wireless network

i was wondering if anyone has a wireless network, or knows a lot about them. I was thinking about getting one for my computers because im sick of 56k, and i wanna hook my comp up to my dad's with DSL. Are they worth the money? Are they fast enough? can they cause a lot of bugs? whats the best kind?

thanks for the help

I already had a wire-based LAN at my house for over 2 years now. After buying a laptop, I also got a wireless hub (colorfully labeled as an access point) and pc-card for my laptop.

From my experience. I had a LOT of initial issues trying to get the pc-card to link up with the hub. But after downloading a linksys diagnostic utility, I figured out what was wrong quite quickly and ever since then, my wireless network (all 1 machines on it) works flawlessly.

BTW. My wireless hub is a D-Link DWL-1000AP, and my pc-card is a SMC EZconnect. The reasons for buying them... Price. Wireless LAN equipment is a LOT more expensive than getting standard cord based networking stuff.

My wireless network isn't that fast, but fast enouogh to handle a dsl connection, which is what you are wanting to use it for. As for wondering if its worth it, IMO, I think yes, it is. I love not having to be tied to any cords while using my laptop in my house. Total freedom to use it anywhere I want.

Usually people say to buy components of the same
company/brand to avoid any connection issues. I just bit the bullet and went with two different companies for my wireless networking components. I was scared at first, because it didn't work quite right, but I got it all working.

Dunno if this helps any, but this is my experience with wireless networking. Oh, and I don't use wireless network encryption. Mainly because I live in redneckland WV and nobody around me knows about computers. Nor do they even know I have a wireless hub sitting in my house. :D

when you make a purchase of the card and the access point, make sure you get something that meets the 802.11a wireless spec. Otherwise, you will have some issues with connectivity.

Of the couple dozen wireless lans I have set up, including my own, I have never really had an issue with connections to the access point or beyond. Just read the instructions. Some cards and access points have a specific order for you to perform certain steps.


this is the setup I have.

http://www.netgear.com/categories.asp?xrp=11&yrp=35

just remember, if you put the wireless card in your pc, you may have to purchase both the pcmcia card as well as a pci card. The pcmcia card goes into a slot on the pci card and the pci card goes into an expansion slot.

I've been hearing a lot about wireless networks being completely unsecure... So if you care about security at all, they might not be the best idea.

If you use dhcp on your wireless network and dont have the encrytion set up on it, anybody within range of your wireless router/hub will be able to log into your network. Even using perm local ips for your lan stuff isn't exactly going to make you that safe, but a lot safer than dhcp would.

The encryption settings I've read isn't very effective either and has been defeated quite easily by crackers. Though I highly doubt this is of much concern for too many home users. Most people probably would just want to keep their neighbors from leeching their bandwidth or viewing the porn on their shared hard-drives. Environmental settings play a big role here. Mainly on how close you are to anybody else with a pc who wants to get free broadband.

is there something where i can hook my card through a USB port and the card or "station" connects with the home station that has DSL on it. or do i have to have a internal network card?