A wireless network in your home, is it possible?

Chumpski

Could anyone answer 2 questions for me please with regards to setting up a wireless network in my home?

I have a laptop at the moment. It has an ethernet card but no wireless card. Im thinking of buying a new one in a few weeks off of Dell. They have a wireless router (Belkin F5D7632 ADSL Modem/Wireless Router (802.11g)) there for an extra 100 EUR or something.

Basically what i want to know is this. Is it possible for me to set up a wireless network at home so that i can share files between my 2 laptops? Also I dont have broadband at home yet but ill be getting it soon. When i get this, can i then access the internet through this wireless router from both computers?

woolymammoth

Absolutely, that is to say, you can set up a wireless network to share files. You can set up what's called a Peer-to-Peer or Ad-Hoc network to connect two PCs directly together. Or you can use a wireless router to connect multiple PC together. You could also then connect that router to an internet connection.

Hold off buying a wireless router from dell just yet! If you're getting broadband, (if you choose them) eircom will give you a wireless router, (just hit more details on that link). You could also just buy a PCMCIA wireless network card for your existing laptop and save yourself the cash from buying a new laptop.

Hope this helps you.

anto.

chuckleberryfin

woolymammoth wrote:

Absolutely, that is to say, you can set up a wireless network to share files. You can set up what's called a Peer-to-Peer or Ad-Hoc network to connect two PCs directly together. Or you can use a wireless router to connect multiple PC together. You could also then connect that router to an internet connection.

Hold off buying a wireless router from dell just yet! If you're getting broadband, (if you choose them) eircom will give you a wireless router, (just hit more details on that link). You could also just buy a PCMCIA wireless network card for your existing laptop and save yourself the cash from buying a new laptop.

Hope this helps you.

anto.

Agreed with everything Anto said, if you've got windows on the machines you want to network it'll be a breeze. If you're using linux/unix you may have some trouble getting the proper drivers to run your wireless hardware but I've been able to find drivers for intel Anypoint 802.11b usb hardware and belkin 802.11g pcmcia cards. The only thing you should bear in mind is your network traffic will only run as fast as your slowest device. If you have a 802.11b card in one laptop and a 802.11g card in 'tother, for example, you're network will be 802.11b standard. That is to say you won't get the full benefit of your 802.11g card. 11Mb/s as opposed to a possible 56Mb/s were they both 802.11g. Also wireless signals tend to be slowed down depending on how many concrete blocks/steel girders you've got between the networked devices.

Chumpski

Thanks for the info. So if 2 laptops have wireless cards, you can transfer stuff between them?

woolymammoth

Yup.

Here's a microsoft article on the subject.

Google Search.

Chumpski

That article is great. Thanks for finding it.