Using Vista + Wireless on same machine with the router?

Here is my setup. I am running Vista Utlimate, and I have the Linksys
WRT300N v1.1 router for my DSL connection. My computer is a mid-tower.
Lately, my ISP has had a few outages, so I was thinking of buying either the
Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter (model WUSB300N) or the Linksys
Wireless-N PCI Adapter (model WMP300N) and installing it on the SAME
computer.

You may ask, why do I want to do this? Well, I live in a large apartment
building, and 1/2 of the people use Cable as their internet connection. So
if my DSL fails, I can then try to "connect" to one of my neighbors (yes,
with permission) via the wireless connection and it until my DSL line comes
back. Again, this is really for emergency situation, as my DSL is up 99.9%
of the time.

My questions are:

1) How can I make sure that when I am using the HARDLINE (normal, DSL)
connection that my Wireless adapter does not keep trying to take over the
and connect me via the Cable (wireless)?

2) The reason I am choosing between the 2 models mentioned for the wireless
network adapter, is that they are already 802.11n draft 2.0 ceritifed by the
Wi-Fi alliance. Meaning that when "N" becomes more prevelant, I won't need
to change my hardware. I realize that for now I should only worry about
the 802.11g, as thats what 99% are still using.

3) Any advantage having the PCI version over the USB version wireless
adapter? Remember, I am not using a laptop, and I want to get the
adapter/antenna with the strongest signal. Is there another brand that I
should consider (as long as it's 802.11n draft 2.0 certified)?

Anything else I need to worry about?

All input is much appreciated

On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:21:42 GMT, "Michael B."
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Here is my setup. I am running Vista Utlimate, and I have the Linksys
>WRT300N v1.1 router for my DSL connection. My computer is a mid-tower.
>Lately, my ISP has had a few outages, so I was thinking of buying either the
>Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter (model WUSB300N) or the Linksys
>Wireless-N PCI Adapter (model WMP300N) and installing it on the SAME
>computer.

Thanks for the detailed description.

>You may ask, why do I want to do this? Well, I live in a large apartment
>building, and 1/2 of the people use Cable as their internet connection. So
>if my DSL fails, I can then try to "connect" to one of my neighbors (yes,
>with permission) via the wireless connection and it until my DSL line comes
>back. Again, this is really for emergency situation, as my DSL is up 99.9%
>of the time.
>
>My questions are:
>
>1) How can I make sure that when I am using the HARDLINE (normal, DSL)
>connection that my Wireless adapter does not keep trying to take over the
>and connect me via the Cable (wireless)?

Easy. Windoze does it for you.
Start -> Run -> cmd <enter>
route print
Note the right hand column titled "metric". That's the packet
priority. The lower the number, the higher the priority. If you
install multiple network connections, Windoze sets the priority
according to it's preset rules, or you can set it manually with the
"route" command. You can have multiple default gateways, so that's
not a problem either.

See:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb878031.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb878104.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315088
etc.

>2) The reason I am choosing between the 2 models mentioned for the wireless
>network adapter, is that they are already 802.11n draft 2.0 ceritifed by the
>Wi-Fi alliance. Meaning that when "N" becomes more prevelant, I won't need
>to change my hardware.

None of the manufacturers are promising any forwards compatibility for
802.11n. Details if you want them.

>I realize that for now I should only worry about
>the 802.11g, as thats what 99% are still using.

Yep.

>3) Any advantage having the PCI version over the USB version wireless
>adapter?

Some USB wireless adapters will not recover if they are unplugged and
reinserted. Only a few USB adapters allow an external antenna
connection.

>Remember, I am not using a laptop, and I want to get the
>adapter/antenna with the strongest signal. Is there another brand that I
>should consider (as long as it's 802.11n draft 2.0 certified)?

It really depends on how much cable you are going to put between your
computah and the antenna. 16ft is the maximum for USB. If you have
some extra cash, look into a wireless access point that can act as a
client and use ethernet.

>Anything else I need to worry about?

Get permission from the owners of the cable modem systems before using
their network.

Note that there are several mutations of the Draft-N rev 2 standard.
one is for beam forming access points using Atheros chips. Others use
spacial multiplexing using Airgo chipsets (True MIMO). These are
radically different technologies under one conglomerated standard.

>All input is much appreciated

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
# http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
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