Noob to wireless

O

O-P-M

Gawd
Joined
Apr 7, 2005
Messages
822
I'm getting ready to move into a new house with some buddies who've already got wireless going and all. They said they have a motorola wireless router. I was just curious, it really doesn't matter what wireless adapter I get does it? I was thinking about going USB, with one that comes with a cord that you could put the adapter on top of your desk for a better connection and stuff. Any reccemondations? Anything I should look out for?
 
Iv'e had more problems with USB wireless sticks then I'd like to remember. For sake of simplicity and reliabilty, I reccommend getting a PCI card one. As long as you stay away from the really cheap named crap, you can get anyone you want.
 
CNET said the Netgear wsa the best. I'm thinking about going PCI, but those damn USB adapters just look so good. I just like how you could put it on top of your desk for better reception.
 
O-P-M said:
CNET said the Netgear wsa the best. I'm thinking about going PCI, but those damn USB adapters just look so good. I just like how you could put it on top of your desk for better reception.
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well.. i have both a pci card.. and then the most dirt cheap usb one i could get.. the usb one gets really bad signal and may only connect at 11mb/s sometimes and stuff like that.. but i can put it wherever i want for better reception.. and it works.. i know mine says it has a chip antenna.. i would guess that a usb one with a real antenna would work a lot better..

my pci has been rock solid for me.. its an at&t, i got a good deal on it at officemax.com or something like that for $20 shipped.. no problems with it..

i got my friend an ABS for $18 or something off newegg.. works perfectly...

i haven't tried a pci with a corded antenna yet though.. the longer the cord is the more signal strength you lose.. but is some situations it is worth it for the optimal placement...

so really it depends on whether or not you feel you need to put your antenna/adapter someplace specific or not in my opinion..
 
No experience with that particular USB adapter, but I know a friend who tried a USB adapter and my internal chip on my laptop gets better reception. His is almost useless. We were about 30 feet from the AP with only two walls in between and he could barely keep a signal.

I'd get a PCI one.
 
In addition to above posts I have heard bad things about USB WI-FI adapters having limited speed and range.

I have a couple of Dlink DWL-AG530s (PCI) that come with external antennas and am happy with them.
 
O-P-M said:
This looks like the best of both worlds...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124178
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i think that is way more complex and can actually be used as a router too...

if i am wrong.. which i may be.. that is just overkill.. you could get a normal $20-30 card and stick a $50 antenna on it instead... i doubt your house will cause you too many problems.. i can pick up networks for people that live 5 houses away from me and just have standard routers sometimes on their floors and shit.. with my $20 no frills adapter..

so i would try getting a decent card that is brand name something.. shouldn't cost you mroe than $30.. and then if you have problems you can buy either a normal antenna or one that is one a cord so it can be moved...
 
m1dg3t said:
I may be missing it, but that one doesn't look like it supports WPA.

Please use WPA. Or people like me will steal your internets. :D
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i'm almost positive that the linksys software that comes with it supports wpa
like 99.999% positive, because i recently set this up for a friend
 
I've just always been a little fishy about wireless. I guess I always though that I wouldnt get a good ping while playing some games over the interweb.
 
even if you have the shittiest connection possible and it says you are connected at 1mb/sec. that is still 3 times faster than your internet connection... i never really had any connection through cable/dsl that would sustain downloads at more than 400kb/s so as far as internet goes, even gaming, i don't think you have to worry about anything.. at my mom's house i have a t-base 10 hub... and i can stream movies and mp3s off of one computer in to house to any other one with no problems.. so yeah.. faster speeds are really only necessary if you are copying gigs of files back and fourth...
 
killa62 said:
i'm almost positive that the linksys software that comes with it supports wpa
like 99.999% positive, because i recently set this up for a friend
Click to expand...

Ok good.
:)

scottatwittenberg said:
even if you have the shittiest connection possible and it says you are connected at 1mb/sec. that is still 3 times faster than your internet connection... i never really had any connection through cable/dsl that would sustain downloads at more than 400kb/s so as far as internet goes, even gaming, i don't think you have to worry about anything.. at my mom's house i have a t-base 10 hub... and i can stream movies and mp3s off of one computer in to house to any other one with no problems.. so yeah.. faster speeds are really only necessary if you are copying gigs of files back and fourth...
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this is true for basic file transfer, but with low enough connection strength you're going to experience latency and dropped packets in things like online gaming. in the example i provided above, my friend and i did a side by side comparison of world of warcraft, and he was having significant latency issues, while mine was smooth as butter. only practical hardware difference was the NIC.
 
So what should I look for. This will be going into a Nforce 4 ultra chipset motherboard. If that makes a difference.
 
O-P-M said:
So what should I look for. This will be going into a Nforce 4 ultra chipset motherboard. If that makes a difference.
Click to expand...

just a cheap name brand PCI NIC. netgear, linksys, dlink, doesn't really matter. you'll probably want 802.11g support, and an external antenna to make sure you get a good connection.

if you want a link, this one looks fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833122134
 
Does anybody by chance know a website that tests out wireless adapters and other equipment?
 
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