Throwing out some thoughts/questions, welcoming any comments cause I'm a major nub on this subject...
I've got an E1505 coming with an Intel 3945 a/b/g card. At least I think so... in one place Dell says it is a/b/g and in another it just says a/g. So I'm trying to pick out a wireless router. In addition to the notebook I'll have a couple of desktops and a Canon MP780 multifunction printer. Based on what I've read I gather that that, as well as most multifunction printers, isn't designed to work when hanging off a [wireless] print server and if you are lucky you might get just basic printing to work. That sound about right? I don't print often and when I do use the Canon I'm just as likely to be scanning or faxing, and seeing as how I don't need any storage on the network I'm thinking that there is no real benefit to getting a wireless router with USB port and print server functionality. Perhaps I should just make due with what I have... switching USB cable or printing through a desktop... and then somewhere down the road purchase a networked multifunction printer(?).
Anyhoo, so this wireless router (lets say WR) will be in a back bedroom hanging off my cable modem, and need to support notebook use in other rooms on just that floor. The straight distance between the WR and the notebook would be no more than 35'. However, there would be wood doors and drywall/wood walls in beween the WR and notebook. Worst case direct path of the signal would travel diagonally through a door and like 4 to 6 walls. I'm kinda wondering if all that intervening wood/drywall is gonna be a problem. Repositioning the WR is possible but that would move the switched ethernet ports away from my desktops.
I've started looking at WRs and one of the ones I like is the WRT54GL. I think I'd have to switch firmware to get IPv6 support which I might need down the road, but upgradability is the nice feature of that WR. One thing that has surprised me is that that router and all the others I've looked at so far lack a wireless cutoff switch. If you won't be using the wireless network for awhile it would be a good idea to disable it, right? If you are using a WR with switched ethernet ports you can't simple kill the power without taking out the latter, right?
If SSID broadcast is disabled, MAC addresses other than those used by your notebook(s) are blocked, said notebook(s) are off, and we assume for a moment that no one has sniffed your MAC addresses and is trying to access your network, would the WR transmit anything? Is that as close as you can get to disabling the wireless short of changing a config setting?
Wow, this got long. A thank you if you made it this far and especially if you can share any info or tips or whatever.