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Author Topic: Wireless Networking Guide  (Read 6501 times)

lanux128

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Wireless Networking Guide
« on: November 26, 2006, 10:11 PM »
introducing Magoo's Guide to Wireless Networking. a very useful resource for wi-fi newbie like me.. :up:

magoo-wifi-guide.png

Carol Haynes

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Re: Wireless Networking Guide
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2006, 05:45 AM »
Looks like good a useful basic info site - especially useful for WiFi first timers.

lanux128

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Re: Wireless Networking Guide
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2006, 09:21 PM »
aye, i agree. this is site i referred to when helping a friend with some wi-fi configurations. btw, i'm still on cables.. ;)

OldElmerFudd

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Re: Wireless Networking Guide
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2006, 01:54 AM »
aye, i agree. this is site i referred to when helping a friend with some wi-fi configurations. btw, i'm still on cables.. ;)

Trust me, I gave up on truly "wireless" when I tried to figure out how to network 5 computers, two printers, and a scanner! Let's just say "mostly wireless" is a pretty good solution, LOL!
At least the cables are short ....  :-[
OEF

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Carol Haynes

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Re: Wireless Networking Guide
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2006, 02:36 AM »
I was going that way too but I must say I have been converted by NetGear's wireless 802.11n (draft) solution once I got  things sorted out. It is 3 times faster than cabled home networks and they have sorted out the problems of range too (no more expander box to get upstairs). The only disadvantage is that the complete product line isn't there yet (i.e. there are no printer servers for the new draft standard yet and other network addons) but you can expand the network by using a couple of mains electric network adapters without slowing down the wireless network - I am thinking of doing this to add a set top box to my lounge TV so that I can stream video and music to my TV and HiFi set up.

The fast wireless speeds, MIMO and enhanced bandwidth is great and makes a real difference when more than one person is trying to surf the net. Plus it makes network storage a real possibility - though the Netgear SC101 solution is wired from the router and so limited to 100Mbps - but at least it doesn't affect the wireless traffic - and even copying whole DVD size files on the network doesn't degrade internet access speed etc. which is great (there is still 170Mbps or bandwidth left to be used even when file transfers are happening at full pelt).
« Last Edit: November 29, 2006, 02:39 AM by Carol Haynes »

lanux128

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Re: Wireless Networking Guide
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2006, 07:32 PM »
that sounds great, Carol.. i was thinking LinkSys but your NetGear pitch has made me keen to try them also. any pointers to start with, such as model nos. or website that specialises on NetGear configurations?

Carol Haynes

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Re: Wireless Networking Guide
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2006, 07:53 PM »
Look for the "RangeMax Next" range of 802.11n gear which runs at 270Mbps or 300Mbps depending on the router you have. The standard is still in draft form so you can't guarantee that future devices will be 100% compat with the Netgear interpretation.

I have a DG834N router which includes an ADSL 2 modem. Initial impressions are of a solid build and an almost instant startup and internet connection (unlike my old Linksys router which gave you time to make a cup of coffee before you could connect). This is the 270Mbps version - I got it because overclockers.co.uk were doing a special offer on bundles of the router and PCI card (cheaper than the cost of a single PCI card !!!) so I bought two and sold the second router.

The PCI card WN311B seems to work great in one of my systems, but the new system I built (based on an ASUS A8N32-SLI motherboard) seemed to have a compatability issue with it and my system randomly crashed (BSODs) with the card installed and a fresh install of Windows XP. Neither ASUS nor Netgear managed to track down the problem and so Netgear, after an email to their customer services, swapped it for me for a WN121T USB2 adapter which works great.

If I was starting again I would go for the USB adapter everytime.

I live in a stone built cottage with thick walls and under 802.11g I found I needed a repeater to get a decent signal - now I have no such need and access is at 270Mbps throughout the house.

The one annoying thing is that the device has to be out of your system when you install drivers (and that includes upgrading drivers requiring an uninstall of the current drivers and PCI card removal) so it is very irritating to upgrade drivers for the PCI card version - the USB version is obviously trivial. The only slightly annoying issue with the USB adapter is the cable is a fixed cable and is only about 2 feet long. I solved this by plugging it into my USB2 hub which I fixed to the wall with sticky pads and it now works fine and in a convenient place. You could equally well use a USB extension cable (there are loads of Belking cables which are very cheap and do the job just as well). I really can't understand why they didn't supply a couple of metres of cable !

The SC101 storage device works great (except for a problem with NOD32 AV which ESET are investigating - I have temporarily swapped to AVG and everything works fine). I have 2 x 120Gb WD Caviar drives installed in Mirror mode which provides a common network storage which is easily accessible from all computers and doesn't require loads of fiddling with Windows permissions. (Note drives can be partitioned into standard volumes and mirrored volumes and can be private or shared with or without password protection - when you switch on your computer the drives are mounted automatically as they were when you logged off).

If you want a printer server I would suggest using a wired connection to the router as I don't think there are any 802.11n devices ready yet.

The Rangemax Next stuff is backward compatible with 54g and 11b devices but obviously network speeds adopt the lowest speed. Having said that Netgear recon that 54g network devices gain a 50% perfomance boots with the Rangemax Next stuff though I can't see how this could work (I haven't tried it).

See http://www.netgear.c...tersandGateways.aspx for routers
« Last Edit: November 29, 2006, 07:59 PM by Carol Haynes »

OldElmerFudd

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Re: Wireless Networking Guide
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2006, 12:15 AM »
I was going that way too but I must say I have been converted by NetGear's wireless 802.11n (draft) solution once I got  things sorted out. It is 3 times faster than cabled home networks and they have sorted out the problems of range too (no more expander box to get upstairs). The only disadvantage is that the complete product line isn't there yet (i.e. there are no printer servers for the new draft standard yet and other network addons) but you can expand the network by using a couple of mains electric network adapters without slowing down the wireless network - I am thinking of doing this to add a set top box to my lounge TV so that I can stream video and music to my TV and HiFi set up.

The fast wireless speeds, MIMO and enhanced bandwidth is great and makes a real difference when more than one person is trying to surf the net. Plus it makes network storage a real possibility - though the Netgear SC101 solution is wired from the router and so limited to 100Mbps - but at least it doesn't affect the wireless traffic - and even copying whole DVD size files on the network doesn't degrade internet access speed etc. which is great (there is still 170Mbps or bandwidth left to be used even when file transfers are happening at full pelt).

Sounds nice...I've been waiting for 802.11n for Linksys gear, but it's the same problem. The only cables I have are from the modem to the router and the router to the wifi print server. The whole thing isn't set in concrete, but I'll wait to upgrade until there are more choices. My walls are wood, and the backyard is only about 60 feet from the router, so everyting's smooth for now. It's just me and Bite-sized here anyway.
OEF
Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code is a violent psychopath and knows where you live.