wireless networking recommendation

hhhhbk · 21 Mar 2006 at 18:44

just bought a laptop with a built in wifi card
want to get it on my network so i dont have to keep leeching my neighbours bandwidth

machine 1 is on 24/7
athlon xp abit nf7

machine 2 is on most days
athlon xp asus a7n8x

i plan to stick a wireless pci card or wireless usb stick in machine 1 to send internet access to the laptop

couple of questions
1) will this work?
2) will i be able to access files on machine 2 from the laptop?
3) what usb or pci card brand and model is best to buy?

thx

tolien · 21 Mar 2006 at 20:13

1) Should. Be much easier with a router though (since Windows' bridging can be..dodgy at best)
2) Yes.

hhhhbk · 22 Mar 2006 at 01:17

thx mate

i thought about getting a router but they are more expensive and iv read lots of things online about them have issues with bit torrent and other software

so just need to determine which is the best pci card or usb wireless stick to work with the dell built in broadcom wireless adapter in the laptop

tolien · 22 Mar 2006 at 11:33

hhhhbk said:
i thought about getting a router but they are more expensive and iv read lots of things online about them have issues with bit torrent and other software

They're not that much more expensive (Speedtouch 580 or Netgear DG834G for ~£60, shouldn't bat an eye at torrenting as long as you don't go nuts), and it's a hell of a lot more likely to work (and not have some of the weirdness that adhoc wireless can have - like a lack of WPA).