Wireless or Conventional Network?

[lovesranch]

Hi all,
I have a machine with below specs and will be buying or building :eek: a new one and moving this one to my daughters room across the hall. I have never done a network so please bear with me. My questions are, 1.what would be the easiest way for me to network the two to my DSL modem, wireless or conventional? 2.what hardware will I need for each setup? 3.Is there a large difference in cost? 4.which will give me the best performance? 5.Will I be able to be connected to the internet on both at the same time? Thanks.:)
lovesranch



Etower
366mhz Intel Celeron
96MB SDRAM
4.3GB HD
Win98 OS
Samsung SD-604f CD/DVD ROM 5X
TDK 16x10x40 CDRW
AWE64 SoundBlaster
RageProTurbo II
D-Link 10/100 ethernet
56K-V90 Compatable Fax/Modem
ADSL Connection Via Verizon

[jamesrpm]

The easiest ,wireless , no wire to run .
The most expensive ,wireless , the cards arn't cheap .
Fastest network is still hard wired ,the faster wireless ones are even more expensive.
You would be able to share the internet connection with either type of network.
Running the network wire can be a pain and unsightly if not done properly. Most people recommend using a router with a built in firewall for broadband connections.

Nice thing about wireless if you have a notebook computer you arn't tied down to one room .And it is much easier to rearrange the furniture.

[Confused]

James covered it pretty good. One other thing to consider is density of housing where you live. Wireless is just that and if you are in, say an apartment, town house, condominium, or section of a city where housing is closely packed, then you information is out there for all prying eyes. Personally I don't worry about those things much, I have no state secrets, but some do. Check the wireless router for strength and distance of service.

Hard wired can be fairly easy or very difficult depending upon your housing. When I added my router and 2nd. PC it wasn't that hard. Both, along with the cable connection are on ground level. So it was just a matter of drilling 3 holes in the floor, getting into crawl space and routing cable from entry to router and first PC, and cable from router to second PC. I worked in the wide area and phone networks for over 30 years and learned a long time ago that when pulling cable to take the easiest route and not the shortest, even it it means using 200' feet insted of the 50' that the shortest route would require.
Chas

[lovesranch]

Thanks you guy's,
I checked out some wireless prices OUCH! So I'll go hard wire. I'm in a double wide mobile home and only have to go across the hall so it should be fairly simple.
Confused, you said something about wiring from entry to router? Will I have to run cable from my DSL connection outside the house or will the router hook up from exsisting modem connections? Your scaring me :eek: ! I was considering a Netgear router with switches, is this all I will need and is it a good choice?
Thanks for your time.
lovesranch

[homie27]

No wiring is required outside the home. You will simply connect your DSL modem to the router instead of your pc, and then run a Cat5 line from the router to each PC's network interface card (NIC). Very simple do-it-yourself project!

Netgear is fine. Also consider Linksys. I personally use a Dlink w/ a built in print server. It works well and makes life easier when someone wants to print from the other room because the printer is hooked directly to the router rather than the pc.

Good luck!

[Confused]

Lovesranch, I have cable modem and what I was refering to was in my situtation is cable enters on west side of house and goes to TV. When I got a cable modem, the local cable company put in a splitter and a short piece of cable to TV and gave me a long piece to get to location of first PC and was laid on top of floor along baseboard. So when I got the second PC and router, I driled a hole on west side to reroute the long piece of cable provided to location of first PC, cable modem and router and a hole on south side to bring it back up from crawl space and a hole on north side to run a CAT 5 from second PC back over to south side to plug into router.
Chas

[lovesranch]

Thanks guy's. :D I was thinking it was fairly simple but wanted to make sure I understood before spending hard earned $$$.
homie27, the D-link is a good idea. I'll check it out.
One more question. Can I buy the CAT5 cable with connectors already on or should I custom fit the lengths and install connectors myself (special tools required?)
lovesranch

[jamesrpm]

You do have to drill larger holes for the connector to pass through unless you put the ends on afterwards.They arn't hard to make but it does take a punch down tool to properly make up the ends.About 30.00 dollars locally for a cheap one.For 2 or 3 relativly short runs seems like alot to do though.

[Confused]

I deal with cable and have put a lot of ends on, but whenever possible I use pre-assembled cable. On long pulls and in tight spaces, or custom pinouts, pre-assembled isn't practical. I also have access to a $6000.00 Fluke cable analyzer to test after I put the ends on. As described, your situation sounds very much like what I did. Therefore I would get pre-assembled cable, and like James said, make sure the hole is slightly larger that the end. I think I used a 1/2" bit, may have been a 5/8".
Chas

[lovesranch]

Thanks again,
Sounds like a plan. Premade it is :cool:
lovesranch

[Confused]

The cables are most commonly found in 5' 10' 25' 50' 75' 100' lengths. Can be found at computer stores, some larger electrical supply houses, computer shows. Good sources to order online are http://www.blackbox.com/ and www.anixter.com Blackbox will also make and test custom lengths.

If carpet is in place, use a utility knife and cut a "T" about 3" and fold the two corners created back, drill the hole, run the cable, fill the hole with some silicone. Carpet will lay back down with just the cable coming up.
Good luck
Chas

[lovesranch]

Thanks for the links and info Chas. :)

[AlwaysUp]

Cat5 cable can also be gotten at either Staples or Office Depot in the shorter lengths.