posted on April 8, 2006 07:48:00 AM new
I have planned this for a year now and am almost ready to do it. Iam going to jump from dial up to DSL through SBC. This should speed up my listing proceedure quite a bit. It's cheap enough for me to afford fight now. My plan is to hook it up to one phone line and do a wireless network thing through the house so my son and I can access the internet at the same time. Because of the construction of the house (conduit in walls, split level L shaped house, on a hill, with the telephone connection on one end of the L and the two computers in the middle and other end of the L, etc) I think I am going to need wireless PCI cards for the computers with an antenna that has a longer cord on it so I can move it around higher or lower etc to get the best signal. I know a few cards come with those kinds of antennas. I think I can buy them separately too.
Any thoughts on brand names of cards or any other of the equipment I might need?
[ edited by paloma91 on Apr 8, 2006 07:49 AM ]
posted on April 8, 2006 08:59:25 AM new
I don't have an answer to your specific question, except to say that my house is built in a similar shape, and I gave up on wireless after trying antennas and repeaters . I understand that wireless is much improved in the meantime, but I bit the bullet and paid for pulling cable (there was serious drilling involved, and I didn't want to do it myself).
I have a router with 3 PCs at one end of the house (where the cable comes in), and an Ethernet switch at the other end where another 3 PCs live (BTW, spend the extra few $ for a switch rather than a router).
It is completely dependable (hey, why wouldn't it be?), and the speeds are better than wireless. My next router and PC will be Gigabit capable, and the LAN speeds will be incredible (that matters to me because I do a lot of file sharing within the house).
If there's any way to pull cable, I'd recommend doing it, and specify the best cable in order to install Gigabit.
posted on April 9, 2006 07:45:23 AM new
I went with the simple DLINK unit for my son's computer. I have cable and this router hooked up right in line in my office. He just has the simple very small USB unit attached to his computer. BIGGEST problem...TOO MANY people in the neighborhood has them! One neighbor was able to pick mine up along with two others!(cheap way to bypass paying bills)!
posted on April 9, 2006 07:59:25 AM new
keep in mind that most wireless routers use similar 802.11g cards inside, and what distinguishes one brand from the other is sometimes nothing more than the case. I'm having really good luck with a 20 dollar router made by Airlink. It's as good or better than others I have that cost 80 bucks or more. The walls of my house are 12 inch thick solid adobe, and I get a very good signal anywhere in the place.
Also, be sure you figure out how to put a password on your network, so that your neighbors won't do naughty stuff with your connection. They WILL, you know, if they can.
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posted on April 9, 2006 08:55:33 AM new
A wireless router does not "have" an IP address. That is provided by the ISP, and can be static or dynamic, depending on what you paid for.
posted on April 9, 2006 10:50:11 PM new
I am SBC I have a new 2 wire router it is wireless also ( has 4 ethernet ports on it and one usb my old 2-wire modem just had the one ethernet and 1 usb ports and I had to use a multiport switch / hub for other machines in home) from Sbc service and I have 4 computers 3 on ethernet cable in the house and a new laptop that is wireless. Since I have not put a wireless card into a PC I can't tell you if others in neighborhood could read the PC with a card on it but probably so.? But both 2 wire modems I have had from SBC has a WEP number on its body that if you don't know that number then you are not going to get on my network. But others might can get on to other pc with the wireless card if you don't have it WEPed. Yes It is confusing and a giant headache but SBC has very good telephone support on (their) equipment if you get stuck. This has brought up a good question I need to check it out and see if I can see my wireless laptop from someone else using their wireless. Will have to borrow my brothers laptop and check that out.
My other brother has SBC also and he was sent the Speedstream modem at his business location and he has had a nightmare trying to network his 2 PCs at his office.
Guess what I am trying to say is that to my knowledge of the SBC equipment best to get is the 2-Wire one it is wireless and or ethernet connection ready. You can also get other equipment that will connect your other PCs and it not be wireless. an HPNA adaptor I believe it is. Have you already checked out the available equipment required from SBC?
Hope above URL works for you as I was signed in to access it. You can also check out 2 wire networking
**************
Some minds are like concrete,
thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
posted on April 9, 2006 11:07:15 PM new
Above all else, you want to remember that if you use a "wireless" device of any type, you are emitting a radio signal over the airwaves. Once that signal hits the air, it can be intercepted in any of a number of ways. Your communications are NOT secure, in spite of the hype you receive from the manufacturer of the wireless equipment. It is such a simple matter to string a length of coaxial cable through the attic and accomplish your objective. Then, when you become disalusioned with SBC, which is in total disaray here in California due to the ATT changeover, it will be a simple and inexpensive task to switch to Comcast cable and discover the true meaning of high speed internet access.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
posted on April 10, 2006 06:17:34 AM new
I know that it would better to use ethernet cable but it such a long run from one telephone outlet to either computer, I thought it would be better to go wifi. Yes, there are a few wifi networks in the area. I put a laptop together and bought a wifi card for it. To test it out I went from one side of the house to the other. There are atleast 4 networks that this little card picked up. When I went across the street to my neighbor's house, I founda few more! They were all secured with passwords thought.
posted on April 11, 2006 08:09:03 PM new
paloma91,
Sounds like WiFi works in your home setup since you can receive the neighbours. Too bad they have passwords or you could really save on internet access
You can secure all flavours of WiFi by using the encryption option - that'll stop sparkz & company from sniffing your passwords and getting free online banking and internet access.
802.11g is probably the best WiFi flavour to go with, but do make sure the model you buy is flash upgradeable (most are). Often there's very little performance or feature difference between brands so I'd go with the best price for the features. You might want to peruse a copy of a recent PC magazine for WiFi comparisons.
posted on April 12, 2006 09:08:17 PM new
Paying right now $21.95 for 3megabyte /sec download 500kbp upload with SBC ATT DSL Pro speed
**************
Some minds are like concrete,
thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
posted on April 12, 2006 09:22:31 PM new
DSL is now free through AOL. You can change from dialup to DSL at no extra monthly charge. It's now available in 95% of the country. In this area, it would be through ATT (ex SBC) (ex Pacific Bell). I'm waiting for them to get their act together after the recent corporate merger before I switch.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
