Key Post: Home network?

  • Thread starter oilean buyingtolet
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oilean buyingtolet

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Where would I startto set up a small (wireless) home network

I recenlty had trouble with my laptop (power cord died) and I have taken it as a warning to have a back up plan

I currently own a laptop and am planning on getting a basic desktop from Dell to leave at home

I have broadband and a printer at home which I use at present connected to the laptop thourght a USB hub

Could I set up a network to link the laptop (when at home) to the other computer and still have broadband and printer facilities on both

I presume I need a wireless router?/network hub? and at least one wireless pcmia card or wirless usb dongle but I am guessing

Thanks
Stuart
 
Re: Home network?

Could I set up a network to link the laptop (when at home) to the other computer and still have broadband and printer facilities on both


Yes.

This Howstuffworks.com tutorial might be of help in terms of getting a quick overview. is a real example of this stuff in action and might be worth reading. There are a few other topics in this forum dealing with home networking, wireless and otherwise, which might be of use too - you should be able to find them by browsing back through the contents of this forum.

I presume I need a wireless router?/network hub? and at least one wireless pcmia card or wirless usb dongle but I am guessing

That's one setup. Another would be a wireless PCI card for the desktop PC rather than a USB dongle or else a wired ethernet 10/100BaseT PCI network card that connects to a port on a wireless router/access point/switch. Note that you will still need your broadband modem/router since and this will connect to your wireless router with your individual PCs connecting to this (via wireless or wired connections) and thus being able to share the broadband link. The printer and any folders you need can then be shared between machines as required (i.e. the fact that there is a wireless network involved is irrelevant at this level).

Does that make sense?

There might be some more useful info over on boards.ie including [broken link removed].
 
Home network

Thanks for all the info Clubman

I think I am going to go for a [broken link removed] from [broken link removed]

It is a reasonable price and I think it suits my needs

I can connect it to a desktop situated beside it through an enthernet cable and still run a remote laptop/desktop from it using a [broken link removed]

That is, I think, the hardware sorted

THe configuring of the network should be manageable based on How stuff works - Configuring Wi-Fi tutorial

Is there anything I am missing, with computers there usually is

Stuart
 
Re: Home network

there are other hardware setup options.

wireless router connected to desktops network card via ethernet cable - no need for additional usb dongle.

desktop - usb dongle , laptop - wifi card, - enable internet connection sharing on the desktop so the laptop can share its existing broadband connection - no need for router but the dektop must be left on
 
Re: Home network

I think I am going to go for a Linksys Wireless -G Broadband Router from komplett.ie

It is a reasonable price and I think it suits my needs

ITDirect in Parliament Street, Dublin 2 are selling these for €78.57 including VAT just in case that works out cheaper than the Komplett when VAT and/or P&P are included. Most other places around town seem to be charging €99. I've used a few of these devices and they are pretty good.

I can connect it to a desktop situated beside it through an enthernet cable and still run a remote laptop/desktop from it using a Linksys Wieless Card Bus

That's the way I run my home network and it works very well. Does your desktop already have a 10/100 ethernet for connecting to the router's switch/hub port? Don't forget that you will neet an ethernet cable for this.

Don't foget to configure the security of your wireless router. See for some tips.
 
Desktop and ethernet

I was considering buying the basic desktop from Dell, that they have at €299 plus vat

It does have a 10/100 port

Thanks
Stuart
 
Re: Desktop and ethernet

I was considering buying the basic desktop from Dell, that they have at €299 plus vat

Really? Where's that? What spec? Excluding keyboard/mouse/monitor? Couldn't see it on their website myself.
 
Re: Desktop and ethernet

Key in an e-value code of 305 - D03241, and choose the basic support and the price is 299, there is currently no delivery charge on that either. Janey, I might buy a couple myself....
 
Re: Home network?

Did you tick the reduced service option?, 9if so, it should come down to 299+vat
 
Re: Home network?

OK - I didn't realise that you had to tweak the configuration to get the price down to €299. Thanks for that.
 
Re: Home network?

If you reduce the service option and upgrade the monitor to a flat screen it is a very good offer

A decent new computer with a flat screen for €419+vat

if anyone knows of a better offer please post as I intednd buying one next week otherwise

Stuart
 
Re: >>Home network?

I managed to get the router delivered by DHL from Elara, a painfull experience at best but then maybe it was because I was waiting on it

I have te router working while wired to the laptop

I have the wirless working when laptop not wired to router but it is painfull slow

Are there settings I could try and tweak on the card that might help?
Or are there settings on the router that I should check
 
Re: >>Home network?

stuart said:
but it is painfull slow
Click to expand...

there shouldnt be any noticeable diff between wired and wireless when you are using the internet. if it is slow to connect initially, you could try setting up a static ip address on your laptop instead of dhcp. Also disable the wep security stuff and make sure the router is set to 54mbps or 11mbps only, whichever your laptop supports. apparently the automatic option can slow things down.
I have wireless myself and just use the mac address filtering option so the neighbours cant piggyback for free.
 
Re: >>Home network?

Stuart - your post is not that clear so could you post more detailed information about your setup and what works OK (fast enough) and what does not. My home setup is as follows and works a dream even with a pair of TV signal senders competing for the 2.4GHz band!



  • UTV Clicksilver broadband
  • Creative ADSL Blaster from UTV
  • D-Link DI-524 802.11g router & 4 port 10/100 ethernet switch (US$30 refurbished model from Fry's USA!)
  • D-Link box connected to Creative box via ethernet ports
  • c. 5 year old [broken link removed] Athlon 1.2GHz desktop PC running Windows 2000 connected to one 10/100 ethernet port on the D-Link box
  • http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00029ZV0S/104-8588113-7941561?v=glance (Sony Vaio PCG-K23) laptop (US$950 end of line offer in Fry's USA) running Windows XP Home Edition with built in 802.11g wireless connected wirelessly to the D-Link box
  • D-Link box configured for WPA-PSK encryption and other security features switched on
  • D-Link box configured for 802.11g channel 11 and TV video senders configured for channel A in an attempt to keep them at opposite ends of the 2.4GHz band spectrum - and it seems to work OK.
  • No perceptible difference in (local and internet) networking speed using the laptop versus the desktop.
  • IrishISPtest site reports c. 850Kbps download and 95Kbps upload which is more or less consistent with what would be expected from the 1Mbps/128Kbps (automatically upgraded to 1Mbps last week from 512Kbps/128Kbps) Clicksilver ADSL link.
 
Re: >>Home network?

Eircom broadband with a netopia Cayman 330 series

I previously had this cnnected to a USB hub and the hub into the Laptop, Compaq Presario 2100

Everything fine

I purchased a Linsys wireless kit [broken link removed]

Thought getting the router and wirelss laptop card might prevent stupid problems with fixing settings

When connecting netopia box with ethernet cable to linksys router and then with ethernet cable into laptop everything works the same as it did by going through USB port

But when I try to go wireless something goes wrong

It seems I either have messed up the wireless settings or there is inteferance

I have disconnected the cordless phones, even though it is 1.88 to 1.9Ghz, but it does not change anything

The signal being picked up by the computer from the router fluctuates greatly and sometimes disconnects

I'll have a go with playing around with the wireless card settings and see if it changes anything
 
Re: >>Home network?

How close is the computer to the router? Could there be something physical blocking the signal? I had to move my router from a bottom shelf in the hall table to the top of the hall table to get a signal.
 
Re: >>Home network?

stuart said:
I purchased a Linsys wireless kit [broken link removed]
Click to expand...

This is very reliable kit so, all things being equal, I would not expect any problems using it.

Thought getting the router and wirelss laptop card might prevent stupid problems with fixing settings
Click to expand...

I don't understand this.

It seems I either have messed up the wireless settings or there is inteferance
Click to expand...

What settings did you change from the factory defaults on the router and laptop card?

I have disconnected the cordless phones, even though it is 1.88 to 1.9Ghz, but it does not change anything
Click to expand...

You can reconnect these - there is no way that they can interfere with 802.11b/g which operates in the 2.4GHz band. I presume that you're not running any other 2.4GHz equipment (e.g. a microwave oven) continuously?

The signal being picked up by the computer from the router fluctuates greatly and sometimes disconnects
Click to expand...

Quite possible that this could be caused by a driver/firmware problem. Have you ensured that you have the latest firmware for the Linksys router and the latest drivers for the laptop card? I know that with the D-Link router that I have the latest firmware was actually totally unreliable and I had to roll back to the previous version. With the latest version wireless networking disconnects were occurring every few minutes but with the older version connections are reliable. Obviously this is all specific to the D-Link router that I havd and not applicable to your Linksys one but just pointing out the sort of thing that can occur when the firmware or drivers are buggy.

I also had to play about a bit with the security settings (e.g. encryption, MAC address filtering, SSID broadcast - Windows XP wireless zero config doesn't like this being switched off etc.) to get things working reliably.

Also - as Rainyday says making sure that the router placement isn't a problem is worth checking. Mind you mine is not ideally placed but I get a perfect signal all through the house (haven't tried it outside yet) although I
don't live in a mansion! ;)

Any possibility that you can borrow other wireless gear (e.g. another wireless laptop) from a friend/colleague to do some more process of elimination testing?
 
Re: >>Home network?

I have being doing a little internet searching I think the problem is related to lcearing the ARP Cache

Reason being that's what the computer tells me when I try to repair the connection

I have come across this site but was a little wary about trying some of the solutions, not knowing any of the contributors

[broken link removed]

Any opinions on the site contact would be appreciated

Stuart
 
Re: >>Home network?

Why do you think that clearing the ARP cache is the problem? As far as I know the ARP cache does not persist across power cycles on most if not all equipment (routers, PCs etc.) so if you simply switch all of your gear off and then back on again and the problem persists then the ARP cache may not be the problem at all.
 
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