Nubie Help

Hi,

What ADSL provider are you plan on using? Most provide wireless along with the modem. Some provide a separate wireless AP while others provide one integrated with the ADSL modem.

If you have a provider that supplies only the modem then you will need a wireless AP or wireless router. I would select the latter if you want to hardware additional equipment, most provide 4 ports.

You will need a network interface card (NIC) for your desktop if it doen't have the lan interface integrated to the motherboard. If needed, get a good PCI 10/100. Unless you are wanting to get into the gig lan standard.

For your laptop, if it doesn't have integrated wireless you will need a cardbus/pcmcia wireless interface. You should match the cardbus/pcmcia wireless with the wireless AP or Wireless router. That would be

Prices for the 802.11b equipment is low at this time. You could purchase a

I have not assumed any operating system. If you are Windows based then most equipment will have the needed drivers. If Linux you will need to check the card base id to see if the equipment is compatible and that the drivers are provided. You could use NDIS wrapper for linux based equipment but some of the chipsets used can cause some problems with older equipment.

HTH!

I should add that a USB ethernet or USB wlan interface are available for the laptop or desktop. Some provide external attenna which will enhance or provide better signal quality.

HTH!

An access point (AP) is the base station for a wireless LAN (WLAN). It connects a wired LAN and a wireless. It's somehow like the base station of a cordless phone.

A router is a device that connect several networks. In the case of most home used routers it connects the local network to the internet. It makes up the internet connection and allows the computers to connect through it.

Gateway can be just an other name for router but also means a logical setting for the TCP/IP (internet) protocol, telling all computers which it the address of the router. (standard gateway)

What you are looking for is a WLAN router. It's a router and a wireless AP in one device. In most cases it also has a switch (adv. network hub) where you can connect some computers by cable.

Thomas

Thanks for all the help. This was exactly what I was looking for. To answer your ADSL provider question, the provider is MWeb in South Africa. They only provide the modem. I can get most equipment here, but due to the weakness of the dollar, the cost is usually 50 to 100% higher than in the states. I usually order high cost items on the internet, and they're shipped through the State Department pouch. It can take 2 to 3 weeks for an order to get here, but the difference in cost is worth it.

I have the NIC card, but will need to buy the wireless AP or router and the pc card. If you have any recommendations for specific products, they would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Jim

Hi,

As for equipment recommendations. I like Linksys, Dlink and netgear.For NICs' I preferr 3Com, Intel or some of the cheap non branded stuff. I've used some Gigafast equipment and it seems stable and cheap here in the U.S. As for the pcmcia/cardbus you should see what is best for your equipment and OS.

If you are using Windows then drivers should not be an issue. If Linux then you should defintely check the drivers availablity and hardware compatibility.

HTH!