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ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2006-10-21          136181

I just recently installed wireless. There is a lot to learn and so many options that you get lost exploring them. The kid at the store recommended a combination wired/wireless router to replace my existing router. I took his advice and replaced my 8 port wired router with a 4 port wired/wireless combo. The only problem was that the wireless had to go where the previously installed wired router was which was not best for the wireless signal. Also - I went from 8 wired ports down to 4.

On further investigation I realized that I should have purchased a wireless access (WAP) gizmo. The kid steered me wrong - so I returned the WRT and purchased the WAP. That let me keep my 8 wired router and just add a wireless component with signal emanating from any location - just need to string a line from the wired router to wherever you want the WAP device.

Morale: don't trust the youngsters even though they act like the know what they are talking about. If you already have a wired router then don't overlook a WAP device - you don't have to replace your existing wired router. Oh - and then there is the security aspect ...


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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2006-10-21          136184

I'm having a hard time justifying wireless. I use a cisco router and have a couple of cascaded switches to feed the rest of the house with jacks in every room. An access point is certainly the way to go when you want to mix them. Just plug it into the router or switch and off you go. It's nice to use a notebook computer when sitting in the recliner, but if you have to plug it in for power anyway it's not much harder to plug in an ethernet cable at the same time. Notebook batteries are too expensive to waste when power is available. ....

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ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2006-10-21          136186

I agree usually there is no point. However, my wife has acquired a hankering to sit on the deck with a laptop and IM our daughter and such. She wanted me to add more lines - the cost of the lines was almost as much as the cost of wireless.

Also - I was on call to work a couple of weekends ago and wireless let me bring my laptop wherever I needed to occasionally glance for messages. I am moving to a new job within my company and will be working from home more often. In fact it was assumed I would work from home - but I have access to an office and will use it as often as possible. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2006-10-21          136188

When we built the house we wired ethernet everywhere, even to the shop, shed and deck. Wire is cheap! But I've got a wireless card too. Working from home I go stir crazy, so sometimes I take the laptop down to the local coffee shop which has wifi access. Very convenient when traveling around. Unfortunately my customers don't let unknown computers hook up to their wireless networks so it doesn't help there. ....

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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2006-10-22          136198

I opted for an "air card". Like my cell phone I can go anywhere T-mobile has coverage. It's slow but it beats having a LAN only for internet. ....

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Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3034 Northern AL
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2006-10-22          136202

Like Ken I wired the house and then bought the router box with the wireless. Naturally I ran the wire to a spot in the basement where my office was to be so the antenna is in the basement. I can use it with the laptop anywhere in the house but not out side. At the moment I like this arrangement as it limits anyone from accessing the wireless in the neighbourhood.
I might need to get a WAP at some point and place it on the wire up stairs.
The other kicker is the high speed access I got is actually wireless. I have an antenna up on the house. The only other option was satellite.
I looked into the cell phone wireless. Cingular has one, but I am not sure it is available in my area. If it is anything like my phone it would kick me off ever so often for no apparent reason. I am not sure I could handle the frustation of reconnecting every few minutes. Back to dial up with bad phone lines. ....

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ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2006-10-22          136208

When I initially set up the wireless I used no encryption just to make sure I could make everything work right. I then took my laptop around inside the house and then outdoors to see where the signal was strong and where it was weak. I did manage to walk to the street and get a weak signal - I confirmed put pulling up a web site from the street. After that I went back in the house and enabled encryption. Its a little more complex - and when my kids come home to visit I will have to enable their laptops with the encryption code. But I took good notes.

What made encryption more complex on my laptop is that I enabled it with Windows software. When I went to work I had to use my company's software to enable their wireless -which disabled my home wireless profile implemented through Windows. I had to re-enable my home wireless using the company software. Apparently you can only use a single software package to enable different/multiple wireless profiles. ....

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AnnBrush
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 463 Troy OH
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2006-10-23          136225

I too initially thought I would take the wired route - planned to have hardwired ethernet connections located through the house, now I have three computers at home - only one is hard wired - the other two are wireless. With my laptop I dont want to plug in wires as I work on it in different locations and the battery will run it for about 6 hours. The kids' computer is in a wired unfriendly location so I just bought a $20 card and wirelessly hooked it to our DSL service provided hub and WAP (one device we paid verizon $12.95 for - DSL modem hub and wap all in one). DSL is $14 a month and I cant see how to get better service than what we have already got - I have been very pleased. Speed is fine. ....

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Ducati996
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 347 New York
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2006-10-23          136234

With the speeds of wireless now approaching or even surpassing wired (100 Mbps threshold)it makes wireless even more attractive....

Dont forget to assign the MAC address of each P.C to the router - its another way on top of encryption of preventing unwanted access ....

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dsg
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 528 Franklin, Maine
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2006-10-23          136245

Among the millions of things I know nothing about, wireless hook up is one. I have an older laptop (2000 model Toshiba satellite) & have been thinking of setting it up for wireless/walking around the house. I already have a regular desktop with adelphia/time wanner cable/modem.

I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to computers (read almost):)) but have no knowledge of wireless. What is WAP, and what does it mean to assign the MAC address of each personal computer to the router?

Thanks for your help,
David ....

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ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2006-10-23          136247

WAP is Wireless Access Point and it is just an antenna that you add to your existing router to add wireless. The other option is to replace your existing router with a combination 4 port wired/wireless router. The MAC address I also do not understand. I have just been learning over the past few weeks. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2006-10-23          136249

I don't think gigabit ethernet will be available on wireless for awhile. The MAC address is a (supposedly) unique 48 bit address that identifies each NIC on a network. Originally they were supposed to be unique worldwide but the huge growth of the internet quickly overwhelmed that idea so new tricks were invented to work around the limitation. ....

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Blueman
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 243 Washington, PA
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2006-11-20          137167

I'm with David...don't know anything about wireless, except I'm ready to move into the 21st century. I have dial up at home, but the kids are starting to get old enough for limited internet access, and the dial up sucks. I know Verizon does not offer wireless in my area yet. Only my local po dunk phone company offers DSL, and I guess the other option is satellite. What recommendations does anyone have if I would use probably less than 75-100 hours per month, mostly for surfing, very little business use. My desktops are getting old, so it will be time to upgrade soon. I have phone jacks in each room, but did not run the more expensive CAT wiring when we built 5 years ago. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2006-11-20          137172

I'm on Wildblue satellite. It works great when the skies are clear, but bring on the rain and it fades in and out quite a bit (much more than sat TV). That's a problem here in the rainy NW. We really have no other options. There is no copper from the phone company here, everyone is on a shared microwave (so no DSL or ISDN). There's no line-of-site microwave from our property so that's out. Cell coverage doesn't work here either. There's a price to pay for living in the boonies but that's OK with us. ....

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ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2006-11-20          137179

Blueman, in our parts DSL is about $35/mo, cable high speed is about $50/mo. I have had both, cable is definitely faster. If your kids want to download music they will want cable. Wireless will be what you want - about $50 for a wireless router. If your computers are late models they will be wireless enabled. If they are old you will need to purchase wireless cards for them also. ....

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dsg
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 528 Franklin, Maine
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2006-11-20          137183

Well, Now I'm wireless (yesterday I couldn't say it, Now I is one:). It's much more simple than I thought. My older brother helped me, that was embarrassing. Bought my equipment on e-bay, The Router a (Belkin) was used, Total shipping and insurance was $27.00 . The notebook card (Belkin) was New around 22.00 shipping and all. The most expensive part is the Laptop, used a couple hundred.

David ....

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ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2006-11-20          137188

I wish I could get rid of ALL the computer and stereo wires in my house. Behind my TV is about 50 lines or so. Two TVs, cable box, 2 receivers, VHS, DVD, CD, security system, surge protectors, etc. And they all pretty much talk to each other. In my stairwell I rout all my computer wires so they are all tangled up with everything my wife hangs on the wall. And oh yeah, I have a tv out card in my computer so my computer screen can be viewed on the TV. The wire situation is pretty much out of control :) ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2006-11-20          137196

One ongoing question about all the wireless gadgets is that there's a chance all the extra RF radiation exposure may have a detrimental effect on health. Maybe, maybe not, but I can't see using it for things that don't require it and increasing exposure more than necessary. ....

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dsg
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 528 Franklin, Maine
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2006-11-21          137245

You may be on to something. All them city folk are much more weird than us country folk, maybe thats WHY, :)

David ....

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ncrunch32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 762 Kingston, NY
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2006-11-22          137263

Ken, the idea of constant strong wireless signal going through our bodies was mentioned in conversation between wife and me. At least the kids aren't here most of the time so they aren't exposed. But then I guess as I think of it the buildings I work in all have wireless. And my daughter and son are using it where they are. So David, I guess that is why we are all getting that greenish look in my house ;) ....

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AnnBrush
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 463 Troy OH
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2006-11-22          137277

All the radiation that is generated by every man made device including our cell phones, wireless, (OK any non nuclear war stuff) pales in comparison to the daily radiation dose we get naturally from the sun. During sun spot events the radiation from the sun is so strong it knocks out satellight communication and all sorts of problems arise with broadcast events etc. If you are concerned about radiation exposure limit your exposure to the sun. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2006-11-22          137278

Different wavelengths have different effects. Solar radiation doesn't cook a potato on earth in two minutes like a microwave oven. For me the jury is out on the effects of all the man-made radiation but it seems a prudent thing to limit exposure when possible. Like the sun. If I didn't wear a hat my bald head wouldn't like it. ....

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dsg
Join Date: Jun 1999
Posts: 528 Franklin, Maine
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2006-11-22          137287

ncrunch32, I thought I saw a little glow when I looked your way:))

David ....

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