Direct Cable or Wireless

Hello All,

Sorry if this has been answered in one form or another.
I'm going to get cable internet access in my home and I have 2 options in mind.
1. I could run a cable from the outside to my computer directly. Must make
holes in walls.
OR
2. I could get a wireless Network and skip running cables and have the option
of moving the computer if I wish.
Will this option with 802.11b or 802.11g be as fast as a direct cable for
accessing the internet? If I run encryption 64bit or 128bit, will speed drop
down below that of a direct cable? How about for big file downloads like mp3's,
etc., is wireless a good option?

My computer is a Pentium2 running Win98.

Any component recomendations would also be welcome.

Thanks,
Alex

========================================
2001: A Space Odyssey in Virtual Reality
http://members.aol.com/alprojects/2001/index.html

Tribute to the World Trade Center in 3D
http://members.aol.com/alprojects/wtc/index.html

(E-Mail Removed)pamblok (Al) wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> Hello All,
>
> Sorry if this has been answered in one form or another.
> I'm going to get cable internet access in my home and I have 2 options
> in mind. 1. I could run a cable from the outside to my computer
> directly. Must make holes in walls.
> OR
> 2. I could get a wireless Network and skip running cables and have the
> option of moving the computer if I wish.
> Will this option with 802.11b or 802.11g be as fast as a direct cable
> for accessing the internet? If I run encryption 64bit or 128bit, will
> speed drop down below that of a direct cable? How about for big file
> downloads like mp3's, etc., is wireless a good option?
>
> My computer is a Pentium2 running Win98.
>
> Any component recomendations would also be welcome.

Both my wired and my 802.11b connection download from the Internet at the
RoadRunner maximum of 2 Gb, so I don't know if that should be a factor,
unless your Internet cable provider provides for higher download speeds.
This is with using 128 bit WEP two rooms away. The problem with WEP is
that it provides weak protection unless you regularly change your keys (I
do mine weekly). Performance wise, I don't see a difference, but the
original RoadRunner installation just involved branching off the cable
entrance in the basement, and one hole in the floor of a room, which
seems like no big deal to me - this would be my preference, except for my
mobile laptop.

--
Tom McCune
http://www.McCune.cc
Please use PGP for Privacy & Authenticity

The only problem with what you want to do is that you will, at some point
(probably during your initial setup), need to access the router over a wired
connection.

If the distance allows, you could keep a long ethernet cable on-hand that
you can temporarily run from the computer to the router. After you're done,
roll it up and put it away for the next time.


Bob

"Al" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello All,
>
> Sorry if this has been answered in one form or another.
> I'm going to get cable internet access in my home and I have 2 options in
mind.
> 1. I could run a cable from the outside to my computer directly. Must make
> holes in walls.
> OR
> 2. I could get a wireless Network and skip running cables and have the
option
> of moving the computer if I wish.
> Will this option with 802.11b or 802.11g be as fast as a direct cable for
> accessing the internet? If I run encryption 64bit or 128bit, will speed
drop
> down below that of a direct cable? How about for big file downloads like
mp3's,
> etc., is wireless a good option?
>
> My computer is a Pentium2 running Win98.
>
> Any component recomendations would also be welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Alex
>
> ========================================
> 2001: A Space Odyssey in Virtual Reality
> http://members.aol.com/alprojects/2001/index.html
>
> Tribute to the World Trade Center in 3D
> http://members.aol.com/alprojects/wtc/index.html

On 24 Jul 2003 20:10:18 GMT, (E-Mail Removed)pamblok (Al) wrote:

>Hello All,
>
>Sorry if this has been answered in one form or another.
>I'm going to get cable internet access in my home and I have 2 options in mind.
>1. I could run a cable from the outside to my computer directly. Must make
>holes in walls.
>OR
>2. I could get a wireless Network and skip running cables and have the option
>of moving the computer if I wish.
>Will this option with 802.11b or 802.11g be as fast as a direct cable for
>accessing the internet?

Yes.

> If I run encryption 64bit or 128bit, will speed drop
>down below that of a direct cable?

No way. Even when I got 3,000Kbps with @home, my wireless speed tests
were the same as wired.

> How about for big file downloads like mp3's,
>etc., is wireless a good option?

Downloads yes, BIG transfers, no.
Transfering an 800MB movie over wireless is awful. I ran wires since I
rip DVD movies all the time to watch on my notebook and PPC.

>
>My computer is a Pentium2 running Win98.

The biggest difference between wireless and wired (besides transfer
speed) is wireless is half duplex. At this time all wireless cards are
shipping half duplex. You can send data or receive data, but not both
at once. That is a big problem if you do online gaming or run a
program like emule. Any $5 wired nic you buy will be full duplex.
_________________________
When your PC gives a little they give alot:
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