Basics Of Wireless

[Island Roots]

I'm planning on purchasing a Mac (an iBook) in the next 6 months, and I'm wondering about Internet connections.

Right now, here is my current situation with my cable broadband:

Cable outlet > Cable modem > Connected to Dell computer via Ethernet

I'm looking into possibly changing it to wireless when I get my laptop. Here are my questions:

1) How would it work? What exactly do I need (wireless base station...recommended brands please, devices needed for PC and laptop for wireless operation)?

2) How would the speeds be affected if both the laptop and PC were on the Internet at the same time?

3) How will the speeds be affected by going to wireless (if any)?

4) Will I have to worry about any interference from other devices?

5) How much is a decent wireless base station usually run?

Edited December 2, 2002 by Justin Hancock

[Steven]

I'm planning on purchasing a Mac (an iBook) in the next 6 months, and I'm wondering about Internet connections.

Right now, here is my current situation with my cable broadband:

Cable outlet > Cable modem > Connected to Dell computer via USB

I'm looking into possibly changing it to wireless when I get my laptop. ?Here are my questions:

1) How would it work? ?What exactly do I need (wireless base station...recommended brands please, devices needed for PC and laptop for wireless operation)?

2) How would the speeds be affected if both the laptop and PC were on the Internet at the same time?

3) How will the speeds be affected by going to wireless (if any)?

4) Will I have to worry about any interference from other devices?

5) How much is a decent wireless base station usually run?

1) a wireless router, would be the easiest bet for you, you'll have to remove USB from your cable modem and use it as ETHERNET, if you do not have this choice, then your options are much more diffucult. (i'll explain below).

2). This all depends on your connection, and who is using the pc.

3). Wireless will be affected in speed, by the distance you are from the AP (Access Point) further away, the lower it gets.

4). Interferance, will be noticed and you have no control over it, if you have 2.4GHz cordless phone, get rid of it lol, because if you decide on getting 802.11b it will cause you hell. 802.11b works @ 2.4GHz also, so if you had a cordless phone in the same range, it would just suck.

5). Between 100.00 and 150.00 US Dollars

--------------------

Now. Here is some info about wireless internet

There are currently 2 Official Standards on the market..

802.11a and 802.11b , the third which is just an extention to 802.11b , 802.11g will be coming out this month, 802.11g is a faster transfer rate of that of 802.11b

the speeds from the 3 are as follows..

802.11a = 72Mb/s (Max)

802.11b = 11Mb/s (Max)

802.11g = 54Mb/s (Max)

so depending on your necessities the amount of the router for its purchase depends on the technology you want, also manufacturers are now making combonation routers, where 802.11a and 802.11b are included in one box. this is convient if you want to start at 802.11b and move up as your demand requires it.

Now Personally, i have 802.11b, i use my wireless on my laptop as well, all the products i have are made by "LINKSYS" http://www.linksys.com

For my laptop i have the WPC11 Laptop Card, nice card and does its purpose.

For The Router i got the BEFW11S4 Version 2, this is the box that connects from my cable modem and broadcast the wireless signal, this box has a 4 port switch in the back of it, so if you have some Desktops, you can hook them up via the WIRED side of the router, its a combonation. this lets you connect all your pc's in your house and share the internet access, whether or not you want them all via wireless. for laptops sure you want the wireless side.

Now going back to the beginning where i said i'd explain the problem if you cable modem DOES NOT have ethernet support, what you'll have to do, is get a USB Wireless AP and use Internet Connection Sharing, the only downside to this, is that you must always have the pc, where the Cable Modem hooks into on all the time.

If you have an Ethernet Port on your cable modem, USE IT, your quality of service when sharing and even using it, will be much better.

I hope all this information does you goo:):)-xStainDx

n|w moderatori>

[TeeBall_Mark]

I also recently purchased a wireless solution for our 2 computers we have in the house. The other computer had the cablemodem attached to it, not mine. For the longest time I was running wires every which way just to share the internet, so I decided I was sick of that and went and got Microsoft's Base station and a MS wireless USB adapter. We just plugged the cable wire and the ethernet wire into its base, and I simply plugged the MS wireless USB adapter into my USB port and it automatically detected it and it works fine. And the software included is really easy to setup. U just pop in the CD and folow its instructions. I thought setting up a wireless solution would be complicated and a long drawn out process, but it really wasn't.....it was almost as easy as plug n play....with a few extra steps. So now I have no more wires hanging everywhere and I can still get on the net, access the other PC, etc

So, I highly recommend Microsoft's line of wireless networking products. for what U need it'll cost about $200.00 US dollars, but I think its worth it.

My other remaining question is why and how is 802.11a faster than 802.11b? and how would i get version a if this is the case. Or even version g for that matter. If I can get speeds faster than 11MB/s, than lets do it! lol

Hope this info helps.

TBM

[deimos]

well, if your gettin a mac, you probably wont need a wireless card for the ibook cause i think most macs come with airports nowadays. ;)

[Island Roots]

Alright, first off let me correct myself,

I'm using Ethernet right now between my PC and cable modem, not USB.

Does 802.11a work at 2.4GHz also?

I'd like to do what you have:

For The Router i got the BEFW11S4 Version 2, this is the box that connects from my cable modem and broadcast the wireless signal, this box has a 4 port switch in the back of it, so if you have some Desktops, you can hook them up via the WIRED side of the router, its a combonation. this lets you connect all your pc's in your house and share the internet access, whether or not you want them all via wireless. for laptops sure you want the wireless side.

That would be ideal for me. How much did that router cost?

Also, will the "AirPort" in the iBook be sufficent for everything I need for my iBook, or will I need to purchase a different type of wireless NIC? I thought that the Airport card only worked with a AirPort Base Station.

[Steven]

Alright, first off let me correct myself,

I'm using Ethernet right now between my PC and cable modem, not USB.

Does 802.11a work at 2.4GHz also?

I'd like to do what you have:

For The Router i got the BEFW11S4 Version 2, this is the box that connects from my cable modem and broadcast the wireless signal, this box has a 4 port switch in the back of it, so if you have some Desktops, you can hook them up via the WIRED side of the router, its a combonation. this lets you connect all your pc's in your house and share the internet access, whether or not you want them all via wireless. for laptops sure you want the wireless side.

That would be ideal for me. How much did that router cost?

Also, will the "AirPort" in the iBook be sufficent for everything I need for my iBook, or will I need to purchase a different type of wireless NIC? I thought that the Airport card only worked with a AirPort Base Station.

802.11a works at 5GHz, with a max transfer rate of 72Mb/s in turbo mode :) whereas 802.11b is 11Mb/s @ 2.4GHz. If you're going for the faster 802.11a you'll need to get an 802.11a PC Card for that Mac, airport is not the same as 802.11a. Honestly, whatever solution you pick, skip out on the airport and get the proper hardware for 802.11x wireless.

:)

Remember since 802.11a is a much faster rate, the price of the router itself will be much higher than what i purchased mine for, the one i have is 802.11b.

802.11a is a higher frequency, so you'll get a faster transfer rate, at Greater Distances.

the 802.11b router i bought that i mentioned above was about 125.00

[Steven]

My other remaining question is why and how is 802.11a faster than 802.11b? and how would i get version a if this is the case. Or even version g for that matter. If I can get speeds faster than 11MB/s, than lets do it! lol

Hope this info helps.

TBM

Why and how?

simple. 802.11a Runs at a frequency range of 5GHz, whereas 802.11b runs at a frequency range of 2.4GHz, higher frequency = faster transfer with greater distance.

In order to get 802.11a you must replace your existing hardware, if you already have 802.11b. there is no upgrade, its all in the hardware itself.

[Island Roots]

Alright, so say I got that router that you have. What hardware will I need to buy for the iBook (specific name)?

I'd plan on still connecting my PC to the wireless router through one of the Ethernet connections on the back of the router.

[Steven]

Alright, so say I got that router that you have.  What hardware will I need to buy for the iBook (specific name)?

I'd plan on still connecting my PC to the wireless router through one of the Ethernet connections on the back of the router.

Thats fine , thats why it has a 4-port switch on the back for your Wired connections, for your Mac, all ya need is any 802.11b PC Card.

my laptop card - WPC11 version 3 > http://www.linksys.com/Products/product.as...rid=22&prid=427

my router - BEFW11S4 Version 2 > http://www.linksys.com/Products/product.as...rid=22&prid=415

[Island Roots]

Okay, but my question would be:

Would this work in a Mac? In the description, it says this:

Ready to run in Type II or III PCMCIA equipped notebook PCs running Windows 95, 98, Millennium, NT, 2000, and XP, the Instant Wireless Network PC Card from Linksys is truly a ?must-have? for all notebook PC users.

If not, do you know of a wireless Internet card that works in a Mac and would work with this router (I'm planning on getting the same router as you)?

[Steven]

Okay, but my question would be:

Would this work in a Mac? In the description, it says this:

Ready to run in Type II or III PCMCIA equipped notebook PCs running Windows 95, 98, Millennium, NT, 2000, and XP, the Instant Wireless Network PC Card from Linksys is truly a ?must-have? for all notebook PC users.

If not, do you know of a wireless Internet card that works in a Mac and would work with this router (I'm planning on getting the same router as you)?

you're looking for driver support, i'm not sure it linksys for PC Cards supports Machintosh.

[TeeBall_Mark]

2 questions:

1) How do I know wether I have version a or b?? I going to assume I have b because when I check my speed it does say 11 MB/s

2) How do I know/check if my current hardware would Support both version a and version b. In case you didn't see it before, I am using Microsoft's own wireless networking solution.

IF it is capable of supporting both, I wonder how I'd switch it to using version a??

TBM

[Island Roots]

I've e-mailed LINKSYS about Mac support. Once I get a reply, I'll post it here. Thanks for all the help thus far. :)

[Steven]

2 questions:

1) How do I know wether I have version a or b?? I going to assume I have b because when I check my speed it does say 11 MB/s

2) How do I know/check if my current hardware would Support both version a and version b. In case you didn't see it before, I am using Microsoft's own wireless networking solution.

IF it is capable of supporting both, I wonder how I'd switch it to using version a??

TBM

802.11a = 72Mb/s

802.11b = 11Mb/s if you have this, then you have b, its just that simple.

if you have a b router, you cannot support a, unless its a combonation. it doesn't matter that you have a Microsoft whatever, if the hardware doesn't have 'a' support, you ain't getting 802.11a.

i'm pretty sure i covered this a couple of times.. :blink:

[Island Roots]

Doh, their wireless Internet cards don't work on Macs. :cry:

Any substitutes that will work with that wireless router you have, xStainDx?

[Island Roots]

Are there any wireless network cards that work cross-platform (e.g. from a Mac laptop to the router xStainDx has)?