Wireless Networking Advice Needed!!

[RavenNight]

Hi!

This is the situation, I have a fairly old Compaq Presario 5000 downstairs which currently has broadband. I will soon have a new, much faster PC upstairs which I want to takeover the internet but I still want to be able to use it downstairs.

Q1. Can I just get another Broadband modem for the upstairs computer and plug it into a phone socket, basically can I use two PCs at once?

Q2. Since a wire between the two isn't possible if Q1 is impossible i'll ned a wireless network. Considering that I'm doing this on a tiny budget and performance only matters on the PC upstairs (I will online game on it) the PC downstairs can go to the dogs as far as Internet speed goes. Can I just buy two USB wireless dongles or two PCI cards and connect the computers like that? I have heard that doing it in this way can limit the range (as the crow flies its only about 10m between the computers) and speed.

Q3. If I had a wireless network as in Q2 would it affect the speed of the upstairs computers internet considerably and would it affect the performance of that computer?

Thanks!

[Splash]

if wired is a complete impossibility you're looking at a wireless router tbh - you could run the pair of them of seperate modems theoretically, but only one would be able to access the iinterweb at a time - think as if yiou had 2 phones on the same line you couldn't use them both together, right?

Also if performance is a biggie I'd prolly get a wireless router, install it upstairs next to your gaming PC and connect that to your router wired, then use a usb/pci solution downstairs. I use the Netgear DG834GT which is fine for this kind of situation - I have my servers and main gaming rig wired up to it, and the laptop connects over wireless. You can pick one of these up with a USB dongle for less than a £90 at PC World - you can't really go wrong at that. I'd flash the firmware as soon as you get it installed, mind, as the original firmware is a tad buggy and prone to disconnects. Other than that all you'd need is a length of ethernet to connect your gaming rig to the router, which can be had for £cheap at your local pc shop.

Hope this helps!

[RavenNight]

Thats great, its ruled out the two Modem idea, but I don't really want to spend that much, all I need downstairs is something like 56k, it will only be used for a little bit of web-surfing, whwere the speed matters is upstairs.

[cotswoldcs]

If you connect downstairs using 56K, this will be very slow, will cost money and will tie up the phone line. Whilst a Wireless Router will cost £50-70 it is a good investment. You only need one Wireless card (USB or PCI) and you should be able to pick one up fairly cheaply.

If you're looking for something cheap and easy to install have a look at this offer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=87422


I'd always recommend a PCI Wireless card rather than USB because I think they are more reliable, have a better signal strength, don't tie up USB ports and are more hidden. They are however a little more tricky to install.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

[Moby-Dick]

why can't you run a network cable between the two machines ?

unlike an adhoc wirless connection , it will have a habit of working

[ajbrun]

You may be interested in my recent thread:
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=53727

I'm not sure how much of a budget you are on, but I wanted to spend as little as possible, whilst still getting something decent in the end. I've ordered a router and two PCI cards - one for my brother and one for my parents' very old windows 98 PC. My computer will be connected using a wire.

My order should arrive early next week, so I'll let you know how it goes. I see you situation being very similar to mine as you want to spend little money, have an old PC to network, and want to keep yours for gaming (get it wired).

[DigiGuru]

I have a seriously cool idea for you

It'll end up a tiny bit more expensive, but its soooooo cool, plus saves cables etc.... you will, however, need to keep the upstairs computer running at all times....

You'll need this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=219714
(Wireless PCI card for downstairs)

And this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=219710
(Wireless router + network card in 1!!!!)

Works out approx £50 for the lot - remember your free delivery via SCAN

Looks really good, dont know in real life how well it really works, but I cant forsee any major issues... the other option is a wireless 54MBs router, but they work out almost £40-50 on their own!

Stu

[peterb]

Wireless router more reliable - do you really want to keep a PC running 24x7? (Noise, power consumption etc...)