new to wireless

Hi, I hope you can help me avoid any problems! Here comes my new HP Pavillion Notebook DV5020US. The wireless config. says this: Enhanced wireless: SpeedBooster technology enhances the built-in 802.11g/b wireless, providing improved performance and efficient data transmission.

- I got it at Circuit City, which threw in a D-Link Wireless G Router. (Dl-524)

I currently have a Hp Pavillion a340n desktop as my home computer and it's hooked to a sprint DSL realtek router RTL8139 that has an ethernet port though i think that's how my current dsl is hooked up. I have had no problems with my dsl connection and would love to keep it that way! I got the laptop mostly for use at home and would like it to be able to access the desktop, but most importantly share the dsl connection.

unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with wireless and probably don't really understand it, so I apologize for any dumb questions.

Question #1- is the notebook out of the box compatible with the D-link Router or do I need a wireless adapter (that would be lame)?

Question #2- is there any way I can keep the desktop/dsl connection hard wired, so as not to disturb anything? And just the laptop have the wireless connection?

Any other tips or advice would be welcome.

I would love to hear from others that might have a similar set up.

Thanks!

Ami

Reply to
Ami
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Sorry to reply to my own post, but I forgot to mention that the laptop has the turion processor- the D-link G router says it's compatible with Centrino mobile etc. which my computer isn't. An issue or non-issue?

Thanks again, Ami

Reply to
Ami

If the laptop already has a wireless NIC or Network Interface card in it, then it's a matter of you configuring the router and the wireless NIC so that they can communicate with each other.

What you should have gotten was a standalone WAP a Wireless Access Point and not the wireless router. The WAP will allow you to plug it into the wire router that you already have so that wired and wireless computers can use the router to access the Internet and share resources between the wired and wireless computers.

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It should work.

You can also convert your router into just being a wire/wireless AP switch by disabling the DHCP server and plugging it into a LAN port on the router and it will become just a switch for wire or wireless like what is being talked about in the link.

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Maybe, you should return the router and get a standalone WAP a bridging device that allows you do combine the two networks of wire and wireless with the wired router as the gateway device for the LAN and WAN.

There are other Home Networking Topics in the link above.

Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

Yes, from looking up the specs. the WAP is the exact thing for me. It looks like it shouldn't mess with my current system at all and that's really, really great. The d-link g router sounded like it wasn't consistant, and I need at least one computer to be there for me. Many thanks for pointing me exactly where I needed to go and for the helpful articles.

Ami (a little less frightened in NJ)

Reply to
Ami

You are good to go everywhere!

You laptop has built-in wireless.

You got yourself a wireless router.

Your desktop, that you want to remain hard wired, has an ethernet port.

You don't need anything else.

Plug your DSL modem into the DLink's WAN port, plug the desktop into one of the DLink's LAN ports, change the default SSID, turn on WPA and choose a key, and all that is left is just config'ing your laptop wireless client.

(Ya sure the DSL box is "router" and not just a "modem" though? If it is a "router", then either the DSL box's or the DLink router's DHCP should be disabled. Be best to disable the DSL box's DHCP, if it is a "router".)

Its all much more straight forward than you might be making it out to be. Just remember, wireless (for what you are doing, a very simple home net) is basically just a subsitute (at hardware level) for ethernet -- nothing more, nothing less!

Reply to
Eric

It is definitely a router and not a modem (unless realtek calls routers modems).

What concerns me more than noodling around, is the fact that I have heard that the d-link wireless routers are squirrely. If I hook it up this way, the disconnects, a potential lemon router ( I went through three faulty dsl routers, so I know it happens), and any problems with the wireless, would affect my currently wired computer as well as my notebook, right?

If I went with the WAP, my wired desktop stays hooked to the dsl modem, in its current state and any problems in the wireless department would be confined to the notebook.

If I am wrong in this distinction, please correct me!

Thanks for the hook up though, it doesn't sound too hard. I got the d-link router for free, so no harm done.

Ami

Reply to
Ami

WAP/routers and standalone WAP(s) are squirrelly to begin with and is the nature of the beasts. You have that DSL router in play and it works. You should not be swapping out the wireless router with the DSL router.

You're correct.

You should leave the DSL router as the gateway device. If it's not broke, then you don't fix it.

Either get a standalone WAP or you can convert the wire/wireless router into a wire/WAP switch and plug it into the LAN port on the DSL router and you have a standalone wire/WAP switch (still a bridging device between the two networks with wire and wireless) on your network that will not interfere with your current setup like what's being talked about in the link.

The principles are the same no matter what router wired or wireless or the brand name. You just apply it to the DSL and D-link routers you have with the information in the link.

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You should not make it more complicated than it needs to be is the bottom line.

Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

Nah, as Duane already pointed out, all the consumer wireless stuff out there can be "squirrely".

Really, with the consumer stuff ($100 plastic boxes), it tends to be specific models that are more "squirrely" than others, not brand. Its not hard to find people who had bad experiences with DLink or Linksys, jumping around and screaming that they will "never buy from brand X again". The "other brand always works better". Really, all the consumer stuff is pretty much the same, anyway. D-Link and Linksys just box components, much of which come from the same source. It is all "junk", but it is "junk that works" for simple home networks. :^)

I mainly use DLink "junk" and have no complaints. Also have a Linksys WRT54GS (V2.0) piece of "junk" that I play around with. My DLink stuff goes months without being physically touched, and even then it is usually just a dusting. One of the DLink wireless routers has been running continuously since early 2003. Other WAP's have been running straight for about a year and a half. I even one WAP (running as a repeater) that I waterproofed, hardened, and have running continuously outside in a little birdhouse! Trenched the power line (DC) going out the birdhouse and have it running up the hollow pipe supporting the house. The only thing visible are the two antennas sticking out of the roof of the birdhouse. Ran a little six inch CAT5 cable I made from it's WAN port to the bottom of the house, should I ever needed to go out and reconfig it with a laptop. Its been running continuously for about eight months now. Its been rained on, snowed on, ect, and still going strong. I'm sure condensation probably builds up on the components, even though I waterproofed it, but don't care -- I plan on burning it until it dies.

If my DLink router that has been running since 2003 would die tomorrow, I couldn't care less. At this point, its disposable, and it dying would just mean the opportunity to get something new. Total running time versus cost would only come out to something like 15 cents a day. Had I bought a Cisco wireless router, at four times the cost, sure it may last longer but that just means you are "stuck" with it for a decade or whatnot.

You are right.

Can't beat anything free. Just do what Duane told you, plug your DSL router into one of the DLink's LAN (not WAN) ports and make sure the D-Link's DHCP is disabled. DHCP will come from the DSL router. I said in my previous posts to use the DLink's DHCP, but his suggestion to use the DSL router's DHCP (and using the DLink as only a WAP), would be easier. The "router function" of the DLink may come in hand down the road, if you want to setup a second network or something.

Reply to
Eric

Too late... I took the easy way and got a WAP. Wonderful, Wonderfu! Took me nothing, and I'm sharing my printer, files, blazing along on my new laptop without my dsl router knowing what hit it. Seriously, no regrets. I'll hold onto the g-link router, who knows, but right now I couldn't be happier. Thanks Duane and Eric, couldn't have done it without you!

Ami (ps. file sharing rocks!)

Reply to
Ami

The other thing you might want to invest in is a print server that you plug into a LAN port on the router and you plug the printer to it. The print server gets it own IP and you can print to the printer from wire or wireless machines through the router instead of having the desktop computer on to print from the laptop. The print server is a piece of cake too.

Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

I did get a print server (yes I do enjoy a good trip to staples), hooked it up briefly (I have an ethernet switch/hub everything is hooked into) and probably incorrectly, but then I discovered that I didn't need it, but I didn't realize I had to have the base computer on to use the print sharing (not that that's a big deal), so maybe I'll try it again. Thanks!

Ami

Reply to
Ami

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