Computer help - Router/wireless internet

[starrylizard]

Hello wise and fabulous friends list!! (Why yes I do want something. How did you guess?)

So here we have cable internet. I think we get broadband speed (10.0Mbps?).
Anyhow, the main compy and the internet connection are in one room.
My compy is about 20 meters away, in another room, upstairs and through about 3 walls. *cough*
I want to share the connection.

I'm looking to buy a router and I'll need something to make my computer pick up the wireless signal when I do.

So, I need suggestions/information on what I might need in both a router and to pick up the signal. Are there better brands? Is there anything I should look out for (or avoid) to get a good speed? etc.

Any help will be rewarded with virtual cookies and my gratitude!

Lizzie

Comments

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

If you have any spare PCI expansion ports in your desktop (if your computer is one) you should be able to get a card to fit that.

I may be out of date but I think the fastest wifi is 802.11g+, which is 108 Mbps max transfer rate. Obviously you need both devices, the router and the card/usb stick you buy to support the same protocol. Regarding the router, best to get one that is backwards compatible with the a and b (not to mention standard g speed) as well so if any friends come over and want to connect they have a fair chance to.

Security wise I'd recommend getting a router that does MAC filtering (so it only lets network devices connect that it has the MAc addresses registered in - fairly easy to setup though I often forget this when I get new devices lol) and WEP encryption (WAP is not as secure).

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

I'm really clueless, so excuse the questions...

I don't know what a PCI expansion port is?? I have a slot free to add like a DVD player or something?? And there's lots of other places to plug stuff I never use.

best to get one that is backwards compatible with the a and b (not to mention standard g speed)
SO I want something that covers a range of internet speeds?

What is MAC filtering? Is that something mentioned on the box? Does it allow password protection or something like that? And WEP. Shall look for that on a box too.

Thanks!

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

The speeds I refer to are the speeds the wifi transmit's the signal between devices, it depends which protocol the router and the corresponding device your pc is using support. IEE 802.11a and 802.11b are older ones, 802.11g and 802.11g+ are newer. I forget what speeds they each are but I'm sure the newer ones are certainly as fast as the 10Mbps the net is provided at to the modem but in case anyone has older devices, say if a friend visits with a laptop and that has an 802.11b card, you might like to make sure the router is backwards compatible.

And yeah PCI is inside desktop pc's - looks like...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_Component_Interconnect

Not the greatest picture but you get the idea. Wifi devices tend to be PCI internal cards or USB devices.

MAC filtering - should say on the box but otherwise googling the model of router would likely be able to tell. What it is is registering each network devices (e.g. the network card on a desktop's motherboard or a wifi stick/card - basically network card connection to your network, wifi or wired) unique network address (MAC address) with the router so it will only let the approved devices connect to it, makes it a bit harder for anyone hacking your wifi network.

That's not fool proof though so also why WEP encryption is handy, much stronger than the previously recommended WAP encryption. You have a passkey for WEP that you need to tell your PC/device when setting up a connection - if you tell it to remember it then it won't ask each time it connects. :)

Any other questions or further clarification I'm happy to help.

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That helps a lot! :)

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Okay, my dad just explained the PCI thing is inside the computer, so you can ignore that Q. :)