Have DSL, want it wireless in the house...

[ReyDelSol]

I'm looking to set up wireless DSL access in my house. Looking for any tips.

I assume I'll need:
_ DSL modem and service provider. (have both, in use)
_ wireless router (recommendations?)
_ wireless cards for PC tower and laptop (recommendations?)

Is that it?
Am I missing something?
Is there something I need to check?

Any input/advice/tips would be very appreciated.

 

[KingKoopa]

no, you're not missing anything. assuming all of your systems have windows XP, the installation will be relatively easy for you (knock on wood). the only advice i can give you as far as what brand to go with is from my own personal experience, and what i've heard from others, and that is not to buy linksys. to be frank, the signal the wireless router i have (granted, it's 2 years old) craps out all the time. if you want to have an excellent signal and fewer dropage problems, i would look into other brands. dell makes awesome networking stuff (the WAN network card they put in a dell laptop i bought is great), though it could be from a 3rd party manufacturer. try out 3Com-- a little more expensive but very good.

there's not really anything you need to check, and installation is as simple as plugging your DSL modem into the wireless router, then plugging the wireless cards (there are also USB external wireless adapters, but they don't seem to get as good of a signal for me) into the computers.

 

[ReyDelSol]

Thanks.

 

[geezuphosdn]

I have "road-runner," a laptop and a PC. I bought the cheapo wal-mart brand "Net-Gear 802.11b" (about $125)kit for wirelless access. It comes with the wireless hub and 1 wireless air card.

You shouldn't really need your PC to be wireless, unless you move it around alot. But if you want it to be you can simply buy an extra card for it as well.

I hooked my PC up to 1 of the 4 ports in the back of the wireless hub.

Then I just pop in the wireless air card to my laptop, turn it on, and go to town.

Liksys is also a good brand. They have 802.11G now, but it is more expensivve. 802.11B works very well.

 

[The Rookie]

i have heard horror stories about linksys, so i have never tried or used them personally, although most of those stories are commonly "They suck", but i bought a netgear 802.11G router and a buffalo g card for my laptop and hooked up my pc to the port on the router and they all work great. was very simple to hookup the router and be online in no time.

I picked up the router at frys for 60 with a 30 buck rebate

 

[highbury]

rock out buy.com for all your networking needs. if you want to go extra neat and don't have that many computers... you could try going the powerline route. that's some ******* neat technology.

 

[wherzwaldo]

I use CNet for product reviews. They tend to be pretty reliable and allow users to review products. In general, the user reviews are a good thing to rely on. If the thumbs-up rating is better than 75%, chances are it's a good product. Also, check out their wireless buyer's guide.

I've never had a problem with Linksys routers, but I have heard that Linksys network cards tend to be unreliable. Somehow, however, I suspect that whatever problems exist could be solved with a simple firmware upgrade. The average user probably doesn't know this.

My wireless card is a Proxim Orinoco A/B/G Silver (128-bit WEP) PC Card. It is better than anything else I have tried for laptops, but the client software is substandard (you don't really need it though, just the driver). For a desktop, my dad uses a Linksys wireless ethernet bridge and he has no problems.