Suggestions for Wireless network in the home.

[Korky]

Hi guys, I'm not massively clued up on wireless networking but I kinda know the basics and have a good wired knowledge.

Im planning on going wireless in the house which is a 2 storey semi detached. I will have:

1 x PC downstairs

1 x PC's + 1 x Xbox upstairs (all in same room)

1 x Laptop (roam freely within house)

I will be doing pretty much everything... streaming movies, gaming, file sharing etc. I'm looking for a setup that will give me performance close to my current 100mbit setup. I know obviously I need a modem/router, xbox360 wireless adapter and 2 x wireless adapters (usb/cards??) the laptop has built in wireless g. Iv been reading of wireless g, super g and n. Can anyone recommend me a decent affordable setup that will allow me to do all of the above without hesitation?

Thanks

[kmac]

Do you have boradband and if so is it ADSL or cable?

All you really need is a router with built in Moden like the Netgear DG834T ( if you have ADSL) and the wifi clients for the devices that don't have them built in. You will initially need to connect with wire to configure the router. The router will support up to 108Mbs (but in practise this will probably be lower)

[s_kinton]

In this case I would buy a wifi router, 2 homeplugs and possibly a switch (may not be necessary, see below).

- Wifi will cover the house and the laptop connection
- 1 homeplug with the PC downstairs and 1 in the room where the PC/360 are. Using a switch to split the connection from the homeplug to the two devices. Although you could do without the switch if you had your router in this room.

Using homeplugs will ensure you get an excellent connection speed around the house and ensure you don't have any issues with streaming (which you will by going with a g network.

[Korky]

Its virgin cable 10mb. Are the homeplugs just signal boosters then?

[s_kinton]

Its virgin cable 10mb. Are the homeplugs just signal boosters then?

No. Homeplugs or Powerline allows networking over the electrical wiring in your home.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.ph...arch=powerline - Hexus review of some powerline adapters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlu...rline_Alliance - Homeplug/Powerline info

http://www.scan.co.uk/Index.aspx?NT=1-0-34-345-0 - List of scans Homeplug offerings

http://www.scan.co.uk/Index.aspx?NT=1-0-49-431-0 - List of cable wireless routers

Whats your budget for this network? What do you want to stream over the network?

[peterb]

Wireless will not give you the performance that cable gives you - and with some of the things you are planning (video streaming) I think you wouuld notice the difference. If you really can't run in cat5 cabling, then homeplugs (ethernet over mains power) will offer the next best thing. Wireless is great for internet browsing (when the data is pretty bursty and not time critical) but less so for real time data like streaming.