Alrighty, first off, thanks in advance to anyone who answers. Now, for a little background... I'm planning on getting cable internet soon. Now, I have two computers, one on the main floor of the house and one in the basement. According to the Comcast guy I spoke to (that's the company I'm getting the cable from) said that the best way to make both computers chare the cable internet connection would be to network them. He was a bit vague though, and the responses I've gotten from store techies over the phone have been a bit varied. So, I'm wondering if anyone can confirm the current thing I've been told: the store tech guy said that I'd need to buy a wireless router, have one computer with a normal Ethernet card, and the other computer with a wireless network card thing. Is this actually accurate, or is there something else I need? Again, thanks to whoever answers.

Do a search in this forum for "linksys" and you'll find lots of previous discussions. As a guy who has both wired and wireless network connections here, let me give you my thoughts.

You need a router. Actually, a firewall/router, like the Linksys BEFSR41 or BEFW11S4. Both are four-port routers, with the second one being Wireless-enabled (802.11b). Both support wired connections.

You need to access the router to program it. If you don't get in and at least change the administrator password from the default, you deserve everything you'll eventually get [img]smile.gif[/img] This access needs to be from a wired connection (although as I'm thinking, you could probably do it wireless if need be... but you'd probably be reconfiguring a lot).

You will need a Network Interface Card (NIC) for each machine. They can be wired or wireless. I do all my configuration from a wired NIC, and if you watch for the right sales, they are free. Wireless cost more money (around US$40-70 or more).

Once the router is configured in general, configure it for wireless. Enable WEP (wireless encryption), change the SSID from the default (and don't broadcast it), and restrict access to the MAC address of your wireless NIC.

You can find info on the required steps (along with pictures and descriptions) on any of the networking company sites, such as www.linksys.com or www.d-link.com. When I first configured a Linksys to work with my cable modem, their knowledgebase gave me everything I needed to do.

I use Linksys, and it works. I am in no way affiliated with them. Other folks have products from different people; whatever works for you, go for it. I do suggest (at least for wireless) that you get a NIC and router from the same company. You can do it with different company products, but there are some things that are ... easier... if they are related.

If any of this is uber-geeky, feel free to ask for more info. I do speak human as well :D

hey im planning to get a wireless network in a month or so (when i get the money).

so can you outline what you need for the wireless network?

1. wireless hub
2. pci card for wireless for each pc..

is that it?

is netgear or dlink good?

We got our stuff at googlegear.com and basically the hub and the pci cards were all we needed. That and some tech help! :D

check your pm's Encard! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 08-27-2003, 08:24 AM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

Good suggestions so far... I've had good luck with linksys although I typically go for Netgear on the low end these days. If you go wireless I'd suggest getting a setup based on the 802.11g not 802.11b, it's more expensive but also 5 times faster than wireless b. Linksys does have a g broadband router, the WRT54G. So for around a hundred bucks you can have a setup with enough speed to last you many years... even if you end up with a lot of boxes using it.

Hmm... Slightly confused by what you said, Bungleau... Do I need both computers to have wireless NICs? Or can I connect my upstairs computer to the router through the computer's already-installed Ethernet card, and then only actually have to install a wireless card into my downstairs computer?

Encard, check those links I pm'd you for more details, but we got the Lynksys system Thoran mentioned for about $112 US dollars. You'd then need a pci card for the machine that's NOT on the cable modem which ran us about $75/ea.

My pc is directly connected to the router because I'm right there where the cable/modem and router are. The other pc's have the pci cards.

*nod* Checked the links already, actually... Just wasn't too sure about how you had it connected. But it works for you to have one of the PCs connected directly to the router through a normal Ethernet connection, you say? So only the other PCs need to have actual wireless cards?

Yes, that's how we did it. The instructions were in the LynkSys manual, I think. My fiance hooked things up and had to call tech support (as you saw in those links!) but finally got it all working properly. We have pc's on three floors and the router is in the middle.

*nod* Shiny. [img]smile.gif[/img] That means I only need to get the router and one wireless card for my downstairs computer, then... Much cheaper. Also less complaining from parents, methinks. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Thanks for the help. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sorry for the delay.

Each computer needs a NIC. They can be wired or wireless. The wireless router (Linksys in my case) can accept either a wired or wireless connection.

So the permutations are:

1 wireless, 1 wired
2 wired (with a very long wire going upstairs [img]smile.gif[/img] )
2 wireless (but again, I'm not sure you can maintain the router from a wireless connection easily, so you'll probably still want a wired NIC for one machine).

There are no right or wrong answers, only choices. Since wired NICs are so cheap, I'd probably stick one in each computer, just in case you later decide to move them around. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it...

And to touch base on Thoran's comment, I have only run into one thing on my 802.11b network where the speed was too slow -- a PC Anywhere connection over a VPN across the country. Most everything else, the performance is comparable to being direct-connected (which would be at 100baseT, or roughly twice the speed of 802.11g). I will also note that I have not tried multi-player gaming in this environment, so I may not have pushed things to the limit.

802.11g does appear to be the wave of the future, but 802.11b is going to be here for a while. Given the cost of networking equipment, it's probably not a significant long-term difference. You can always off-load the old stuff on your parents or someone else who doesn't game seriously [img]smile.gif[/img]

No and Yes respectively. You just need a connection to the hub/switch/router. It doesn't matter if it's CAT 5 or wireless. It depends on the physical locations of the network components and computers. If a cable will reach without being unsightly, it's the cheaper way to go. Definately go with 802.11g. The other is too slow to take full advantage of a broadand connection.