Broadband newbie

[paganboy]

I need some help with this one. After being spoiled with a T3 college network for 2 years then returning home to hair-pulling 56K analog, I've been begging the 'rents to go broadband. Now that my new comp is up, we're finally going for it. Since I'm the "expert" in the house (according to them) I've been entrusted with the task of setting this whole thing up, but it's starting to overwhelm me. What I'm doing is taking a free month of Verizon DSL, while I get my s together, then probably switching to Optimum Online cable. The biggest decision for me is to wireless or not. We have four comps--their two upstairs, and my two down. So wireless seems like an easier, albeit more expensive, solution then wiring the whole house. However, I've read about several issues that concern me, namely slowed connections with comps in different rooms, and the possibility of your neighbor taking a ride on your bandwidth. I even had some guy tell me his connection got slowed on cloudy days, though I'm not sure I believe that. So right now I'm leaning against wireless. I guess my main question is, based on our setup, what do you people suggest is the way for us to go? Wireless or not? With 3 people online in our house, are we better off sticking with DSL? Any input, suggestions or experiences would help me a lot in making my decision. Sorry if this post is long. I've been checking out site after site, and I swear building my comp was easier than figuring out which way to go with this.

Thanks
Paganboy


:confused:

[DrZaius]

Hi paganboy,

I had to make this same decision a few months ago when I moved a computer into another room and I had to network them all. I looked into wireless but there were two problems then kept me from using it: 1) it was much more expensive then regular routers and NICs and 2) from the reviews I read none of the routers/networks are 100% reliable, most had problems with intermittent connection hiccups, depending on how far it was from the router, and location, etc. Make sure you read the articles and reviews at Practically Network (http://www.practicallynetworked.com) as it covers all of these topics.

As for wiring the house, do you plan on running the wire outside? If so, that's not a good idea. You should keep it inside through the walls and you'll avoid any problems (rain, broken wires, etc.) Like I mentioned, the computer I'm using now is about 20 ft. from the router and my speeds are just as fast as the system 2 ft. away from it, so I don't notice a speed difference.

Hope that helps.

[RenegadeKing]

I'd go for wiring the house. Our cable modem and router is in the room I am in right now. The cable for this computer is just a short wire on the floor behind a desk. For the computer downstairs it is wired up through the attic, around, and downstairs. For the computer in the room next to me it is again up through the attic and down into the room. Lots of wire used and no speed decrease noticed. Now, I didn't do the wiring. My parents had our electrician do it. So maybe if you are not comfortable doing it you could get an electrician do it. Of course that is more $$$.

RenegadeKing

[paganboy]

I'll be running them inside. Probably, I'll drill some holes then run the cables straight up through floor and under the carpet. My parents' rooms are right next to each other so they're the easy part. The problem is getting it from my room, which is where the router will be, to their end of the house.