help - wireless setup

[robindjones]

Help, i have a sb4200 surfboard cable modem on blueyonder and wish to make a wireless link so my kids can access the net from their pc upstairs, i went to dixons, asked them what i needed, bought what they told me & nothing. now have been told i need a router. I have a netgear fa33x pci adapter in my pc downstairs connected by a wire to the cable modem. if i get a router, do i just plug the wire from the modem into the router, and from one of the holes in the back of the router into my netgear fa33x pci adapter? then a usb network adapter on the kids p.c.? any help would be greatly appreciated, as i am lost and the kids need the hintranet to stop me from killing them. lol.

[SMHarman]

If you are putting a router in the arrangement then the whole thing needs to be run over ethernet, you can no longer use the ethernet port on the modem.

You buy a router (the linksys WRT54G for wireless or BEFR41 for wired are good, as are others). Plug the Modem into the WAN port of the router and the PC into one of the four other sockets (with the extra cable provided). That should mean that you now transparently have a routed connection.

You then need (if their PC does not have one) a ethernet card on their PC and a cable from that to the router. Alternately buy a wireless ethernet card for their computer and connect wirelessly. Putting these cards in a PC is a lot less daunting than it sounds if you need to do such a thing.

[robindjones]

hi thanks for the info.
So if i buy a WRT54G then do i need a usb network adapter dongle, or a ethernet card.

[SMHarman]

You can get a USB ethernet / wireless ethernet adapter or a PCI one, both do the same job. The PCI would be the better one as all ethernet processing is done on the card not using the USB and the CPU of the computer (which can slow the PC down and make it more unstable as it is not designed for ethernet traffic).

Are you intending a wired or wireless connection to the kids PC?

[robindjones]

wireless, could you recommend a manufacturer / supplier?
so i need a wireless ethernet pci card.
sorry for being a pain.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by robindjones

wireless, could you recommend a manufacturer / supplier?
so i need a wireless ethernet pci card.
sorry for being a pain.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/article.php?a=74

[SMHarman]

pci is the interface inside the computer (the long bar that the contacts on the card connect into.

You can buy a wireless ethernet PCI card (upwards of £25 at a guess) or an ethernet PCI card (upwards of £2.99).

Both plug into the inside of the PC the same, just one has an aerial on the back and the other has a socket for an ethernet cable.