Looking for help/suggestion with wireless setup

I'm looking for help and suggestions with respect to setting up a home
wireless network. I have cable internet, with a cable modem, hooked up
to a (really) old Dell computer that's running Windows 98.

I'm looking for a suggestion as to what wireless router I should get.
Here's the catch. I'm also looking for a suggestion as to how to get my
G5 Macintosh desktop in the other room hooked up to this network once I
get it going. I (stupidly) didn't get a wireless card installed in it
when I ordered it a few years ago. Now I'm kicking myself, but I
understand that there are USB options, and that sounds ideal to me so I
don't have to crack my G5 open. The problem I'm encountering is I can't
find many USB wireless cards that say they work for MACs, and I also am
curious about the easiest way to set this up so I can get my old ass
Dell and my MAC talking through some wireless router.

My brother who I live with also has a laptop, but he's got a wireless
card so I'm guessing his computer will pick up any wireless signal
easily.

I'm not very adept at the whole wireless thing and this would be my
first time trying this out. I appreciate all the help and suggestions I
can get.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and offer suggestions.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
View this thread: http://www.wirelessforums.org/showthread.php?t=38216
http://www.wirelessforums.org

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 21:59:22 -0500, Pdyx
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>I'm looking for help and suggestions with respect to setting up a home
>wireless network. I have cable internet, with a cable modem, hooked up
>to a (really) old Dell computer that's running Windows 98.
>
>I'm looking for a suggestion as to what wireless router I should get.

What are your priorities? Cost? Performance? Support?
How technical and handy are you?

>Here's the catch. I'm also looking for a suggestion as to how to get my
>G5 Macintosh desktop in the other room hooked up to this network once I
>get it going. I (stupidly) didn't get a wireless card installed in it
>when I ordered it a few years ago. Now I'm kicking myself, but I
>understand that there are USB options, and that sounds ideal to me so I
>don't have to crack my G5 open. The problem I'm encountering is I can't
>find many USB wireless cards that say they work for MACs, and I also am
>curious about the easiest way to set this up so I can get my old ass
>Dell and my MAC talking through some wireless router.

Options other than USB for the Mac:
1. Powerline networking
2. Phoneline networking
3. Coax (TV cable) networking
4. Wireless Ethernet client bridge (see below)

>My brother who I live with also has a laptop, but he's got a wireless
>card so I'm guessing his computer will pick up any wireless signal
>easily.

Depends. What's the distance? What in the way (walls, doors, etc.)?
What radio interference exists?

>I'm not very adept at the whole wireless thing and this would be my
>first time trying this out. I appreciate all the help and suggestions I
>can get.

Possible option: Two Linksys WRT54G wireless routers, one as a wireless
router, the other with DD-WRT firmware re-configured as a wireless
Ethernet client bridge for the Mac.
<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124010>

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

> I'm looking for help and suggestions with respect to setting up a home
> wireless network. I have cable internet, with a cable modem, hooked up
> to a (really) old Dell computer that's running Windows 98.

How is this set up? Is there an ethernet card in the 98 machine? If so
then this should be easy. You'd get a router and connect it to the comcast
connection, between it and the 98 machine. But you'd need to describe how
your existing setup is configured.

> I'm looking for a suggestion as to what wireless router I should get.

Buffalo, Linksys, even Apple's gear would work fine. They're all more or
less the same these days.

-Bill Kearney

On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 06:57:35 -0500, "Bill Kearney"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)> :

>> I'm looking for a suggestion as to what wireless router I should get.
>
>Buffalo, Linksys, even Apple's gear would work fine. They're all more or
>less the same these days.

Significant differences in my experience: Buffalo is very good, but
currently banned from the USA. Linksys is decent. Apple is very good.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

Pdyx wrote:
> I'm looking for help and suggestions with respect to setting up a home
> wireless network. I have cable internet, with a cable modem, hooked
> up to a (really) old Dell computer that's running Windows 98.
>
> I'm looking for a suggestion as to what wireless router I should get.

How old is really old? Is it win 98 first edition or second? (old dell's
that only had the original win98 and not win98se usually didn't support usb
or wireless)