Posted: 12/30/2004 10:32:36 PM EDT
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ok experts (and pseudo experts), I'm in the market for a wireless router for my home pc. i need to be able to use my laptop from it too, so that card thingee must be included. I just got charter so i'm just amazed at how fast this is. anyways, i was looking at this one, what do you think? http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/SKU.asp?BCFlag=False&PageType=1&SKU=IM1D85145 is it worth the price for the enhanced? I'm just working off of a $600 HP from Sams and a $1200 dollar laptop from staples. How do I know if this is what I need? |
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I just bought a linksys wireless router and pc card for my laptop. they both work great. Got the wrt54g router and wpc54g card. eta don't get the router/card combo packs. everything I've read says that they are substandard items. whether this is true or not, I don't know. to be safe though, stick with individually package items. It won't cost much more. |
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That should work. Hook your cable modem into it, then run ethernet to your PC, use the wireless for the laptop. Leave the modem and router close to the PC. If you have connections problems powercycle both, if it continues, directly connect the modem to your PC and reboot this will let you know if the router is not letting you connect. |
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if possible for me, i will contact you tomorrow, it's far too late for me to talk to you on the phone,. I'm afraid my children might wake up. what part of georgia are you from? i have a friend from middle georgia by the air base. Beautiful state. does a Fla ccw permit work there? |
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FL permits work here. Im in the Augusta area. It should explain most of it in the instructions that come with it. Always hook the Cable/DSL modem and the router up next to a computer. That helps because if you can ever not connect on either computer you can bypass the router and see if its the modem/service provider, or your router thats causing a problem. When I did tech support the first step is to unplug the modem and router, reboot and while rebooting plug in the modem first, then the router. 80% of the time this would fix it, the other 20% you bypass the router to see if its the problem, but sometimes people will getup the modem and router in the basement and the computers in other rooms. Only use wireless on the laptop, use the calbe provided with the router to connect it to your other computer, avoids other possible problems. |
I've installed between 40 - 50 Linksys routers (wired and wireless) this year. I installed 1 D-link wireless router (client bought it before talking to me). I think I've had more problems with that 1 D-link router than all of the Linksys boxes combined. Linksys has combo packages now... 802.11g seems to be the most popular. Just make sure your operating system is Windows 98 Second Edition or above. the pc cards will not work with Windows 98 first edition (learned the hard way). |
 This is an ethernet plug with cable. You'll need one of these to connect the PC. The ethernet connection looks like a big phone jack... |
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I went with the Belkin system just due to the sale on the components at Staples. I have heard Linksys has some issues with their firmware but I haven't had firsthand experience with them. To standardize and minimize any issues that may arise (but shouldn't), it doesn't hurt to stay with one brand for all your network cards and router and such. When you do get your router you will need to do a few things. Make sure you have the firewall enabled on your router as well as an Admin password set, enable MAC address filtering and change the RF channel from the default. Doing these few things will make your network many times more secure. Don't make yourself an easy target. |
DON'T get a Netgear router. I'm currently experiencing serious problems with my second one (model WGR614) this year, they work good for 3-6 months, then crap out. More important than that... Netgear's customer service/support SUCKS worse than any other company I've ever dealt with, and I've dealt with lots!  I just ordered a Linksys, I'm hoping to have better luck with that (model WRT54G). |
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The Netgear outfit you asked about is $150, you can do better. Check out www.tigerdirect.com. www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1020173&CatId=370 Tigerdirect saves you $50 even without the rebate, that expires today. Keep an eye out, there may be another avail. And look at other "starter kits" here: www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=370 Do you really need 11g speed? 11b is going for bargain rates now and is plenty fast. If you have DSL, even 11b is much faster than DSL modems. IF you have range problems, here is a PCMCIA (laptop) card that kicks ass: SMC SMC2532W-B for laptop, SMC2512W-B for PC's. Had some dead spots at home, and could not use my laptop outside in my workshop, a metal building. Lost signal about halfway out to the shop. Got a SMC2532W-B and am getting 100% even out in the shop with the metal clad door closed. I can't even use my cell phone in there, have to go outside. Most PCMCIA cards are about 30 mw (14-15db). This particular SMC is 222 mw (23.5 db). One little trick to install, IF you have XP, do not use the SMC utility. Install only the driver, and let Windows XP's built in utility manage the card. Simply plug in the card, turn on the computer, it will detect new hardware. When it asks for the CD, put it in and specify the drive, and let it browse the CD for the driver. Again, for XP do not install the utility. After typing in our ISP's DNS numbers, was online immediately. BTW, these two cards SMC2532W-B and SMC2512W-B, are only 802.11b, but with the power and range, that more than makes up for it to me. I haven't had any trouble with my D-Link router. Ultimate test, put the laptop in the car and drove more than a block and a half away and was still connected. The antenna section is removable and exposes tiny sockets so that you can connect an external (and much higher gain) antenna, extending the range even more. But the car test with with the card's built in antenna. |
I have just started w/ charter pipeline on their lowest level, does their rental modem allow me to fully benefit from 11G? Does 11B provide as much benefit as I can expect and anything more is wasted? Also, If I can use my internet connection remotely, does that mean others can anonymously do so? If so, does that affect my performance or open me up to privacy issues? |
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Well I put in a 802.11g wifi network for a couple of reasons. One, I know the chokepoint in my data transfer is my Charter bandwidth. 11b should be able to adequately accomidate your info as well as the overhead information with no problem but if sometime down the line you opted up for a faster connection, you may want to improve your infrastructure. Another reason I put in the 11g network is I can do fast file transfers and stream audio and video between computers on my home network. I have a computer on my network set aside just for audio and video files and all the other computers draw off that one when I want to listen to music. Just my two cents. |
I'm pretty sure my linksys router came with one. BTW, Linksys router has givin me no problems (Wireless G) for about 1.5 years...though I had a Wireless G PC card (for a desktop) die on me....just save the RECEIPT AND THE BOX so that you can get a replacement....i didn't, so i didn't :) |
| I had a D Link wireless router that worked great...until a lightning storm knocked it dead. Right now I have a Motorola 802.11G and while it hasn't dies yet, I would not recommend it because the signal dies for 10-20 mins at any given point of the day. Never had the problem with the D Link. |
I'll second that one. I've got three at work that require reboots between once a week and about 10 times a day. They just quit working. I've had worse trouble with D-Link and Linksys. None of the D-Links I had would work out of the box. The Linksys ones have all had intermittent problems that were hard to track-down. After a while of being powered-up, they stop propagating ARP requests. That meant IP wouldn't work over Ethernet. That problem took me a while to find, and I've seen it on four different Linksys models. They work fine after hard-coding the ARP addresses on each system, but it's a pain whenever you make changes because you've got to change scripts on every single system.z |
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54Mbs is the data transfer rate of the equipment. That doesn't mean you will be transferring 54Mbs of YOUR data (as your throughput plus overhead addressing info can only 54Mbs). Using a 802.11G setup will not make a difference whether you have a desktop or laptop (unless there are huge disparities in performance between the two systems.) There is another option and that is hooking in directly to your router via Cat5e cable. You can get up to 100Mbs transfer that way but it negates the whole wireless concept. |