On 27 Jun 2004 04:57:17 -0700,
(E-Mail Removed) (Peter P) wrote:
>Any help appreciated on this. I have a laptop (Centrino) with
>wireless B. My son visits with another laptop - wireless G card.
>There will in a few months also be a desktop capable of getting
>broadband (unlike this old thing).
>
>What I want to achieve is a broadband connection (probably from Tesco,
>which looks at present to be a clear 512 leader at just under £20 pm
>with no monthly download limit) which can be used on all three
>machines.
>
>Is this possible please, can more than one PC be used at the same
>time, and what do I need apart from the free modem which Tesco will
>provide? Is wireless internet secure, and do I lose much speed if I
>go wireless?
You won't use the free modem. You need a wireless broadband router /
modem, perhaps by Netgear or by DLink, for example perhaps this one:
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=108159 (by Belkin)
You will then need some method of connecting the PC to it. Ideally you
should have a wired connection, at least for configuring the router.
In which case, if your computer hasn't already got one you will need
to install a 10/100 Ethernet card. They are under £10
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?...asource=108159
You can then connect both laptops wirelessly to the router, and the
desktop connected by a cable. The router then connects to the Internet
and voila, you have a little Intranet in your house and all computers
can see each other, share resources if you like, and share the
Internet connection - all at the same time if you want.
Also no computer has to be on for the others to get Internet access,
unlike what would happen if you had the Internet Connection Sharing
nasty hack. Also it is more than likely your existing computer can
successfully connect to broadband with this solution - don't forget
you won't need the Tesco broadband modem thingummy, which is what
generally needs a lot of system resources, unlike the ethernet card
which needs very few resources.
Wireless access can be made relatively secure relatively easily
(though nothing is perfect). Possibilities include: getting the router
not to advertise its SSID, using a non-default channel number, and
using WEP encryption or its successor. These will stop people getting
onto your network without a concerted attempt, and if you're not
running something major then they would have no reason to try anyway.
Speed wise: well, your Internet connection would be at 0.5 Mbps
whereas your B wireless link would be at 11 Mbps - 22 times as fast as
the internet connection - and your G link is even faster at 54Mbps. So
the wireless bit isn't going to be the limiter on how fast you can
download things, this will be your internet connection (also how many
computers on your network are trying to access it at once!)
Hope this helps
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