Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

[Mark42]

I plan to order a Sprint "air card" mobile broadband card and Linksys mobile broad router (the air card plugs into the router sort of lik a regular wireless router will take a dsl modem).

So the hardware is the Pantech XP-500 air card and Linksys WRT54G3G-ST router. I currently have a Linksys wireless router (WRT54GL) that services both wireless and RJ45 connections and has a ISDN modem attached.

Now my question is can I use the mobile broadband router wireless and leave the existing router in place (minus the old ISDN connection) to service the hard wired PC's, and will it connect via wireless connection to the new mobile broadband router to get the air card internet connection?

I downloaded the Linksys user guide, and it reads like it should work, but I'm not sure. Will wireless router talk to another wireless router to get to the internet?

 

[achris]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Will wireless router talk to another wireless router to get to the internet?

Only if the 'non-internet connected' wireless router can be configured in 'Bridge' mode. Unfortunately most can't... I have a similar set up I would like to do in my house. You have to change the 'non-internet connected' wireless router to a 'wireless access point' with a router (or a switch if the other router is DHCP enabled) connected....

Chris............

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

..what achris said, but you'll probably take a bandwidth hit of 50% doing the client/bridge mode wirelessly, there's a trade off to not running network cable. I'd consider the option of connecting the non-internet router to your main router with Cat5e. Turn off DHCP in the non-internet connected router. Give both routers the same SSID but on different channels (so you can roam between them both). If the Linksys firmware won't play nice, consider DD-WRT firmware. Here's a similiar problem asked and answered.
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/469092836/m/329005159731

 

[Mark42]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Thanks for the replies and the link. I do have one CAT5e network cable from upstairs to basement that I can use to hard wire the two routers together. If I can't daisy chain them wireless, I'll use the cable.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Kinda on the same track and don't mean to hi-jack at all, but I want to use a wireless router to hook 3 machines to.
My d-link router died and I am wanting to go wireless.
So what do I need besides the router?

 

[achris]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Kinda on the same track and don't mean to hi-jack at all, but I want to use a wireless router to hook 3 machines to.
My d-link router died and I am wanting to go wireless.
So what do I need besides the router?

A wireless card in each machine....

Chris....

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

A wireless card in each machine....

Chris....

And where do they go?
I have slapped some memory in one, but don't know where these would go.
Oh yea, one is a laptop.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Wireless notebook card (if your note book does not have a built in one) such as Linksys - Wireless-N Notebook Card
available on the Best Buy site.

It goes into the slot on the side.

 

[tommays]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

the laptops always have a slot on the side that takes a card unless there REALLY old


Desktops usually have and empty PCI (slot type will depend on age) that will also take a card


It was a lot of work BUT i had to rebuild the basement and hard wired the whole house

As well as wireless for the laptops to wonder around THE extra cost antennas allow it be in the basement and give good home coverage


Just remember to use ALL the security settings as my in neighborhood at least 1/2 the houses leave open wireless with no security

A few times the laptops have auto connected to neighbors houses BUY mistake when the home wireless was down



Tommays

 

[ThumbPkr]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

You can buy everything you need on ebay for very little money.The wireless router should be a minimum of 802.11g as it is quite an improvement over 802.11b speedwise.......11mbs versus 54mbs and the G will be backwards compatable with the B if you happen to need to use the b for any reason. Once you get the wireless router configured which is pretty easy with most suppliers by using the menu driven install cd that should come with the router then equipping the other devices with "adapters" as they call them to talk to your router is fairly routine as well.There are a few basics to pay attention to as you set them up such as the channel you choose has to be the same for all devices and the SSID which is basically a name for your wireless network has to be the same for all devices.Usually the mobile devices will detect those things automatically but you should remember them if they don't.
I would not worry about the security/encryption until you get everything else working well first.Go slow and take your time.
The adapters can be a PCI card for your wireless desktops to a USB device which just plugs into a USB port.The USB adapter can also be used on a laptop with a spare USB port if desired.Usually the newer laptops have wireless built in but you can buy the PCMCIA cards (PC Cards) for 5 bucks or so on ebay if you are willing to wait for the right deal,there are plenty of them.
I use Belkin generally but Dlink and Linksys are great products as well.
Remember that the technology is shared between different manufacturers so that if you have a Dlink router a Belkin pc card in a laptop will still talk to it.Have fun and good luck.Bear in mind that you might encounter problems if you have a 2.4Ghz cordless phone in the house as the 802.11b+g share that frequency when in operation.I use the old .9ghz phone with no problem.Ron G

 

[Mark42]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

I placed the order for the air card and mobile broad band router ($249!!!! Ouch!!!) should be here by Wednesday. I see there is a tower about 3 miles from my house, and things are a little hilly around here, so I am not expecting too good a signal. If the signal is not strong enough to get at least 600k download, I'll stick an antenna up in the attic or on the roof. I noticed that my cell phone gets full signal (all the bars) when I hold it against the ceiling of the second floor bedroom at the end of the house nearest the tower. But it only gets two bars on the first floor.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get some decient speed out of this mobile broadband setup. I currently get a consistant 119k up/down out of my ISDN service. So anything over 300k will be good. Plus the mobile broadband hardware and service supports VPN that I need for working from home.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

That's another question. Does the speed slow down going wireless?
I am on cable now and it's fast.

 

[achris]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

That's another question. Does the speed slow down going wireless?
I am on cable now and it's fast.

Your line speed won't change... If you use 802.11b (11k) you will definitely notice a slower speed. If you use 802.11g (54k) it will be slower, but not that noticeable. What is your cable speed running at the moment?

Chris...........

 

[Mark42]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Your line speed won't change... If you use 802.11b (11k) you will definitely notice a slower speed. If you use 802.11g (54k) it will be slower, but not that noticeable. What is your cable speed running at the moment?

Chris...........

I don't think he will notice any reduction in performance because the wireless runs at 54Mbps (not 54k), which is many times faster than a DSL or Cable modem.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Your line speed won't change... If you use 802.11b (11k) you will definitely notice a slower speed. If you use 802.11g (54k) it will be slower, but not that noticeable. What is your cable speed running at the moment?

Chris...........

uhhhhh, I don't know.
All I know is that website/s/pages load instantly.

 

[achris]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

.....because the wireless runs at 54Mbps (not 54k)....

My bad, quite right....

 

[ThumbPkr]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Your wired networks will run at 10/100mbps with the newer network interface cards (NICS) running at 100mbps so basically everything that is connected with a cat5 cable should be running at 100mbps.Actual throughput may vary but probably not by much.
The numbers have been published for the wireless devices.802.11b is 11mbps and 802.11g is 54mbps.Those figures depend on signal quality and signal strength much the same as your TV reception depended on them back in the days of TV antennas/rotors and the same rules apply,the higher your antenna is the better your reception will be,both transmitter and receiver.
You would be happy with 802.11b until you tried the 802.11g,just being untethered from your network with the freedom to roam can grow on you pretty fast.
You can also buy a PCMCIA NIC for very little money for your laptop if it does not have one built in to the motherboard and you can use it for any major file transfers/system backups to bring you up to network speed if you have the need.
There are faster wireless systems to be had if you want to spend the money,the 802.11N is advertising 300mbps speeds and can work with the 802.11b and g devices if it has to but the technology is newer and of course more expensive.Ron G

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

All good info...

One last thing to know...the speed of the connection to the Web is different than your LAN (your Local Area Network). Your computers connected to the router can transfer data between themselves with Cat5e at 100Mbps (if your NIC's are 100baseT), actually 200Mbps being full duplex.
The main issue is, the speed of your wireless adapters only really applies to the speed at which you can transfer files BETWEEN your other computers. Most think that if they goto 802.11G (54Mbps) the web pages will load faster, not true. So, if you plan on moving or copying large files between computers then go for the faster speed, it will take less time for the file transfer.
The main difference in the older 802.11B wireless adapters and the newer 802.11G (or faster) ones is the availability of drivers and client managers that support the newer, safer, forms of encryption, namely WPA and WPA2.

FYI: Wonder where the 'word' 100baseT came from??
100=100Mbps ..that's mega BITS...not mega BYTES
Small 'b'=bits Cap B=Bytes
Base=baseband
T=twisted pair cable....typically called UTP cable. UTP=unshielded Twisted Pair....we call it Cat5

FYI: RJ45 connector
RJ45 connector is what has become the 'term' to use for the plastic ends on network cables. The RJ specification really originated with the phone company meaning Registered Jack, as in RJ11 (what we know as a phone jack having 4 pins)
Since the network thing has little to do with the phone company, the RJ term is a misnomer.
The real term for a plastic 'end' connector for network cables is called a 8P8C connector. 8P8C means 8 Position, 8 Contact.
Rest assured that if you go into Best Buy and ask for a network cable with attached 8P8C connectors, they'll look at you like you have a toilet seat on your head.....just continue to use the term RJ45 and you should be safe.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

Soooooooooooo, wireless really ain't no great advantage then to web surfing?

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Wireless, routers and mobile broadband.

In a word no......

Try this...goto speedtest.net and run a test....pick a destination on the West coast if you live East ect....
If you look at the 'speed dial', you'll see that it says 'bits per second'. The scale goes up to 30M+ , or 30 Mega Bits per second.
DSL is typically 1.5 Mega BITS per second, download

Remember that a wireless adapter of the 802.11b variety transfers at 11 Mega BITS per second, your DSL service is 1.5 Mega BITS....

Do the math 11 divided by 1.5= 7.3
Your older 802.11b adapter is 7.3 times faster than your DSL service can send you the data.

As I mentioned....the faster wireless speeds allow you to transfer files between your computers on your network. Wired computers on your lan can transfer at 100 Mega BITS. Picking a faster wireless adapter allows , say the wireless laptop to approach the data transfer speeds of a wired connection.