Developer Forum

I have been enjoying a simple two computer home network for a while now,
and have recently acquired a notebook with wireless -g networking
ability. I already have a good router and 4 port switch which has been
flawless. What is the best way to add wireless access for the notebook
so that I can access the internet from anywhere in the house and also
access my printer from the notebook? Cost is a concern.

Quick! Run out to your nearest major electronics retailer and take
advantage of black Friday door busters. Several of them have
4-port/wireless 54g routers for <$10 (after rebates). You know, places like
Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, OfficeMax and Staples. Consult your
newspaper or the retailers websites.

-Gary

For the printer, a wired or wireless "print server". Hawking makes
great little wired print servers for both parallel and USB printers for
not much money. http://www.yqcomputer.com/

A wireless 802.11g router for the wireless communication, or a wireless
access point to connect to the existing router. The cost for each is
about equivalent although wireless routers are often on sale.

Q

Now see, I've read various professionals (and now a couple usenet posters)
advise adding a wireless "g" access point to an existing (wired) router. I
don't agree with that. Every time I've bothered to check (several times), I
have ALWAYS been able to find a wireless "g" router on sale for considerably
less money than a wireless "g" access point. I've concluded it is almost
certainly cheaper to just replace the (wired) router, if you are a
reasonably smart Internet shopper. For good prices on wireless routers,
check Amazon, Froogle, Pricewatch, and Newegg.

But even if you happen to find a wireless access point just as cheap as a
wireless "g" router, the wireless "g" router with built-in switches for
"wired" operation (such as Netgear WGR614 or Belkin F5D7230-4 or similar) is
STILL a better choice. I've got quite a rat's nest of wires around my desk
already, and I'm constantly needing more electrical outlets. Why would I
want to add yet ANOTHER component to this mess, that needs a spot for a
bulky tranformer to plug in, and needs to have more cables routed through
the existing rat's nest, etc? It's much easier just to replace the wired
router, as then you end up with the same number of components that you
currently have.

Yes, it might seem wasteful to replace a perfectly good wired router, but
you can always sell it on ebay to recover part of the cost of the new
wireless router. Not everyone needs wireless capability, and many people
are quite happy with a used "wired" router in good condition.

Right now, buy.com has a Belkin F5D7230-4 wireless "g" router for $37, FREE
SHIPPING. That looks like a heckuva bargain.

Depending on how much printing you intend to do wirelessly, I've found it's
quite easy to enable print sharing on your "main" computer and your
notebook, and just leave the main computer running if you think you will
need to print anything from the notebook. It works great, and it costs
NOTHING to implement. Essentially, print jobs are spooled in the main
computer as they are sent wirelessly over your LAN from the notebook. Then
the print jobs are printed as soon as the printer is ready to print, just as
if the print job had been initiated on the main computer. -Dave

http://www.yqcomputer.com/
http://www.yqcomputer.com/

And you can always use that wireless router as an access point by
turning off its routing functions. AFAIK, this can be done with every
current wireless router.



And depending on the physical layout of a network, it might be more
convenient to have the access point (and its antenna) at a location
different from the router's.

You'd get better -- or at least more -- answers by posting this kind of
question in alt.internet.wireless or
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.networking.