Prejudice

[cruentus]

I suffer from the old prejudices. I do not trust a wireless network. However I am aware that the old jokes about wifi dying every time the microwave goes round are dated and less than applicable in 2012.

I seek advice. I recently had to relocate my desktop gaming PC. I cannot wire it to my router. I would love to try a mains network but find the cost somewhat steep.

I challenge you talk me out of going to Argos and picking up a 20 quid usb wifi adapter. My router does not support n so I only need g. My assumption is that 150Mbps is more than enough since it's faster than my adsl.

Is there any reason not to do this? Would a PCI, PCI-E or mains network have any real advantage over this (since I don't need a transfer speed higher than 150)?

Thank you
Greg

[Jay]

what type of games do you play? Any online FPS?

[cruentus]

what type of games do you play? Any online FPS?

I've been known to play FPs online. Planetside 2 will be of interest when it happens.
Would the usb adapter make a difference to latency?

My understanding of networking is that since wifi is faster than adsl, it could not cause a bottleneck ... is this not the case?

[Pancake]

Mains networking is better

Cable > Mains > Wireless

You will get more lag on WiFi

[cruentus]

I know it's better.
... but why do I need it? Will I really notice any significant difference using a usb wifi adapter?

[Pancake]

Ping and speed wise yeah, and it will be more reliable

[Guy]

Why don't you 'trust' a wireless network?

[Funkstar]

A wireless network might sync at a given rate (54mbit maximum for 802.11G) but that isn't to say you will actually get anything like that coming through it. For example, if you live in an area with a lot of other "noise" on the 2.4GHz band, you might have a strong signal, but there will be a lot of errors and actual usable bandwidth can be really terrible. This is the real down fall of wireless, there is a lot out of your control.

Personally I would avoid a £20 piece of junk for Argos or anywhere like that, even if you don't need anything fancy.

Personally I don't like USB networking equipment (this is due to USB drivers and their handling in Windows was pretty terrible in the past, never really shaken the feeling that it could all go horribly wrong at any time). However, I've had some great success with this wireless adapter on my daughters PC: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/edima...reless-adaptor

Also used various other bits of Edimax gear and never had a single issue. I would recomend it any time, great value too.

[redddraggon]

However, I've had some great success with this wireless adapter on my daughters PC: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/edima...reless-adaptor

I swear by those, good drivers for Windows, use two myself, and always recommend them. I like the flexibility of being able to use USB adapters on the front, top, back panels of PCs and even using them on extension cables. Always seem to get stronger signal than with other adapters I've used.

I have used PCI(e) cards before and they've worked OK most of the time, but I have run into driver issues requiring driver installation before the card, which I find is a hassle during OS re-installation, so I prefer the plug and play nature of USB.

[badass]

I'm afraid your prejudices aren't entirely without merit. My Wifi goes through a phase every now and again of dropping every few minutes and taking a couple of minutes to reconnect.
Admittedly it is a slightly more complex setup than most and it's the Wifi Bridge that goes. The other thing I get is lag spikes every now and again.
I have a Draytek 2820n connected via WDS to a Draytek AP-700 which is connected to a gigabit switch connecting my computer and server.
If you can cable your computers, that is always the better option. Otherwise, your best chance is for a Dual band router and Dual band Wifi dongles/cards. They are not cheap however. Whatever you do, don't bother with any 802.11g kit. The coverage of 802.11n is far superior in the same house due to the standard using a simple beamforming technique to boost signal strangth in what would otherwise be a blackspot.

[shaithis]

I never get WiFi drop-outs (unless I am on the edge of my range and/or in a corner surrounded by thick walls - i.e. grey-spots).....I have found WiFi to be very reliable in that way.

My gripe with it is it's security.....and the more data you send over the WiFi connection, the greater the chance someone could crack it. Hence, I only use mine for hand-held devices and ad-hoc jobs.

[badass]

I never get WiFi drop-outs (unless I am on the edge of my range and/or in a corner surrounded by thick walls - i.e. grey-spots).....I have found WiFi to be very reliable in that way.

My gripe with it is it's security.....and the more data you send over the WiFi connection, the greater the chance someone could crack it. Hence, I only use mine for hand-held devices and ad-hoc jobs.

If you use a 26 character passphrase and no Wifi Protected setup, WPA and WPA2 to all practical purposes is uncrackable.
To crack WEP, as you say, the more data, the quicker it is to hack. To crack WPA, you only need to monitor a client connecting to the access point. IIRC it's just 4 packets of data you need.
However, if you follow security best practices and always used a 26 character or longer passphrase, it ain't getting cracked in a hurry
I actually have a WEP SSID that's probably stronger than my WPA2-PSK SSID as the WEP one uses certificates as well. It's the only secure way I could get an old Dell axim on my network.