Wireless Network. Help Help Help.

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

Hello,

I wish to set up a wireless network to share my BT broadband at home with 2
PC's. The PC with broadband at the moment has a speedtouch USB modem with BT
broadband. It must be a wireless system I have, what is the minimum
equipment I can get away with, not a heavy user so can I go for the B stuff
or should I go for G or super G, do I need a modem router or can I connect a
router to my present modem?

Thank you

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 12:33:59 +0000 (UTC), "Mark Wilkins"
<mark.wilkins@virgin.net> wrote:

>I wish to set up a wireless network to share my BT broadband at home with 2
>PC's. The PC with broadband at the moment has a speedtouch USB modem with BT
>broadband.

You will need to replace the SpeedTouch USB modem with an ethernet
modem. If this is unacceptable, there are ugly alternatives:
1. You can use your PC as a bridge between USB and ethernet using ICS
or simple bridging.
2. There are a few routers that accept a limited selection of USB
modems instead of ethernet on the WAN port. No experience with these.

>It must be a wireless system I have, what is the minimum
>equipment I can get away with, not a heavy user so can I go for the B stuff
>or should I go for G or super G, do I need a modem router or can I connect a
>router to my present modem?

The minimum equipment would be:
1. A new ethernet modem to replace the USB modem.
2. A wireless router -or- an ethernet router plus a wireless access
point (WAP).

The speed difference between 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11g proprietary
enhancements, will not be visible to the typical broadband user. Your
speed will be limited by the speed of your broadband connection. If
you're running less than 5mbits/sec download speed on your broadband
connection, 802.11b will probably work just fine. However 802.11b has
a maximum TCP thruput of 5.9Mbits/sec (UDP is 7.1). At faster than 5
or 6Mbits/sec, 802.11b will become a bottleneck.

802.11g also has the advantage of using better chipsets and generally
improved technology. I won't claim that ALL 802.11g radios are better
than the equivalent 802.11b devices because many of the transitional
boards are identical differing only in firmware. In general, the
802.11g devices have somewhat better range, and the OFDM modulation is
less susceptible to multipath and reflections.

The danger comes with a mixed 802.11b and 802.11g system. 802.11g is
designed to slow down when it hears any 802.11b packets. The result
is that the thruput suffers. This is not always the case as there are
current designs that don't slow down as much, but it's still a
problem. If performance is an issue, or may become an issue in the
future, I would go with an all 802.11g system. Otherwise, 802.11b or
a mixed system will suffice.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558