ADSL Modem & Router Question

[milanlad]

Is it more flexible to buy an ADSL Ethernet Modem and a Wireless Router (or Access Point) as separate items, or better to buy an all-in-one unit?

I'm looking at seting up a 108 Mbs wireless network alongside my wired network.

Is it worth upgrading a wireless network from 54 Mbs to 108 Mbs? Will I see any significant improvement in performance?

Ideally I would like my wired to be Gigabit speed but I haven't seen any Wireless Routers with 10/100/1000 Lan ports.

Thanks in advance.

[TheAnimus]

i'd always go for a seperate system.

This way you can make the wireless network physically seperate from the cable network. m0n0wall (my favourate firewall distro) is great for this purpose, it has the WAN, your LAN, and your Wireless.

This way you can allow devices on ur wireless that aren't that secure (PDA's older laptops), and encrypt all your network traffic thats over wireless. Much better, costs more, but well worth it. Last year i did an experiment in breaking into peoples wireless on our street. Quite intresting, after 2 weeks i had everyones WEP key.

[milanlad]

i'd always go for a seperate system.

This way you can make the wireless network physically seperate from the cable network. m0n0wall (my favourate firewall distro) is great for this purpose, it has the WAN, your LAN, and your Wireless.

This way you can allow devices on ur wireless that aren't that secure (PDA's older laptops), and encrypt all your network traffic thats over wireless. Much better, costs more, but well worth it. Last year i did an experiment in breaking into peoples wireless on our street. Quite intresting, after 2 weeks i had everyones WEP key.

Sorry but I didn't understand "m0n0wall"

I'm thinking of having the following setup but would like confirmation if its a good way to go for reasonably high performance system?

Gigabit Ethernet Switch
ADSL Ethernet Modem
108 Mbs Wireless Access Point
Most desktop PC's will have Gigabit NIC
Some desktops will have 10/100 NIC
Some laptops will have 108 Mbs wireless NIC (pcmcia or usb)
Other laptops will have 54 Mbs NIC

Will I need a separate unit for a hardware firewall??

Also, what are these MIMO units?

Cheers

[TheAnimus]

m0n0wall is a piece of software that allows you to turn a normally old computer into a hardware firewall, if you've got a large network, this is something you will probably really want, as it also lets you do bandwidth prority (ie someone downloading all the time, when someone starts to surf the web, let the web surfing go instantly) this is a very useful thing to have, and if you go for a combined you can never upgrade to that.

MIMO is a way of multiplexing channels to allow a greater performance (and range at performance) its a good idea, but all the wireless gear has to support it. If your buying new wireless gear, then go for it.

you don't need a seperate hardware firewall, its just a great way of adding control, and you can build an old computer out of bits u've got lieing about if ur proper geek, if not £40 on ebay will get you a good system. check: http://www.m0n0.ch/wall/ for my favourate software (free).