Upgrading to high speed, FAQ?

I have a home wireless network installed between two XP PC's, but it is slow
and unreliable (802.11b). I want to upgrade to the newer high-speed network
hardware, but it took me a long time to get it working in the first
place--communicating, sharing printers, port forwarding, etc.

Is there a FAQ I can consult?

Do I need to "deconstruct" the old network, and re-do it, or can I just swap
out the hardware?

Any caveats from those more experienced than me? I'd consider myself an
intermediate computer user--I'm the neighborhood go-to guy for computer
problems, but sometimes I have to tell my friends to call a pro. I set up
my first network, and have it configured so it all works with the firewall,
printers, etc., so I have some idea of what I'm doing.

Thanks

Dave
earguy

"David" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:A6GdnXVGruQVPhfcRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I have a home wireless network installed between two XP PC's, but it is slow
> and unreliable (802.11b). I want to upgrade to the newer high-speed network
> hardware, but it took me a long time to get it working in the first
> place--communicating, sharing printers, port forwarding, etc.
>
> Is there a FAQ I can consult?
>
> Do I need to "deconstruct" the old network, and re-do it, or can I just swap
> out the hardware?
>
> Any caveats from those more experienced than me? I'd consider myself an
> intermediate computer user--I'm the neighborhood go-to guy for computer
> problems, but sometimes I have to tell my friends to call a pro. I set up
> my first network, and have it configured so it all works with the firewall,
> printers, etc., so I have some idea of what I'm doing.
>
> Thanks
>
> Dave
> earguy
>
>

Your speed problems won't necessarily disappear with with a faster rated
speed. My 802.11b network supports one Win 98 PC and the speed is more than
adequate. I've also connected laptops for diagnosis from time to time and
never had a problem with network speed.
In other words, find the bottlenecks in your present system first.

"David" wrote:

> I have a home wireless network installed between two XP PC's, but it is slow
> and unreliable (802.11b). I want to upgrade to the newer high-speed network
> hardware, but it took me a long time to get it working in the first
> place--communicating, sharing printers, port forwarding, etc.
>
> Is there a FAQ I can consult?
>
> Do I need to "deconstruct" the old network, and re-do it, or can I just swap
> out the hardware?
>
> Any caveats from those more experienced than me? I'd consider myself an
> intermediate computer user--I'm the neighborhood go-to guy for computer
> problems, but sometimes I have to tell my friends to call a pro. I set up
> my first network, and have it configured so it all works with the firewall,
> printers, etc., so I have some idea of what I'm doing.
>
> Thanks
>
> Dave
> earguy
>
>
>

"Hugh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:18654599-29F1-4435-8469-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Your speed problems won't necessarily disappear with with a faster rated
> speed. My 802.11b network supports one Win 98 PC and the speed is more
than
> adequate. I've also connected laptops for diagnosis from time to time and
> never had a problem with network speed.
> In other words, find the bottlenecks in your present system first.


I'm not the original poster, but interested still. Bottlenecks..... such
as??? My wireless laptop is fast, and fast on connection, but my desktop is
(currently) wired and is S L O W on connection. Suggestions?

Deborah