System Requirements Wireless Router?

[Forrest]

My brother just got cable internet. He has a new machine, an HP, (P-4) I
suspect, next to his new modem and wanted to use a wireless router so that
his kid could use the internet on his old machine upstairs. I went out and
bought him a Linksys wireless-G (WRT54GS) router and a Linksys wireless-G,
PCI adapter for the machine upstairs. I tried everything I could but
couldn't get it to work on both. I connected the main computer to the router
with a cable and it works fine. Just can't get the remote one to work. I
gave up and went back to the store and bought the same type stuff made by
Netgear. I did manage to get some internet activity but at a snail's pace.
After checking over the system requirements I see that they say that it
will work with Win 98SE among others, but doesn't list Win 98, which is what
he has. The driver loaded ok. The Netgear wireless adapter also lists a
Pentium 111 class computer as a requirement. The box for the Linksys router
only says that the processor has to be 200 mgh. I see that his readout in
Windows says that he has an AMD K6 (TM) 3D processor. It's in a Compac
machine with 220 mg of ram. How does that stack up against Pentiums and
should it be sufficient? Any insights and advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Christopher Kurtis Koeber]

Dear Forrest,
First, you must look at the distance of the PCI Adapter to the router
and also what is between the two devices. If, for example, the PCI Adapter
"sees" the Router at an angle due to, let's say the floor, a wall, etc. then
the communication between those devices will slow down considerably. Also,
the devices cannot be too far apart. You may have trouble connecting the two
devices if you are connecting them from far (or furthest) points of the
house.
Second, make sure you have the same Wireless SSID's, channel settings,
etc. on both the PCI Adapter and the Router. Also check the security and
encryption settings.
Third, you mentioned that you have Windows 98, First Edition. You may
need the second edition since there are some internal differences bewteen
the two in terms of how they handle drivers and networking. Also, make sure
that you have the latest updates from Microsoft for the Windows 98 operating
system. That can come into play.
Last, if all else fails, try the PCI adapter on the new computer. If
that machine can connect, then it's the old Windows 98 machine that's the
culprit. If the New HP computer cannot connect, then it's either the Adapter
that's at fault or bad network settings.
Hope that helps.
Sincerely,
Christopher Kurtis Koeber

 

[Pen]

My brother just got cable internet. He has a new machine, an HP, (P-4) I
suspect, next to his new modem and wanted to use a wireless router so that
his kid could use the internet on his old machine upstairs. I went out and
bought him a Linksys wireless-G (WRT54GS) router and a Linksys wireless-G,
PCI adapter for the machine upstairs. I tried everything I could but
couldn't get it to work on both. I connected the main computer to the router
with a cable and it works fine. Just can't get the remote one to work. I
gave up and went back to the store and bought the same type stuff made by
Netgear. I did manage to get some internet activity but at a snail's pace.
After checking over the system requirements I see that they say that it
will work with Win 98SE among others, but doesn't list Win 98, which is what
he has. The driver loaded ok. The Netgear wireless adapter also lists a
Pentium 111 class computer as a requirement. The box for the Linksys router
only says that the processor has to be 200 mgh. I see that his readout in
Windows says that he has an AMD K6 (TM) 3D processor. It's in a Compac
machine with 220 mg of ram. How does that stack up against Pentiums and
should it be sufficient? Any insights and advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

Frankly your description of the problem seems to
indicate a signal strength problem. I would suggest
that an external antenna(s) that can be moved around
some. It is very unlikely that a the K6 has anything at
all to do with this. K6-3s only came in over 400MHz versions.

 

[DaveW]

When they say that it will work with Win98SE, that means it will NOT work if
you are using Win 98. Time to upgrade the OS or find other hardware.

 

[kony]

When they say that it will work with Win98SE, that means it will NOT work if
you are using Win 98. Time to upgrade the OS or find other hardware.

Nope, it could a number of things, for example that they merely didn't
test it on Win98FE, or that it wouldn't run on Win98FE as an unaltered
clean install, but once some Microsoft patches have been applied it might
work. In this particular case I don't know, but it is rare for anything
to run on Win98SE but not Win98(FE) after it's been diligently patched, as
any Mickeysoft OS should be.