Wireless internet connections

[Brideoffrankenstein]

Are they reliable?

In my new flat we want to put the computers in the spare room which is a bit of a distance from the front room where the phone point is. For obvious reasons we don't want loads of extension wires about the place so we thought we would upgrade to wireless, but how good is it travelling through walls and doors? The signal will have to go through a room and the hallway and I just know that when we get it, it won't transmit that far.

So before I take the plunge has anyone else got wireless and is it any good?

I just checked and it says you need to have a wireless enabled computer. Is it likely that I have (a one year old Dell) or not? It says that if you haven't, then you need to buy a wireless adaptor. Are they easy to buy and where from?!

Please help!

BoF x

[nowayjose]

The signal will have to go through a room and the hallway and I just know that when we get it, it won't transmit that far.

Should work fine.. you won't get full signal strength but that's not normally a problem. If your computer's got a WiFi card, it'll show up in the network configuration stuff of your OS.

If you're setting up a WLAN, make sure you secure it properly.. set up your own SSID and use the WPA or WPA2 encryption protocols, depending on what the router (base station) will support (don't use an unencrypted setup, and don't use the older WEP/WEP128 if you can use WPA(2); they're broken protocols and can be cracked with relatively little effort).

[Johnny Rev 7.0]

Umm ...the last line of my original response to you Libby was 'no doubt some geeky boy will come up with a better solution' ...then I scrolled down ...then I hit delete.

PS: Did you understand any of the above post? I didn't.

[nowayjose]

PS: Did you understand any of the above post?

Hehe, the point is not necessarily in understanding it, it is in matching the various keywords in it against the configuration stuff on the wireless router, and then making informed decisions.

[SomeKindOfStranger]

...and remember to pick some wireless wire cutters if you need to trim that signal.....

[Big Si]

Aye mine works fine!

£20 for a wee Belkin USB adaptor wireless card oota PC World or any high street store. Mind, huvin' a Business Broadband account helps too!

[Johnny Rev 7.0]

Sorry, yes it works fine and is fab and groovy within my two PC / one room set-up.

[Johnny Rev 7.0]

PS: Did you understand any of the above post?

Hehe, the point is not necessarily in understanding it, it is in matching the various keywords in it against the configuration stuff on the wireless router, and then making informed decisions.

Exactly what I would have said to her.

[Pista]

Careful where you put the router though.
Don't stick it near big windows & other things that may emit electric fields (transformers etc.), as they can really horse it up.
Oh, & if you have a wireless telephone, that can mess about with the signal too.
You will need to tinker with the channels probably to get the best reception.

Cheers.

Steve

[Izzy HaveMercy]

Careful where you put the router though.
Don't stick it near big windows & other things that may emit electric fields (transformers etc.), as they can really horse it up.
Oh, & if you have a wireless telephone, that can mess about with the signal too.
You will need to tinker with the channels probably to get the best reception.

Cheers.

Steve

The problem with all the posh Wireless stuf you have is interference indeed.

I use a Linksys Wireless router with USB stick and have a very low signal when moving two rooms further. When I am lying in my comfy chair, laptop on.. eh... top of my lap I always take my cellphone out of my trouser pocket, for instance, and put it somewhere out of reach. It increases the WIFI signal with 10 percent.

And as said before, for an optimal connection try to avoid using it near interfering appliances, such as said mobiles, telephone masts, radio, TV and even microwave

Makes you wonder why you simply shouldn't buy a 50-yard long cable, innit?

IZ.

[Obviousman]

[When I am lying in my comfy chair, laptop on.. eh... top of my lap

That's not the healthiest thing to do

We plan on getting WLAN as well, use it at school all the time (just switch airport on and hey presto ) and use the neighbours' unsecured network in my room That second connection isn't too stable, but never had any problems at school (shouldn't have problems, there are at least two routers per classroom )

Think your speed also depends whether you use a/b/g/n type connections Probably your computer will go up to g, quite sure it has got wireless, not sure how to check up to what it goes...

But shouldn't give any problems

[markfiend]

Makes you wonder why you simply shouldn't buy a 50-yard long cable, innit?

It's a lot easier to spot a potential hacker when he has to break in with a set of wire-strippers too.

[Brideoffrankenstein]

Makes you wonder why you simply shouldn't buy a 50-yard long cable, innit?

IZ.

I was actually thinking just that a few minutes ago!

[Izzy HaveMercy]

In various colors

IZ.

[Obviousman]

But don't you loose signal as the cable gets longer too?

[bushman*pm]

mine works fine but get it encrypted as a pc guru mate of mine has hacked into others before and done naughty things to an unfriendly neighbours pc and then sat back and wet herself laughing at the ensueing full blown row between the bloke and his wife about what she found on their pc!

[nowayjose]

But don't you loose signal as the cable gets longer too?

I think the rule of thumb is that for 100MBit/s (100Base-T, that is your ordinary fast ethernet "LAN" on your PC), ordinary copper cable (good quality Category 5 UTP cable) is ok for up to 100m, for longer segments one has to use fibre-optical cable, or shorter segments with repeaters. But maybe some real network admin knows better. Not as if these deliberations would actually apply to BoF's situation, I guess...

[Pista]

But careful when you unplug it, as all the signal can fall out of the end