Network newb?

[DMD]

WOW.. Been awhile since i've posted here.
Anyhoo, My wife has a career in medical transcription and just got hired by a new company that will supply her with a new PC (Up till now she has been useing our personal one in the kitchen).

We want to setup the new PC up in a spare bedroom and make it an office.That room is about 40' and 2 walls away from our (Comcast) cable modem.

My question is (Because I have no idea what I am doing) would a wireless router work, or Go hardwire or just pay the extra $ a month and let comcast set it up? The later I prefer to stay away from if at all possible.

I've read about 6 pages so far and I really can't find the answer's since alot of the questions (from others) being asked are from peeps that seem to know more than I.
I hope I did not confuse anybody

Thanks in advance..

P.S. Is there a home networking for dumbies out there?

[Alaron]

A wireless router should work. Every house and router will interact differently, but going by your distance measurements the signal should still be moderate. We recommend the Linksys WRT54GL router. You can also pick up a PCI wireless card for the PC.

We have a networking basics article here: http://www.pcmech.com/article/elemen...-home-network/

[DMD]

Thank you

[DMD]

Originally Posted by Alaron We recommend the Linksys WRT54GL router. You can also pick up a PCI wireless card for the PC.

I have one more question. I am going to get the above-mentioned router. Do you have any reccomendations for what PCI card I should get for the PC that will be on the receiving end?

Thanks

[glc]

The best match is a Linksys WMP54G.

[DMD]

Thank you glc

[DMD]

Originally Posted by glc The best match is a Linksys WMP54G.

Great.. A new problem,I got the above PCI card and my wifes PC showed up today. They sent her this http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...en/sdindex.htm
It only has Low profile PCI slots? Could I Cut some of the bracket off and make it fit or get a different one? Errrrrrrr

Thanks for any help I need to get this thing online by the 10th.

[glc]

Ugh. Exchange it for the equivalent USB adapter if you can, that would be a WUSB54G.

[DMD]

Originally Posted by glc Ugh.

Ugh is right.. Thanks for all your help glc I need it. One more newb question and I think I am done. LOL
I have the router up and running and all is great. If push comes to shove. I can simply hardwire the wifes work PC with this router right? And if so,Is it simply plug and play or will I need to do anything on her PC..(I feel like an idiot).

I talked to one of the tech (with My wifes company) Peeps and they prefer we not go wireless for security reason's.

Anyhoo,After afew beers it looks like I can easily run a 100' or less cable through our attic and thought i'd ask here before buying it.

Thanks again for all your help..


P.S. Anybody need/want a Linksys WMP54G card? I'll sell it cheap.. LOL

[adam416]

I ran ethernet cable through my attic and love it. You can always get the wall plates that accept a regular ethernet cable so you won't have to terminate them yourself. I would only recommend doing it yourself if you experience in home theater/car stereo wiring. But it's only my opinion.

[DMD]

I am just not getting this. OK I set the router up with the disc it came with on PC #! N/P.
I got some cat5e cable for the other PC.

I plug it in turn on PC#2 and says network cable not plugged in?

Do I need to change a setting to allow a second LAN port on the router to work?

I have read about 20 pages here,Been to linksys site and read the user guide twice all to no avail.

Would doing a reset then hooking up both PC's to the router and rerun the setup CD do the trick? Or do I simply need to change a setting on the router to allow a second LAN port to be used? right now it is set at DHCP with wireless disabled..

Thanks in advance

[DMD]

Sorry for all the stupid questions.
It ended up being a bad cable and all is up and running now..

Typing this from PC #2 so all is good..

Thanks for all the help..