Wireless networking

[Sillyhed2000]

Looking to upgrade to a wireless network sometime soon and I've been looking at products. The thing is, I can't decide whether I want 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11g. From what I've read, 802.11a is superior despite being older, as it incurs less disruption from other electronic devices due to it's frequency. Dick Smiths has some 802.11g gear, but I'm wary of it; In my house I have two cordless phones (don't know the frequency), a microwave and two mobiles and I don't want network interference. I'm looking at a radius of about 15 metres.

 

Anyway, could someone who knows about this kind of stuff give me a bit of a hand here?

Edited February 23, 2006 by Sillyhed2000

[Forfit]

Mobile as in mobile phone? There are 4 in my house, a microwave and two cordless phones also. The router is a 802.11G and it runs a signal from one end of the house to the back room and it picks up the signal fine with a PCI network card and no disruption in the signal at all. The only thing i found in my house that has disruption are my computer speakers+phones=annoying sound. I would recommend the 802.11G because it is faster that 802.11B. I recently read about a new kind of wireless coming out that runs at 480Mbps, but don't know when that is.

[Sillyhed2000]

Annoying sound with speakers? What do you mean? Is it constant, or negligable? I've got a stereo sitting on top of my computer which I use as my speakers.

 

EDIT: Misread, I get you now. Heading into Dick Smith's now to pick up the stuff. One last thing; 54mbps is considerably cheaper than 108mbps, but my current LAN runs at 100. Considering my internet is only 256kb/sec, halving my network speed through wireless won't affect it, will it? It's only dropping large files across that will slow? It's still fine for gaming? Thanks.

Edited February 24, 2006 by Sillyhed2000

[Forfit]

 

Annoying sound with speakers? What do you mean? Is it constant, or negligable? I've got a stereo sitting on top of my computer which I use as my speakers.

 

EDIT: Misread, I get you now. Heading into Dick Smith's now to pick up the stuff. One last thing; 54mbps is considerably cheaper than 108mbps, but my current LAN runs at 100. Considering my internet is only 256kb/sec, halving my network speed through wireless won't affect it, will it? It's only dropping large files across that will slow? It's still fine for gaming? Thanks.

 

Having this wireless and all will not affect your internet connection or anything and you will be able to surf the same speed as you do on the other computer. It's fine for gaming too. My computer is wireless in my room (with 802.11B, so 11Mbps) and i game CoD2 online. The only time you notice a speed difference is when you are transferring files from one computer to another (if you ever do that) you will notice a drastic unbelievably high speed increase. It's a wonderful thing I just read that wrong. I realized you said your LAN was 100mbps, which means you had it hardwired (is that the word?) So yes when you transfer the files from one computer it may be somewhat slower, but it's only like 2 more seconds of lifetime wasted so no big deal.

 

Actually, you may get a slow internet connection if you have bad signal, so make sure the signal is good and then you should be set.

Edited February 24, 2006 by Forfit

[Luke15]

It is a big deal when your transfering x amount of gbs from one computer to another using wireless networks, only to find when you are 90% through it drops.

 

I would highly recommend you just buy an ethernet cable and using that. Youl never have any problems with it, unless your dog chews through it

[Cran.]

 

Annoying sound with speakers? What do you mean? Is it constant, or negligable? I've got a stereo sitting on top of my computer which I use as my speakers.

 

EDIT: Misread, I get you now. Heading into Dick Smith's now to pick up the stuff. One last thing; 54mbps is considerably cheaper than 108mbps, but my current LAN runs at 100. Considering my internet is only 256kb/sec, halving my network speed through wireless won't affect it, will it? It's only dropping large files across that will slow? It's still fine for gaming? Thanks.

 

Having this wireless and all will not affect your internet connection or anything and you will be able to surf the same speed as you do on the other computer. It's fine for gaming too. My computer is wireless in my room (with 802.11B, so 11Mbps) and i game CoD2 online. The only time you notice a speed difference is when you are transferring files from one computer to another (if you ever do that) you will notice a drastic unbelievably high speed increase. It's a wonderful thing I just read that wrong. I realized you said your LAN was 100mbps, which means you had it hardwired (is that the word?) So yes when you transfer the files from one computer it may be somewhat slower, but it's only like 2 more seconds of lifetime wasted so no big deal.

 

Actually, you may get a slow internet connection if you have bad signal, so make sure the signal is good and then you should be set.

NOT true. Having two people on a 256/64k connect will reduce the speed to slower than 56k. You need more bandwidth when you have 2 computers on a network. It's like two dogs fighting for a steak... There just isn't enough bandwidth for the two computers. I've seen 256/64 with two computers, it's almost depressing

 

@Luke big transfers are fine on my network Send 4GB files and no crashes.

[Sillyhed2000]

My connection is being upgraded to 512/64 at the end of the month, but as it is, I've never experienced any real slowdown sharing a 256k connection. So nuts to you.

 

Anyway, I brought it home today and installed it all. Dick Smith's was having a sale, so only $150 for a wireless switch (w/ a few ethernet ports as well) and a card for my computer. Works a treat, no problems encountered. Thanks for the help.

 

Using a 128 bit encryption, I take it that'll be enough security for a low-priority home network in a town of about 70 000.

[Bond996]

My connection is being upgraded to 512/64 at the end of the month, but as it is, I've never experienced any real slowdown sharing a 256k connection. So nuts to you.

 

Anyway, I brought it home today and installed it all. Dick Smith's was having a sale, so only $150 for a wireless switch (w/ a few ethernet ports as well) and a card for my computer. Works a treat, no problems encountered. Thanks for the help.

 

Using a 128 bit encryption, I take it that'll be enough security for a low-priority home network in a town of about 70 000.

I assume you mean WEP encyption. Yes, it will kep your neighbors off of your network, and any poasserby's that are casually there won't be able to get on, but anyone who wants to can just crack the encryption in 5-10 minutes on WEP. It is insecure. WPA encryption will work much better, and is more uncrackable than WEP. If you can use that, it's definetly a better choice.

[Forfit]

Annoying sound with speakers? What do you mean? Is it constant, or negligable? I've got a stereo sitting on top of my computer which I use as my speakers.

 

EDIT: Misread, I get you now. Heading into Dick Smith's now to pick up the stuff. One last thing; 54mbps is considerably cheaper than 108mbps, but my current LAN runs at 100. Considering my internet is only 256kb/sec, halving my network speed through wireless won't affect it, will it? It's only dropping large files across that will slow? It's still fine for gaming? Thanks.

 

Having this wireless and all will not affect your internet connection or anything and you will be able to surf the same speed as you do on the other computer. It's fine for gaming too. My computer is wireless in my room (with 802.11B, so 11Mbps) and i game CoD2 online. The only time you notice a speed difference is when you are transferring files from one computer to another (if you ever do that) you will notice a drastic unbelievably high speed increase. It's a wonderful thing I just read that wrong. I realized you said your LAN was 100mbps, which means you had it hardwired (is that the word?) So yes when you transfer the files from one computer it may be somewhat slower, but it's only like 2 more seconds of lifetime wasted so no big deal.

 

Actually, you may get a slow internet connection if you have bad signal, so make sure the signal is good and then you should be set.

NOT true. Having two people on a 256/64k connect will reduce the speed to slower than 56k. You need more bandwidth when you have 2 computers on a network. It's like two dogs fighting for a steak... There just isn't enough bandwidth for the two computers. I've seen 256/64 with two computers, it's almost depressing

 

@Luke big transfers are fine on my network Send 4GB files and no crashes.

My connection is divided over 3 computers and a laptop. Don't see a difference, so i don't know.