Wireless home/ADSL setup - FAQ

[tanalasta]

Hi - I'm fairly uneducated about wireless and networking in general but intend to set up an ADSL wireless LAN in my home.

What I plan to do is buy a Netgear DG834G integrated accesspoint/router/switch/modem and a wireless network PCI card for my desktop. My brother's laptop has built-in wifi which will also connect.

Would anyone who is knowledgable enough and has the time want to write a short step-by-step instruction guide as to how to proceed?

To complicate things my desktop runs Windows 98 so I'm not sure how to connect it to a network. WinXP is so much simpler.

Thanks!!!

[paulzazzarino]

For windows specifics the instructions with the wi-fi card installation should suffice. Most 98 boxes have pnp.

In a nutshell configure your home network to look like this

DSL <-----1------> Router <-----2------> 802.11 b/g AP

line 1 : cablemodem or DSL fixed cable
line 2: fixed line between router and access point
beyond that everything else is then wireless. You can purchase a router and AP as one or separate units. I would recommend as separate as you want to dump some $ into a real AP with good coverage. (100mW) Of course it depends on the coverage you want. If it is just one room then you don't need separate units. If you have a lot of walls in a house and a square acre of land to cover then get separate units and spend the bucks on a good AP. Of course the better the AP the more you will be exposed to potential hackers. While a router box is < $100 be ready to shell out some $ on a good AP like Cisco. A lot of people complain about wi-fi coverage on their handhelds and it is primary due to low power APs that they buy down the street at Circuit City and the like. You get what you pay for! For excellent coverage as well as functionality be perpared to spend ($500 -> $1200) on an AP.