Wireless router vs hard wired

I want to access my desktop (with a router) using my notebook (laptop) in
another room.

Putting firewall/security considerations aside, do you recommend a wireless
router or a hard wired router.

Please advise. If you could explain why you recommend one over the other
that would be great.

Thank you.

Michael

Looks like if I want to roam from room to room with my laptop I want
wireless.

"Michael T" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I want to access my desktop (with a router) using my notebook (laptop) in
>another room.
>
> Putting firewall/security considerations aside, do you recommend a
> wireless router or a hard wired router.
>
> Please advise. If you could explain why you recommend one over the other
> that would be great.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Michael
>
>

One downside of wireless is file transfer speed, its nearly always better
using wired, especially for large files.

philip ashley

"Michael T" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Looks like if I want to roam from room to room with my laptop I want
> wireless.
>
> "Michael T" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I want to access my desktop (with a router) using my notebook (laptop) in
>>another room.
>>
>> Putting firewall/security considerations aside, do you recommend a
>> wireless router or a hard wired router.
>>
>> Please advise. If you could explain why you recommend one over the other
>> that would be great.
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> Michael
>>
>>
>
>

"Philip Ashley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:JZM_e.2795$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> One downside of wireless is file transfer speed, its nearly always better
> using wired, especially for large files.
>
> philip ashley

Kudos Philip as this is just the kind of information I was hoping my post
would produce. Also thanks to DanR for his feedback as well.

But I am a bit overwhelmed with all the different routers available.

I plan to use this notebook (roaming from room-to-room) on a WinXP Home
Network with a desktop (the ICS host) in my bedroom.. I also will be using
it with public hot spots when I travel.

So I have would I hope are some simple questions about wireless routers for
you gurus.

Given my planned usage do you recommend a Wi-Fi router (e.g. the Orinoco
BG-2000)? Or will a NON-Wi-Fi router like a Linksysy WRT54gs suffice?

Also, if I use the Windows XP ICS software on my ICS host (a desktop in my
bedroom) to share its DSL connection with my notebook, do I need the DSL
software (from my ISP) installed on my notebook as well?

Michael

"Michael T" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Philip Ashley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:JZM_e.2795$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> One downside of wireless is file transfer speed, its nearly always
>> better using wired, especially for large files.
>>
>> philip ashley
>
> Kudos Philip as this is just the kind of information I was hoping my
> post would produce. Also thanks to DanR for his feedback as well.
>
> But I am a bit overwhelmed with all the different routers available.
>
> I plan to use this notebook (roaming from room-to-room) on a WinXP
> Home Network with a desktop (the ICS host) in my bedroom.. I also will
> be using it with public hot spots when I travel.
>
> So I have would I hope are some simple questions about wireless
> routers for you gurus.
>
> Given my planned usage do you recommend a Wi-Fi router (e.g. the
> Orinoco BG-2000)? Or will a NON-Wi-Fi router like a Linksysy WRT54gs
> suffice?
>
> Also, if I use the Windows XP ICS software on my ICS host (a desktop
> in my bedroom) to share its DSL connection with my notebook, do I need
> the DSL software (from my ISP) installed on my notebook as well?
>
> Michael
>
>

No ICS! A router manages your network. Each computer is connected to
the router, wireless or wired. The modem is connected to the router.
Depending on your ISP you *might* have to clone the MAC address of the
wired computer to the router, but most of the time a simple power cycle
of the modem will let the router become the connected computer with the
single IP address assigned to your account. You should check with your
ISP for any guidelines for using a router, or check www.dslreports.com
in the forum for your ISP on how to set it up.

Q

Michael T wrote:

> "Philip Ashley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:JZM_e.2795$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > One downside of wireless is file transfer speed, its nearly always better
> > using wired, especially for large files.
> >
> > philip ashley
>
> Kudos Philip as this is just the kind of information I was hoping my post
> would produce. Also thanks to DanR for his feedback as well.
>
> But I am a bit overwhelmed with all the different routers available.
>
> I plan to use this notebook (roaming from room-to-room) on a WinXP Home
> Network with a desktop (the ICS host) in my bedroom.. I also will be using
> it with public hot spots when I travel.
>
> So I have would I hope are some simple questions about wireless routers for
> you gurus.
>
> Given my planned usage do you recommend a Wi-Fi router (e.g. the Orinoco
> BG-2000)? Or will a NON-Wi-Fi router like a Linksysy WRT54gs suffice?
>
> Also, if I use the Windows XP ICS software on my ICS host (a desktop in my
> bedroom) to share its DSL connection with my notebook, do I need the DSL
> software (from my ISP) installed on my notebook as well?
>
> Michael

You're a little confused in your terminology. "wi-fi" generally is used to
refer to any wireless networks in general
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-fi). Thus, the Orinoco BG 2000 and the
Linksys WRT54gs are both "wi-fi" devices. The BG-2000 came at in 2002. I
don't think you can buy one anymore, and Proxim calls it an "end-of-life"
product (meaning, I think, that they know that it's out in the filed, but they
don't intend to support it very much longer).

Although the Orinoco unit was called a "gateway," these days, that term is
often used to mean a device that combines a router, perhaps a wireless access
point, and a cable or DSL modem. I don't think that the BG 2000 had the modem.

The Linksys WRT54GS definitely does not have a modem. It is, however, a
combination of a 4-port router (i.e., you can connect up to 4 ethernet cables
to connect to PCs and/or other network devices) and a wireless access point.
Like most other home routers these days, it has NAT capability and a firewall,
and has a built-in PPPoE client. Although there are those who post to this ng
who have little good to say about Linksys products, I had a WRT54g version 1.0
and was perfectly happy with it until it got partially fried by a nearby
lightning strike. I replaced it with a WRT54g version 4.0 (Linksys seems to
have just come out with a 5.0).

The "s" on the end of the WRT54gs indicates that it has Linksys' proprietary
"speedbooster" technology, which Linksys claims will give you "up to 35%
increase in speed over standard Wireless-G when used with other SpeedBooster
products." The key here is that you MUST use other Linksys "SpeedBooster"
products to even have a hope of getting this increase. If you have a new
notebook with a built-in wireless access device, it almost certainly is NOT a
Linksys "SpeedBooster" device, and you therefore ought not to spend the extra
money for the "GS." Linksys also has an even (allegedly) faster version, the
WRT54SRX. Here's the Linksy page comparing their 3 varieties
http://tinyurl.com/9xqqh. If I were you, I would just get the basic WRT54G.

Check out http://www.ezlan.net/ for further info. Don't just look at the
"wireless" sections. There's a lot of other information there.

"Quaoar" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> No ICS! A router manages your network. Each computer is connected to the
> router, wireless or wired. The modem is connected to the router.
<snip>
>
> Q

Thanks Q.

Although I have tons of experience as a software engineer I am a total
newbie when it comes to configuring a home network using Windows XP.

I will defer to your judgement as I have only been researching two days. But
I do find it interesting that the WinXP Help file recommends that the first
step is:
"Run the Network Setup Wizard to setup your ICS host computer."

So you can understand why I might be a bit puzzled when you stated "No
ICS!".

Please explain.

Michael

Michael T wrote:

> "Quaoar" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > No ICS! A router manages your network. Each computer is connected to the
> > router, wireless or wired. The modem is connected to the router.
> <snip>
> >
> > Q
>
> Thanks Q.
>
> Although I have tons of experience as a software engineer I am a total
> newbie when it comes to configuring a home network using Windows XP.
>
> I will defer to your judgement as I have only been researching two days. But
> I do find it interesting that the WinXP Help file recommends that the first
> step is:
> "Run the Network Setup Wizard to setup your ICS host computer."
>
> So you can understand why I might be a bit puzzled when you stated "No
> ICS!".
>
> Please explain.
>
> Michael

The WinXP Help system advocates ICS because that's Microsoft's solution -- which
is not necessarily the best, and in the case of wireless networks really is not
applicable.

Essentially, ICS permits one computer that is directly connected to the Internet
to act as a gateway or portal through which other computers on a local area
network can also connect to the Internet. The computer running ICS needs two
separate connections -- one to the Internet and one to the LAN. If you had a
dial-up Internet connection, that means you would need both a modem and a
network interface card (NIC). Most DSL modems connect to the computer via
Ethernet, so that would mean your ICS computer would have to have two NICs. And
you would need a hub or switch to connect your LAN together.

Here's what ICS has:
• DHCP Allocator. A simplified DHCP service that assigns the IP address, default
gateway, and name server on the local network.
• DNS Proxy. Resolves names on behalf of local network clients and forwards
queries.
• Network Address Translation (NAT). Maps a block of private addresses to a set
of public addresses. NAT tracks private-source IP addresses and
public-destination IP addresses for outbound requests. It changes the IP address
information and edits the required IP header information dynamically.
• Auto-dial . Automatically dials connections.

All of those features are done -- probably better, and at the very least with no
load on the user's computer -- by the dedicated hardware/software of your
wireless access point/router. You don't want two routers on the same LAN, which
is why Q said "No ICS." Could you configure a wireless router to disable its
router component and act as a hub, and then use it with ICS? Probably, but
there doesn't seem to be any good reason to do so.

See http://tinyurl.com/22zub and http://tinyurl.com/brjsp for more info on ICS.