802.11b/g or router?

[Peacemaker]

what do you guys think? With my new rig I need to stay connected to the net. Should I get 802.11 or a router and some cable? Which is less expensive? Can 802.11 get inturupted by say a thunder storm? Im thinking of brining the Cable modem to my new rig and then getting 802.11 to hook up this one.

[Corrosion]

Wireless SUCKS, much slower speeds than cable connected.

[Rayder]

We've got a router.

[Setari]

ive got a router...its wireless but the comp im on is connected straight to it....h/o something's screwy with it...the connection isnt very stable and i cant d/l anything over 10 mb while being plugged into the router.

[Hamma]

Dont bother with wireless - its a pain right now. It still needs to be perfected, it isnt that great for gaming either.

[Squick]

Wireless is fine, in my benchmarks I have found 802.11g to be exactly 1/2 as fast as 100bt.

Get a Linksys 802.11g wireless router. You will have four physical network jacks and you can do wireless on top of that.

Here is the wireless router ($88):
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...spx?EDC=447401

Here is the same router without wireless ($53)
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...spx?EDC=196823

I would do wired to your stationary desktops unless they are a pain to wire. As for speeds, don't forget that your cable modem is at a very max about 400K/sec, most are still 200K/sec. So even 802.11b (the older, slower standard) will be more then sufficient for web access.

So Corrosion, do you care to expand on your heaps of helpful information?

Squick

[Rayder]

Squick, act like I'm a complete and ignorant fool went it comes to this kind of thing. Explain that to me in lamens terms.

[Peacemaker]

The only thing is that with routers Ive heard that they fuck with everything about the systems and its very hard to get everything working properly. Can I just make the router open? I dont want it confusing my IPs and stuff.

[Rayder]

It fucked my Half-Life up.

[Peacemaker]

I was also thinkin maybe I could just not use a router. Make a 2 machine lan. The old computer not being directly connected. Then I could use this one as a small storage area. Just lookin for ways to not wreck my gaming but still get em both connected.

[Rbstr]

get a wired router, they are much better than 802.11g, 2x as fast as the maximum speed of the wireless, no matter what, and no need to wory about people steeling your connection. They are all faster than your internet connection though, so i't doesn't make the big of a difference, except wired is prone to interference and other bad stuff.

Hamma can you move this to the tech forum?

[Peacemaker]

Yea but I dont want the router to fuck with my system. I also just remembered that I cant do a 2 machine LAN cause this machine has 98 on it. I dont think u can do that with XP and 98. I cant stress enough that I dont want to fuck it up with a router.

[1024]

wireless is slow for gaming. go hardwire.

[Sputty]

Originally Posted by Hamma

Dont bother with wireless - its a pain right now. It still needs to be perfected, it isnt that great for gaming either.

Yep.
BTW, wireless mouse and keyboards need a mini nuclear generator to last long

[1024]

ya, and the radiation really starts to bite after a while.