2 replies to this topic

[Merlin]

Ok, I have a wireless router and PCI card in mind for a wireless network. Both are 802.11g and have a top transfer rate of 54megs a sec. Now my question is, I know how to connect everything right and how to install it, but what do I do to get a connection, and will my router be able to reach from one side of my house to the other? Or will I have to buy bigger antennas to get a better signal?

Also, may seem odd, but will my good computer, a Windows XP, be able to work together with a WinME, which is what I want to be connected to the internet also.

[CoachWeise]

Ok, I have a wireless router and PCI card in mind for a wireless network.  Both are 802.11g and have a top transfer rate of 54megs a sec.  Now my question is, I know how to connect everything right and how to install it, but what do I do to get a connection

This will vary by modem and provider and current setup... Assuming your connetion goes straight to your PC, then if your ISP uses DHCP, which is usually the case, you should be able to set your router to use DHCP to get the IP and DNS/gateway entries. But you may have to setup some PPoE or other specific settings that are required for your ISP.

If you currently have a router installed then you can either replace the existing router with the new one and just duplicate the settings from the old to the new router or you can use both. To use both you would have to disable any settings in the router that is not connected to the WAN so that it is only used as a bridge and not a router.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of variations depending on your current setup and your ISP and it's hard to capture any and every possible setup :-)

and will my router be able to reach from one side of my house to the other?  Or will I have to buy bigger antennas to get a better signal?

Depending on the size of your house, the location of the Access Point and how many walls/etc are in the way, it should reach across your house. For my wireless setup I have it setup near the middle of my house instead of in a corner so that I would most likely receive the best signal throughout the entire house. But with directional antennas, etc, sometimes a corner of the house could be better. Trial and error is best here...

Also, may seem odd, but will my good computer, a Windows XP, be able to work together with a WinME, which is what I want to be connected to the internet also.

With a router they should both be able to connect to the internet just fine and you should be able to access one PC from the other. You may run into issues with protocols between the two and security, etc... I don't recall how easy/hard it is to go to/from XP and ME... I know that 98SE has issues, but it's possible to do. If worse comes to worse and you need to transfer files or work on the other PC you can set up a FTP server or some sort of VNC client (I like http://www.tightvnc.com).

Coach Weise.

[rlveloria]

PLEASE PLEASE always setup a SSID and WEP on your AP. As tech support I see too many times where someone would call and say.........

"I just go laptop from work and I turned the wireless on and I am connected to the internet or I was connected to the internet for about 2 months and now I can't connect"

In both instances the callers neighbor left the default settings on the AP and callers laptop was set for OS to manage the wireless thus using it "free". Until they applied SSID and WEP of course.

Also set option NOT to broadcast your SSID name.