Networking newbie needs a helping hand

[Kazz]

Hey

Well, as the title says my knowledge of networking is pretty poor. Ive read through stickys and googled a few idiot guides to networking, but im still fairly clueless on the whole subject.
Anyway, here's what im wanting to do, setup a wireless network that allows sharing of the internet connection between 1 desktop gaming pc and a Vostro laptop. Im currently on a Virgin Media 10mb cable connection (may be switching over to Betheres 24mb connection later in the year if that helps).
This kinda fits in with with a previous thread about the Vostro laptop and which wireless card to get http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17903317

Just a few questions:

1) Theres a large selection of cable wireless routers out there, is it similar to pc components in you generally get what you pay for? From what ive read wireless-N seems to be the lastest technology, i don't mind paying that extra few quid for a decent bit of kit

2) From what ive read a wireless connection is not as fast (download speed and ping) as a wired ethernet. If i used a ethernet cable from the router to the main pc would i see a noticeable difference in speed / ping compared to the current setup?

3) The laptop will be running Vista home 32-bit and the pc is running Vista premium 64-bit, could there be any problems with that?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[edgedemon]

Hey


Just a few questions:

1) Theres a large selection of cable wireless routers out there, is it similar to pc components in you generally get what you pay for? From what ive read wireless-N seems to be the lastest technology, i don't mind paying that extra few quid for a decent bit of kit

Yes, i would get an N router, as it is the next thing, backward compatible and saves you buying one in a year or so. I personally like linksys, but it is a personal choice and depends on which network card you have in the laptop. Don't forget you will have to buy an adapter for your gaming machine should you want that to have wireless..

2) From what ive read a wireless connection is not as fast (download speed and ping) as a wired ethernet. If i used a ethernet cable from the router to the main pc would i see a noticeable difference in speed / ping compared to the current setup?

Ethernet will always be faster, expect to get 50% of the advertised speed with wireless, though an N router will improve this slightly..
Give your gaming machine a wired connection and the laptop can stay wireless..

3) The laptop will be running Vista home 32-bit and the pc is running Vista premium 64-bit, could there be any problems with that?

No, there shouldn't be any problems at all...


Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Kazz]

Great, thanks

Only thing im not clear on is will there be much of a difference (if any) between my current speed (i can get upto 1.5mb download speeds) compared with going through a wired connection from the new router to the pc?

Also, i was looking at a review in PCG, they recommend this Belkin http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-078-BE but after a forum search, not the greatest of comments about it Still not sure, will have a look around.
Oh, and the laptop has a Dell Wireless 1395 (802.11 b/g) MiniPCI Card, so im guessing any router that supports that number (802.11 b/g) will be fine yeah?

Thanks again

 

[MikeHiow]

I don't think you'd notice the difference for internet usage between wired/wireless connections.

The wireless connection will add less than 1ms to your latencies, at worst, and the speed will almost certainly be higher than your internet connection anyway.

 

[tolien]

Depends which wireless standard and what speed your internet connection is - it's pretty easy to max out 802.11g with either cable or ADSL2+.

What do you mean by 1.5mb/s? 1.5MB/s is more than you'll typically get with 802.11g and 1.5Mbps is abnormally low for cable...

 

[Kazz]

I meant i usually get around 1500 kb/s on the average download, as i mentioned in the first post im on the 'upto 10mb' VM cable package if that helps. Will have a thorough look through the forums for a decent wireless-N router