help you set up the exclusion of non-authorized MAC addresses from your WAP, turning your WAP's ID broadcast off (So other wireless cards can't "Find it" without knowing the name of your WAP), and changing to an uncommon channel and key index to just generally throw people off.
  • teflemingtefleming
    edited December 2003
    Cool, I'd appreciate that, but for now, I need to figure out what kinds of cable (Xover or std) i need to get assuming the following config:

    Mdm to Router std
    Rtr to Hub std?
    Comp1 to Hub ??
    AP to Hub ??
  • teflemingtefleming
    edited January 2004
    Alright, got it all here and wired up, running happy.

    Now, I've enabled 128bit WEP, but do I want to Autogenerate a WEP key from Passphrase or enter it manually?
  • teflemingtefleming
    edited January 2004
    Also, it has options for 11 Channels ranging from 2412 MHz to 2462 at 5MHz increments, which Channel should I use (or does it matter?)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Use channel 9 or 11, and passphrase generation is a-ok.
  • teflemingtefleming
    edited January 2004
    Thrax wrote:
    Use channel 9 or 11, and passphrase generation is a-ok.

    how do I configure teh client (in XP) to match the WEP Key?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Input one of the listed WEP keys that your passphrase generated.
  • dodododo Landisville, PA
    edited January 2004
    Does the WEP decrease the throughput of the device? I thought I saw something that said that 128bit was slower than 64bit. Is this what you mean Thrax when you say its 4-5Mbit effectively?

    ~dodo
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