ICS / Wireless Networking

[Peter Cavan]

Hi
I will be getting broadband in a month's time and want to share it out
between 2 PCs. One is newer with Win XP, the other is older and does not.
What I want to do is connect a broadband modem (USB) to the PC, install a
wireless PCI card in each PC, and share the connection. The card I was
looking at was the first D-Link product from
http://www.redstore.com/fx/prc_gen.php?genre=PC&cat=$wireless&subcat=003&s
ubcat2=pci . Firstly, is the broadband modem and two of the PCI cards all I
need? If I get two of the above cards, do I need a router? I NEVER will have
more than 2 PCs in the house. I presume that the one with the modem
connected to it will always have to be on if the other one wants to connect?
Thanks for all help
Peter Cavan

 

[Bob Horton]

You are on track. With an 80211.b card in each machine, you can connect in
"ad-hoc" mode using the ICS built into XP. You don't mention what OS the
other machine has on it, but I think all Windows versions since 98 have
shipped with ICS. The "host" machine will have to be on all the time to
make your system work. Basically, your modem connects to the host machine,
then the 2 wireless cards communicate. I would strongly advise that you use
a firewall and anti-virus in this setup, as you lose the NAT that is built
into most routers today.

Bob Horton

 

[John]

I think you'll be set if you use Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing.
You will set up the PC with the Modem and one PCI cards to "share: the modem
(in the Properties dialogue). Once sharing is enabled, ICS will assign the
PCI card in that computer to IP address 192.168.0.1. Set the wireless
properties of the PCI card to Ad Hoc mode and leave the network name to the
default. Check what channel the card wants to use. Then on the other PC,
install the PCI card also in Ad Hoc mode with TCP/IP properties of 'get IP
address automatically'. Also check the card's wireless channel and be sure
it matches the main PC's card's settings. For file sharing between the two,
you might want to install the MS NetBEUI protocol.

 

[Peter Cavan]

Thanks guys, I thought that was all I would need but I wasn't sure.
Thanks
PC

 

[Tom A]

Hi Peter;
You would be better off getting an eternet modem and wireless router. Wire
the router to one PC and connect through wireless PCI card to the other.
The reason I say this is with the way the prices and rebates are now the 2nd
PCI wireless card will be close to the cost of the router and the one
computer will not have to be on all the time. You will also get the added
firewall protection of a router. Also the system can expand in the future.
I know you said you will never need more than what you have but I said the
same thing a few years back and then realized the convenience of a wireless
laptop.
If you still want to go Ad-Hoc I would recommend that you go with USB on the
PCs. PCI cards have a poor reputation for range as the antenna is hidden
behind the metal computer case. A USB adapter can be moved around for
better reception.
HTH;
TomA

 

[John]

Hi Peter;
You would be better off getting an eternet modem and wireless router. Wire
the router to one PC and connect through wireless PCI card to the other.
The reason I say this is with the way the prices and rebates are now the 2nd
PCI wireless card will be close to the cost of the router and the one
computer will not have to be on all the time. You will also get the added
firewall protection of a router. Also the system can expand in the future.
I know you said you will never need more than what you have but I said the
same thing a few years back and then realized the convenience of a wireless
laptop.
If you still want to go Ad-Hoc I would recommend that you go with USB on the
PCs. PCI cards have a poor reputation for range as the antenna is hidden
behind the metal computer case. A USB adapter can be moved around for
better reception.
HTH;
TomA

Also in the US theres a ton of rebate sales . The wireless router
often costs about $10-20 cheaper than the card. I got a router for $29
and the card for $39. Of course the UK may be totally different.

 

[Graham]

Before you commit any money I'd recommend going to >

http://www.adslguide.org.uk

Certainly I would junk ICS as its not required with broadband, a
modem/ router and a wireless network. As Tom as mentioned, you won't
also need to have a PC running all the time. This is assuming you
are not going to be running your own website with a static IP address
etc.

regards
Graham

 

[Nick Le Lievre]

Hi
I will be getting broadband in a month's time and want to share it out
between 2 PCs. One is newer with Win XP, the other is older and does not.
What I want to do is connect a broadband modem (USB) to the PC, install a
wireless PCI card in each PC, and share the connection. The card I was
looking at was the first D-Link product from
http://www.redstore.com/fx/prc_gen.php?genre=PC&cat=$wireless&subcat=003&s
ubcat2=pci . Firstly, is the broadband modem and two of the PCI cards all I
need? If I get two of the above cards, do I need a router? I NEVER will have
more than 2 PCs in the house. I presume that the one with the modem
connected to it will always have to be on if the other one wants to connect?
Thanks for all help
Peter Cavan

You could get a Wireless Access Point and a RJ-45 network card for the
Internet Connecting PC and a 802.11b card for the other PC.

Then you could share the Internet Connection to the RJ-45 network which
could be on subnet 192.168.0.1 you would then plug the WAP into the RJ-45
card via patch cable and you would have an Wireless network in infrastruture
mode hanging off the RJ-45 port 192.168.0.1 all other wireless PCs in the
192.168.0.x subnet could then have wireless internet access thru 192.168.0.1
sharing its connection thru the WAP.

It is better to buy a WAP then another PCI 802.11b card and they cost about
the same these days but you would need a RJ-45 port but one maybe built into
your motherboard.

 

[Peter Cavan]

Hi
Thanks for all the advice. A PCI card should be OK because the PCs are only
about 20ft from each other. I live in the UK, and we don't really get
rebates in the same way as the US. Over here a wireless PCI card is about
£20, but routers are more like £45+. I know that I won't need more than two
becuase I don't really need 2 PCs as it is, if I were to get a laptop I
would either bin or give away the old PC. The newer PC is on nearly 24/7, so
I don't worry about not having it on when the other PC is needed.
Thanks
PC

 

[Nick Le Lievre]

Hi
Thanks for all the advice. A PCI card should be OK because the PCs are only
about 20ft from each other. I live in the UK, and we don't really get
rebates in the same way as the US. Over here a wireless PCI card is about
£20, but routers are more like £45+. I know that I won't need more than two
becuase I don't really need 2 PCs as it is, if I were to get a laptop I
would either bin or give away the old PC. The newer PC is on nearly 24/7, so
I don't worry about not having it on when the other PC is needed.
Thanks
PC

Where can you get a PCI interface in the UK for £ 20 ? ebay ?? be-carefull
there are a lot of wireless PCI adapters being sold there not quite the same
thing - you need to insert a PCMCIA wifi card in them. They are PCMCIA > PCI
Wifi Adapters but you still need the PCMCIA card. I thought they were about
£ 35 my Adaptec WAP cost me £ 38.25 delivered (from dabs) but unfortunately
Adaptec has discontinued them - maybe becuase they`re not well known for
their networking and the consumer has bought elsewhere.

 

[Peter Cavan]

Hi
If you look at my OP I provided a link....
PC

 

[Nick Le Lievre]

Hi
If you look at my OP I provided a link....
PC

Oh yeah those CNET ones are really cheap! I paid a good £ 30 - £ 40 for my
D-Link in April.

 

[Peter Cavan]

Hi
As I said in my post, I was looking at the first D-Link product in the list,
NOT the CNet one.
PC

 

[kony]

Hi
As I said in my post, I was looking at the first D-Link product in the list,
NOT the CNet one.
PC

I have a "trendware" card that's very similar to the CNet, and a
D-Link DWL-520+. The D-Link card has much better range, maybe twice
as far. It isn't that the D-Link is exceptional, just that the other
is poor. However the CNet card "looks" to have a slightly better
antenna, perhaps that helps it.

You are correct that if everything works as it's supposed to, you only
need the two cards and modem. However it's still nice to have the
router for an extra layer of security, not needing the "2nd" PC on all
the time, and by stategically locating the router you may end up with
better coverage area.

If all you'll even do with the cards is share the internet connection,
802.11b cards are fine, but for anything more it might be wise to buy
802.11g cards now as they've dropped quite a bit in price and the
difference in performance can be quite significant if doing something
with fairly high data rates like streaming video.


Dave

 

[Paul Shirley]

Where can you get a PCI interface in the UK for £ 20 ? ebay ??
be-carefull there are a lot of wireless PCI adapters being sold there
not quite the same thing - you need to insert a PCMCIA wifi card in
them. They are PCMCIA > PCI Wifi Adapters but you still need the PCMCIA
card. I thought they were about £ 35 my Adaptec WAP cost me £ 38.25
delivered (from dabs) but unfortunately Adaptec has discontinued them -
maybe becuase they`re not well known for their networking and the
consumer has bought elsewhere.

Watford do USB wireless adaptors for £26
<http://www.savastore.com/products/product.asp?catalog_name=Savastore&p
roduct%5Fid=10261505&pid=75>

I wouldn't normally suggest USB for networking but having the antenna at
the end of a cable is pretty useful.