[plotthickens]

We're looking at upgrading what we have.

Currently we are hardwired and have

( Show Spoiler )

AT&T and incredibly slow internet (67 ms ping, 1.32 Mbps download, .32 Mbps upload) due to shitty wires and hungry squirrels in the area. We'd have to upgrade to other services to get a quicker connection, but that's for later research.


We need to have 2 computers use the same wireless connection (I think that's called a Wireless Modem, right?). So. Wireless hardware info please.

1. What do you have?
2. How well do you like it?
3. What's best about it?
4. What would you change/do differently?

[bobabrowncoat]

I have 10Mbit down/1Mbit up through Cable One. I bought my own cable modem, a Zoom 5341. It goes to an Apple AirPort Extreme. From the AirPort I have an Ethernet cable running to my Windows 7 PC I use only for gaming. Also from the AirPort is another cable running to a cheapo gigabit Ethernet switch on the other side of the room where my entertainment system is. I have my PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 plugged into it. Wirelessly through the AirPort I have my MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone, PSP, and Wii.

I used to work at an ISP and would set up small networks like this for businesses and home users alike. By far, the most important piece in your whole network is your router. In my case, my router is the AirPort Extreme which has built in wireless-N and three gigabit Ethernet ports. Whatever router you decide on I'd check
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to make sure there aren't any huge problems you could avoid.

[PRBori]

For the home wireless router, at this point I'm using Verizon FIOS wireless which works fine for now. To that I connect all my computers, TVs, and game consoles. So far no issues, plus is encrypted. Prior to I used Netgear N600 [
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For my server room I will be using an Actiontec PWR511K01 500Mbps Powerline network adapter kit [
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] along with a small business CISCO router (not wireless) in order to take advantage of verizons internet speed specific for small business and leverage the home electric current for faster connections rather than wireless. The above works great when you need connections in places where there are no cables or the wireless connection is to weak.

No changes for now, everything seems to fall into place just fine. The only recommendation is to ensure that you are using WPA2 with AES 256 to protect the data being transmitted. Securing the environment is important.

[RBM]

Originally Posted by bobabrowncoat To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I have 10Mbit down/1Mbit up through Cable One. I bought my own cable modem, a Zoom 5341. It goes to an Apple AirPort Extreme. From the AirPort I have an Ethernet cable running to my Windows 7 PC I use only for gaming. Also from the AirPort is another cable running to a cheapo gigabit Ethernet switch on the other side of the room where my entertainment system is. I have my PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 plugged into it. Wirelessly through the AirPort I have my MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone, PSP, and Wii. I used to work at an ISP and would set up small networks like this for businesses and home users alike. By far, the most important piece in your whole network is your router. In my case, my router is the AirPort Extreme which has built in wireless-N and three gigabit Ethernet ports. Whatever router you decide on I'd check To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. to make sure there aren't any huge problems you could avoid.

Do you have any expertise in the over-the-air transmission issues, such a decreased throughput ?

[bobabrowncoat]

	Originally Posted by RBM To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Do you have any expertise in the over-the-air transmission issues, such a decreased throughput ?

Expertise? Not really. If you're talking 802.11a/b/g/n/whatever, we would usually try to situate the router or access point away from anything that would interfere or bridge the network over Ethernet or possibly use repeaters.

[RBM]

	Originally Posted by bobabrowncoat To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Expertise? Not really. If you're talking 802.11a/b/g/n/whatever, we would usually try to situate the router or access point away from anything that would interfere or bridge the network over Ethernet or possibly use repeaters.

Yeah, that's the gist of my query.

Thanks for the reply but I guess I'll have to visit Wiki to get more details on router placement and related issues, in context of lambda flavors (a/b/g/n).

[Warrior]

	Originally Posted by plotthickens To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	What do you have?

I have a NetGear router. In addition to the wireless capability, it also has ports on the back for cable connections if I need to use those as well.

	How well do you like it?

Fairly well. It was easy to set up and doesn't really give me any problems.

	What's best about it?

The ability to prioritize traffic on different ports. I've used that a few times to test things for work.

	What would you change/do differently?

With the router itself, nothing, but I wish I could more centrally locate it within my house for ease of access.

It is also important to scan what channels are in use by other people. I've changed the channel mine transmits on a couple times because other systems around the neighborhood show up on the same channel.

[codip426]

	Originally Posted by plotthickens To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	We need to have 2 computers use the same wireless connection (I think that's called a Wireless Modem, right?). So. Wireless hardware info please. [/SPOILER] What do you have? How well do you like it? What's best about it? What would you change/do differently?

Charter is my provider. They're a cable internet service, and they're pretty awesome. My wireless router is a Linksys/Cisco E1200.

It's cheap and it works.

It's cheap and it works.

Nothing, I spent $20 on the router on Amazon, and because I'm a broke student, I needed something that works. I'm constantly streaming Netflix on my PS3 and two computers are always connected to it.

[Storm]

Right now I have Verizon DSL and use the wireless box that came with the service. It works fine for two people. We mainly just use the internet for e-mail and web-surfing although I also like to stream movies. No problems.

Why are you looking to upgrade wireless? Coverage or speed or both. For two people, unless both of you are online gaming/streaming/uploading/downloading a lot, any mid-range wireless box should work. Maybe even a low-range if you have a small house and don't do much intense stuff on the internet. Coverage, though, depends on how big the house is. If you have a spread out or tall house, you might consider buying a signal booster, also sometimes called a range extender or repeater.

[plotthickens]

My deept thanks to everyone who replied.

	Originally Posted by Storm To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Why are you looking to upgrade wireless? Coverage or speed or both.

Neither, actually. Our house is shaped like an L. The best jack is at one tip of the L and the other computer setup is way the hell over on the other side of the house. The best jack runs 1.32 Mbps and the ones near the other office barely do .6, so it makes sense to do wireless. Don't want to run wires: the old phone lines are buried in the foundation (don't ask) so we'd have to do a whole new install.

Also that means that, technically inept as I may feel, I would have control over the connection and could make sure that my mother's connection was up and secure, instead of having to go over and check her modem twice a month.

[Storm]

Sorry, I wasn't clear because I missed that you've never used wireless before.

Wireless only has so far of a range. If you're house isn't very big, it shouldn't be a problem. But if you have a spread out house, even if it's not very big square footage wise, the signal might not reach all areas of the house. Especially if you're planning on using your laptop outside. That's what I meant by coverage.

Before purchasing your wireless, you should know how far away the other end of the house is. The specs should tell you how far the signal will go. Wireless will broadcast in a circle, so if you're being forced to put the router at the far end of the house, it may very well not reach. That's when you would need to buy a booster/repeater/extender.

[plotthickens]

Originally Posted by Storm To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Sorry, I wasn't clear because I missed that you've never used wireless before. Wireless only has so far of a range. If you're house isn't very big, it shouldn't be a problem. But if you have a spread out house, even if it's not very big square footage wise, the signal might not reach all areas of the house. Especially if you're planning on using your laptop outside. That's what I meant by coverage. Before purchasing your wireless, you should know how far away the other end of the house is. The specs should tell you how far the signal will go. Wireless will broadcast in a circle, so if you're being forced to put the router at the far end of the house, it may very well not reach. That's when you would need to buy a booster/repeater/extender.

Thanks. I dug a wireless router up, may I repeat the specs here and have ya'all help me figure this out?

[Storm]

How old is it? If it's newer, you should be able to basically just plug it in and have it up and running in 10 minutes.

[tctomc]

don't fear going wireless. My setup is DSL modem combined with wireless router, to which is a wireless client connected, which is wired to another wireless router, and it works.

[plotthickens]

	Originally Posted by Storm To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	How old is it? If it's newer, you should be able to basically just plug it in and have it up and running in 10 minutes.

Hm. It's at least a year old. I must admit I'm so used to knowing my tech backward and forward that I don't like not knowing much about Wireless. I may have to do a day of immersion study. Anyway, here are the stats... what do you think?

Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router (WNDR3400)


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Package Contents

• N600 Wireless Dual Band Router (WNDR3400v2)
• Stand
• Ethernet cable
• Smart Wizard™ installation CD
• Power adapter, localized to country of sale

Advanced Features

• Live Parental Controls with flexible and customizable filter settings
• Simultaneous Dual Band—runs both 2.4 and 5GHz bands at the same time
• ReadySHARE® USB—Wirelessly share a USB hard drive with Macs and PCs
• Multiple SSID guest networks (separate security and access restrictions)
• Broadband usage meter measures Internet usage
• Power and Wi-Fi on/off buttons

Warranty

• Lifetime Warranty‡ (For full warranty details go to
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  . Limited to hardware only for as long as the original buyer owns the product. External power supply excluded.)

System Requirements

• Broadband (cable, DSL) Internet service and modem with Ethernet connection
• 2.4 or 5.0 GHz 802.11a/b/g/n specification wireless adapter or an Ethernet adapter and cable for each computer
• Microsoft® Windows® 7, Vista®, XP, 2000, Mac OS®, UNIX®, or Linux®
• Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 5.0, Firefox® 2.0 or Safari 1.4 or higher

Standards

• IEEE® 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz
• IEEE 802.11 a/n 5.0 GHz
• Five (5) 10/100 (1 WAN and 4 LAN) Ethernet ports with auto-sensing technology

Performance

• 530 MHz powerful MIPS 32-bit processor
• Memory: 8 MB flash and 64 MB RAM
• Five (5) (1 WAN, 4 LAN) Fast Ethernet ports
• Advanced Quality of Service (QoS)
• Supports Wireless Multimedia (WMM) based QoS

Security

• Wi-Fi Protected Access® (WPA/WPA2—PSK) and WEP
• Double firewall protection (SPI and NAT firewall)
• Denial-of-service (DoS) attack prevention

Ease of Use

• NETGEAR Genie™—Easy dashboard control to manage, monitor, and repair home networks
• Push ‘N’ Connect using Wi-Fi Protected Setup® (WPS)1

[bobabrowncoat]

That looks like a good one. Two things: Make sure you use WPA2 encryption. And, IF (IF) you have problems like it disconnecting randomly, check to see that you have the newest
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.

[Storm]

A year old should pose no problem (the really old ones from like 8 years ago were a super bitch to set up). Follow the instructions in the book for plugging everything together, pop in the CD and do what it says.

That looks like a good box for your use, you probably won't have any problems with it.

One thing, though, I assume that any computer your going to go the wireless route for has wireless capability? All laptops made in the past 10 years should come with it built in. For desktops, it's usually an optional feature.

[plotthickens]

Both of you are so massively cool. Thanks, Boooooooba, I just spent a bit of time looking into WPA and understand it better. Shall do. And yes, Storm, this may very well be the answer we need for mom's 6-year-old computer.
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[curiousgeorge01]

Just FYI not all computers can support WPA2 encryption. I have a laptop bought within the last 5 years and it only does WPA. If your computers are older have built in cards, it may not support WPA2.

Personally I hate DSL. I only do satellite, cable or fiber optic depending on your area. Fiber optic (Verison FIOS) is not available everywhere but is the fastest. Cable (Time Warner) is the middle in terms of speed and price. Satellite I believe is the most expensive. They all usually give about 5Mbps and up. I get about 20.

[bobabrowncoat]

	Originally Posted by curiousgeorge01 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Satellite I believe is the most expensive.

It also has the highest latency. Not good.

[curiousgeorge01]

	Originally Posted by bobabrowncoat To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	It also has the highest latency. Not good.

Didn't know that. But I hate DSL with a passion.

[PlatoHagel]

A wireless NetComm 3G8WV-TS Smart Hub works fine. In remote regions from towers you can use Yagi antennae to boost the signal into your hub and "range extenders" to increase the signal from the source of your hub to locations furthest from your hub.

Thought of using Wilson booster in line with Yagi and hub and found interference was produced but work just as well with Yagi connected.

Just realize with help of grandson that towers owned by different companies provide for better service so it is good to identified cell towers owners if you are within ranges of. While using a competing company to his I realize that his carrier was much faster because the tower I thought belonged to my company actually belonged to his.

So by splitting the cost of data I will get a second hub by his company. Increase data download and upload and reduce cost between two.

[eagleseven]

Time Warner cable internet: $60/month for 20 Mbits download and 2Mbits upload. Pricey and very shitty customer service, but they're the only non-DSL provider in my area. The speed is handy for streaming HD netflix!


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D-Link DIR-615 N-Band wireless router, bought it several years back on sale. WPA2 encryption, relatively fast, and very cheap. My current apartment has ancient thick walls that block sound and signals, so I purchased a Netgear Wireless range extender so it actually reaches my bedroom and bathroom.


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[PlatoHagel]

	Originally Posted by eagleseven To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	so I purchased a Netgear Wireless range extender so it actually reaches my bedroom and bathroom. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Works well the extender. I paid approximately $64.00 at Future Shop.

[RBM]

	Originally Posted by Eagleseven
	Time Warner cable internet: $60/month for 20 Mbits download and 2Mbits upload

Is that JUST ISP ? Independent of the other TV services ? In other words, can you purchase only that service without any other service ?

DSL, for example, can't be purchased independently of basic phone/line service.