Wireless Router/Bridge

[Chamander]

I plan to purchase a wireless router or bridge or whatever

I don't know what a bridge is. Maybe it is a switch?

I have a dsl modem.
I want to directly connect the wireless router or bridge to the dsl
modem. All my pcs are wireless enabled and have wireless nic cards.

Do you think a wireless router or a bridge will be better? I don't
really need security features of a router and I run a webserver too so I
don't want to configure and forward ports on a router.
I have 4 computers using a 1.5Mbps / 368 Kbps internet connection.

Can anyone recomend me a good wireless bridge/router/switch? (I REALLLY
Prefer a switch)
Also I login using PPPOE, can the wireless switch handle that?

 

[Chamander]

Oh by the way
For my pentium 4, can i purchase any wireless nic pci card?
If i use a wireless nic pci card, will it be compatible with the
wireless switch and will using a pci card use my cpu cycles? i have a p4
3ghz 800fsb

 

[kony]

I plan to purchase a wireless router or bridge or whatever

I don't know what a bridge is. Maybe it is a switch?

Connects two networks.

I have a dsl modem.
I want to directly connect the wireless router or bridge to the dsl
modem. All my pcs are wireless enabled and have wireless nic cards.

Do you think a wireless router or a bridge will be better?

Your needs are typical, get a wireless router.

don't
really need security features of a router and I run a webserver too so I
don't want to configure and forward ports on a router.

Huh? Why not configure it?
That's quite painless, just enter router config screens and set
port to forward to server's IP number... better than NOT putting
it behind the router. Whether you feel you need the security or
not, it's inherant in the routing and not something that needs
avoided.

I have 4 computers using a 1.5Mbps / 368 Kbps internet connection.

Can anyone recomend me a good wireless bridge/router/switch? (I REALLLY
Prefer a switch)
Also I login using PPPOE, can the wireless switch handle that?

The typical consumer grade router now has a 4 or 5 port switch
integral, you would have to go out of your way to find one that
didn't have a switch. However, since you report that all systems
are wireless enabled, do you really need the switch at all? The
switch is only for wired connections, which would be a good idea
for the server for bandwidth reasons, but also any other PCs
sharing large files with each other OR the server. The wireless
is best suited only for things already having lower througput,
ie- the internet connection sharing.

PPOE is handled by any current gen switch, popular makes include
Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, Belkin. The Belkin seems worse but any
of the others should handle the basic needs you describe just
fine. They're often deeply discounted after rebates, you might
see what's available in your local weekend newspapers.

 

[kony]

Oh by the way
For my pentium 4, can i purchase any wireless nic pci card?

Yes, though there's the option of which speed, most commonly that
is 802.11b or g. If your entire network is only "b" then there's
not much point to buying a "g" card which costs more, but then
again they're backwards compatible so it could be one step in the
entire migration to "g" later.

If i use a wireless nic pci card, will it be compatible with the
wireless switch and will using a pci card use my cpu cycles?

It will be compatible with the switch, and it will use a few CPU
cycles, but not a lot, it's a non-issue on any semi-modern
system.

have a p4
3ghz 800fsb

Plenty fast enough
Main performance issue isn't the use of CPU cycles but that the
system will be waiting around wasting idle CPU cycles because the
wireless network is slower than it would've been if you ran cable
and used 100Mb, let alone 1Gb. wired instead.

 

[kony]

PPOE is handled by any current gen switch,

Correction- current gen. ROUTER.