Wireless for laptop

wormwood · 10 Feb 2006 at 09:45

My brother has recently purchased a laptop which he would like to use anywhere in the house via wireless internet. He already has an ancient p3 running on windows 98 connected to the broadband internet directly and I suppose he would like to keep it connected.

What would he need to connect both the pc and laptop to the internet the latop wireless while it soesnt really matter about the stationary pc. I assume it would mean purchasing a wireles router and card for the latpot. In which case which ones would you recommend for ease of use and setup.

Thankyou in advance for helpful replies.

Skilldibop · 10 Feb 2006 at 10:04

Depends on the internet type, for cable or if you have an ethernet ADSL modem, Linksys WRT54GS. USB modem replacement depends what you want, you can have ADSL or future proof with ADSL2+ support.

Wireless cards i'd get linksys *GS series with speedbooster. Either USB or PCMCIA.

wormwood · 10 Feb 2006 at 14:55

The Internet type is cable from telewest broadband which is connected through a surfboard modem.

What are the differences between PCMCIA and USB?

Skilldibop · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:10

one goes in a PCMCIA slot one plugs into a USB2.0 port. Depends which your laptop supports.

Al Vallario · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:10

wormwood said:
The Internet type is cable from telewest broadband which is connected through a surfboard modem.

What are the differences between PCMCIA and USB?

Well, a PCMCIA card would go in the PCMCIA slot on your laptop, and a wireless USB dongle would plug into a USB port and stick out the side. If you have a PCMCIA port, you'd be better off getting a PCMCIA wireless card.

Is the modem currently connected to the computer via ethernet or USB?

Skilldibop · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:14

if it's a cable modem your quids in thinking it'll support ethernet. Google your model number and you'll soon find out.

wormwood · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:39

Ethernet. I have looked at the linksys router and card that was suggested above and it came to about £83.

Just looked at what I guess is the equivelant Netgear products i.e. the WGT624 108mbps Router and the WG511T card and it was about £10 cheaper although I can't tell whether it will allow a wired connection as well as a wireless as the Linksys seems to.

Skilldibop · 10 Feb 2006 at 15:41

It will do, but it doesn't have half the features of the linksys and the wireless is about 15% slower. The linksys is about the best router you can buy for ethernet based connections at the moment. It's well worth the investment.