Networking problem - What are my options?

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Here's the scenario:
My parents have a wireless network running in their home (802.11g), and everything works fine. Signal strength is strong on the second floor, where the router is, and good everywhere else, it's secure, and never drops. However, my dad received a laptop from work, and it's pretty old. It's an Inspiron with a P3 and no wireless adapter built-in. Rather than having to access the network via Cat-5 cable in my brother's room, where the router and modem are housed, he's wondering if there is such a thing as a wireless access point with 10/100 port(s) built-in so he can set one up in his office to access the network through his laptop via Cat-5.

My question: Is there some kind of device I can buy (at a reasonable price) that will serve as a wireless access point or bridge in the office, while also providing a 10/100 port for wired access to the network?
 
Option 1: Buy your dad a PCMCIA or USB wireless adapter for his laptop
Option 2: Buy a wireless bridge such as the Linksys WET54g
Option 3: Use a wireless router as a wireless bridge such as WRT54g with DD-WRT and setup as a wireless bridge

Pick your poison.
 
Why not just get a PCMCIA wireless card for it? No sense going wired if you don't have to...
 
RS3RS said:
Why not just get a PCMCIA wireless card for it? No sense going wired if you don't have to...
Click to expand...


Yep. That would be easiest. The only reason to use a wireless bridge is if you also want other wireless devices at that location. Then you'd bridge over to your current wireless, and then plug all your devices through a switch (in the case of a wrt54g built in switch).
 
It's possible that, being a work computer, he's not able to install things.
 
Well, it's not that he can't install a card. It's just that the laptop is on loan from his company, and they're not willing to reimburse him for the card. So, when he has to return it, he'll have a PCMCIA card sitting around collecting dust. Rather than that, he wants to set something up that will be at least partially useful even after he gives the laptop back.
 
how is a pcmcia wireless card not useful? What would you do with a wireless bridge?

I'm not seeing a way around this one.
 
i would say your best bet is to not get the pcmcia card since he has to give the laptop back to his work but to get a usb wireless adapter, as when your dad gives the lappy back to his work, then the pcmcia card is useless, but a usb adapter could be used in a desktop if you needed it to later on.

usb adapter would probably be the wisest solution since it can be reused once the laptop goes bye bye. I use one for one of my rigs and it works very well.
 
The PCMCIA cards generally work better in the end. Its like $50. Not a big deal here.
 
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