Wireless Advice for Adsl & 5 pc's

[Picard]

I'm looking to buy a wireless Adsl modem/router and whatever else is necessary to link a total of 4 desktop pc's and a laptop. I also need to share 2 printers over the network and possibly a scanner. Although I have a fair technical knowledge of pc's, my knowledge of this area is pretty poor, so all advice/links would be helpfull to help me get up to speed on this subject.

The quality of the firewall is important, as is connection speed to the other computers which are spread all over the house. and although I would like to keep the cost down I will not comprise too much on quality.

Thanks in advance

Picard

 

[psd99]

well i was in a similar posistion to yourself over 2 months ago.

In the end i went for a company called Linksys, I got myself a wireless access point, built in adsl modem and wireless router all in one solution.
it works great so far been very impressed it cost me around 60 quid (british pounds). it also has a built in firewall.

u can share your broadband connection with this device, i say u look at couple of companies mainly:

LINKSYS
NETGEAR
D-LINK

dont look at any minor companies, that are not well known.
look for a router that has a built in firewall, and speeds of up to 54mpbs is fine (802.11g) that is the standard i beleive! price? id say no more than 100 quid!

then additionally you will need a wireless nic card on each pc u want to share the internet on! i myself have a linksys, it does the job it is a good produc.

one last note about wireless networking think about the following:

how many walls you are gona go through ( more than 2 and ur signal will be v weak)
none told me about this fact i walked into a blind alley!

u need to have this router pluged into either the phone socket or cable connection anyhwere around the house the router does not need to be connected directly to a pc! but connectin it directly will mean u will need one less wireless card!

hope it all helps!
post your thoughts!

 

[Picard]

excellent reply, that covers almost all i needed to know, now i can follow through myself.

only one thing i am unclear about.... you said that if the router connects directly to a pc i need one less card.... does this mean that i can connect direct to one and link to 4 more (remember i need to link a total of 5 machines), or will i still need an access point as well.

thanks

picard

 

[muckshifter]

Picard, the 'Router' is the access point ... it can, and usually is, conected to one PC, therefore no need for a wireless card for that PC.

 

[psd99]

Picard, it all depends on the location of your 4pcs.

somehow u need to make sure that the router is in the middle!this means connecting the router to the pc that is in the middle. the biggest problem with networkin is signal strengths. this all depends on your walls and ceilings. if you got your router dead bang in the middle of all pcs then your signal will be good, but if your router is far away from the pcs your sgnal will be weak.(makes sense really!)

two options here mate:

a. 5 wireless cards (one for each pc) 1 router (dead bang in the middle connected to phone line. but not connected directly to a pc)

b. 4 wireless cards 1 router (connected to the other pc)


you do not need the router to be directly connected to a pc, as long as your have a wireless card in each pc you will be able, to share files, access the router and share adsl!

hope this helps, post us baclk the harddware u r thinkng about buying!

 

[Picard]

thanks psd99, now i that i have a better understanding, its off to read some reviews and some serious price checking

hopefully the walls in my home won't cause too big a problem, as they are all plasterboard cavity walls, plus i have the perfect central place for the router.

Will post what i'm thinking of getting when i've done some research.

Thanks for all ur help

Picard