router questions

[deakin]

Hello folks

Let me start by saying i know less than nothing when it comes to using a router as i've never had one before.
So i just wanted to ask some questions.

1. Can i have the main pc wired to the router and the other pc wireless ?
2. Do wireless routers come with a dongle or do i need to buy one ?
3. If i do need to but a dongle what would be better a usb or a pci card ?

I'm not really worried about speeds as the second pc is just going to be used to surf and not for downloading or gaming.

Oh yeah and what router would you recommend ? something under £50 would be ideal.
I've had a google but there seems to be so many to choose from that i'm lost.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[edit]

forgot to say i'm on 20Mb cable with an virgin 255 modem.

[Red Squirrel]

Hi Deakin,

I'm going to try and help ...

1) Yes you can. Personally I have the Ethernet cable from the VM cable modem going into my router, then another PC that is close by connected to the router by another Ethernet cable. Other PC's then connect wirelessly to the router.

2) It depends. Some might bundle them together, some may not, you will have to check before you buy. Generally though, I'd say "no, they do not come with a dongle".

3)
a) How confident are you about opening up your PC? Although adding a wireless PCI card is a very simple and easy procedure if you're not confident about it then you might want to go with USB. I can't comment on which is better as my laptop has a built in wireless card and my mobile phone picks up wireless without any attachments.

b) If the wireless PC is just going to be surfing, a simple USB dongle seems the easiest way to do it.


For recommended routers I'm not sure if there's a consensus on this forum about which is the best so I'll let other people answer that.

[deakin]

Hey Red

Thanks for the reply, adding an pci card would be a doddle. now all i need is for you good folks out there to recommend a good router/dongle combo.