laptops

[labrat93562]

I'm thinking of buying laptops for myself for home business and for my three grandkids for school. I obviously want to use a wireless router for our internet usage, (we have DSL) the question is what type of router. Which is better between type G and type N? And if I bought a type G router would my laptops with built in type N cards work? I currently only have one desktop pc that everyone in the house uses. I'm tired of trying to schedule my time between the kids needs to do schoolwork and I'm really tired of all the periphrial wires and cables. I'm even going to get a new printer with bluetooth that can stay somewhere out of the way. Anyway I'd appriciate any help from some of you gurus out there.
thanks
labrat

[Centauri4]

A co-worker just purchased a ASUS brand laptop for somewhere around $899 and he believed it was a "good buy". ASUS has made motherboards for many years and I believe they are fairly highly regarded in this area.

As far as routers are concerned, the "N" type (in a laptop) should most definitely be capable of connecting to "802.11G" or "802.11B" routers (laptops, or vice-versa). The networking protocols are usually "backward compatible" and this means they know how to communicate with less capable devices. Of course an N router "dialing down" to G or B speeds will be sacrificing its performance in order to make that connection. It is just like a big pipe flowing into a smaller pipe.

The N router I have seen also came with a special "zero configuration" connect feature that let you push a button on the router causing it to broadcast its settings to any "N-capable" device within reception range. I forget what this functionality is actually called, and it may be a brand name specific feature, but it looked like a cool new feature in print (if not in practice). I could not test it at the time because although we had the N-class router all of our laptops were 802.11B or G capable only.

Also, be aware that most routers have a web-based "management console" that users connect to in order to manually configure them when necessary. This is typically done my entering an "IP Address" such as http://192.168.1.1/ or http://192.168.100.1/ into your web browser's "Address:" line. This is where you enable such features as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Security and restrict which laptops can connect to the router by their "MAC Address" or a "Shared Secret Key" (sometimes called a WEP Key) that comes in different levels of "strength". Read up on these before enabling them and you will almost become a wireless computer security expert just like that.

Many routers also use "channels" with numbers like 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9 to help avoid stepping on neighbors' bandwidth. The channel you select to use is entirely dependent on the results of a "Site Survey" feature that is usually also found in the router's management console or (possibly) visible on the laptop (depending on its wireless driver's capabilities). The survey will show a list of detectable networks in your area, what channel they are broadcasting on and whether they are "locked" with a WEP Key or "Open" to the outside world.

I hope this information helps you decide.

~

[Agde]

Some quick initial answers:

N is a newer faster wireless standard than G, so N laptops are compatible with G routers and N routers can talk to G laptops, but G anything only talk to N anything at old slower G speeds.

Home business laptops usually emphasize reliability and kids laptops emphasize multimedia. Your budget changes choices, and each brand usually has appropriate options. Apple, Dell, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba, Asus, HP, Acer -- lots of good possibilities. If you are going to try to keep software synchronized between the laptops, you usually have to make an initial choice between Apple and Microsoft worlds. Comparative reviews of laptops can be found at places like CNET.com and PCmag.com. Stay away from "netbooks" unless you really know that's all that's needed.

If you're going to have a wireless router, get a printer that is wireless too (not bluetooth). You'll be happier since setup is easier and you'll be able to print at a greater distances.

[labrat93562]

thanks for the help guys
labrat

[countryguync]

GO TO www.komando.com for lots of info on setting up a wireless network at home. Kim Komando is the [I]DIGITAL GODDESS[I] and she has all sorts of information of everything digital.

[richo]

One caveat - I think "N" is still in a draft phase as a standard; I don't know that it's officially finalized. It's possible the result may be slightly different than the current implementation, though it should be able to be updated with a software or driver patch.

802.11N, if I remember, is actually a dual-band "G": basically, you're using two "G" connections, which is why it's twice as fast. So N can down-step to G networks.

Depending on the kind of building you're in, you also might want to look at some of the stronger broadcast signals. For example, my parents live on a large lot, with the modem/router near the front of the house and a sundeck in the back of the yard about 150 feet away. With the metal, shielding, and wiring in the house, they can't get a signal outside, much less on the back deck, without a booster or moving the router.

Also, if you can't get a wireless printer, you may want to look into a wireless (or wired, depending on where things are set up) print server. They work wonders, and I'd recommend that over bluetooth (which needs to connect to a single machine, whereas a print server would let you print from any machine). You can still share a bluetooth printer, but the computer it's connected to would need to be powered on in order to print from another machine; a print server basically handles that for you.

For brands, I always prefer Linksys (since they basically invented the "G" standard and, I believe, are heavily involved with "N"), which is owned nowadays by Cisco (pretty much *the* company for professional networking equipment). They tend to be a little more expensive, but routers I bought 4-5 years ago for various people are still running today with no issue. Networking equipment shouldn't "go bad", theoretically, unless there's hardware issues; nevertheless, in my experience, they've been more reliable in the long run than other brands, though DLink and Netgear are also fairly popular.

The general all-purpose warning for any wireless network, though, is to make sure you secure it. WEP Key, MAC address filtering, and usually turning off the SSID broadcast once you're all set up, especially if you're using it for business. The last thing you want/need is someone getting on your network and/or sniffing your data. However, simple precautions are usually sufficient - the point isn't to make it impenetrable, to but make it harder to hack *you* than someone else. As the old joke goes, you don't need to out-run the lion, just out-run the other guy.

[maxnude]

I bought a NETGEAR wireless router firewall and almost set it self up automatically except for selecting encryption etc. Effortless, easy, and quick.

Besides having computers and a Lap Top on the wireless WiFi router I use a VOIP wireless gateway to a 5.8Ghz cordless phone system which can make or answer calls anywere from my land line or internet VOIP phone anywhere on my property. Nice while nude ouside and not to have to run in the house to make calls or answer different phone systems.

One of the most useful and best hi-tech WiFi items I have purchased was a "Phillips Streamium Wifi & LAN internet radio tunner, and windows steaming multi-media center where you can go from room to room and have CD like quality wireless from Thousands of internet streaming radio stations AM or FM world wide, and HD radio stations, talk shows, and talking books. Bought it through Costco online [special] for $99 it retails for $279 The computer system doesn't have to be on to get thousands of steaming WiFi Internet Radio stations all over the world.

[brainyguy9999]

As far as routers are concerned, the "N" type (in a laptop) should most definitely be capable of connecting to "802.11G" or "802.11B" routers (laptops, or vice-versa). The networking protocols are usually "backward compatible" and this means they know how to communicate with less capable devices. Of course an N router "dialing down" to G or B speeds will be sacrificing its performance in order to make that connection. It is just like a big pipe flowing into a smaller pipe.

While this is true, the speed is not important unless you have a lot of traffic flowing between computers at your house. If you are going to just be going out to the Internet from each computer (not your computers talking to each other), then a G router is just fine.

To explain: 802.11G routers max out at 54Mbps data speed. The farther away you get from the router, the more signal loss and it will negotiate a slower rate to keep a consistent data rate. Even if it drops to a 16Mbps, that will be okay for most home users because they subscribe to Internet services that only provide between 1Mbps and 10Mbps in bandwidth. So, your internet connection will be the bottleneck, not the router. If your router is connected to your computer at 54Mbps and you have a 5Mbps Internet connection to your ISP, you won't get over 5Mbps.

That being said, the 802.11N (draft) routers have higher signal strength and have a greater distance. So, if you plan to connect using a laptop from far away from the router, or with lots of walls between the two (beside the pool, in the garage, two floors up or down), then the N router will give you a better connection signal and would make sure your streaming music or video isn't interrupted.

If you're just going to use it around the house, I'd recommend buying a cheap Linksys G or a Linksys N if you can find it on sale. I bought a Linksys N router on sale because it was the same price as the G and I do a lot of streaming music two floors up from the router, so I like to have a good, solid connection.

Whatever you get, I DEFINITELY recommend setting up WPA-2 encryption!! It is not very difficult and could save you some hassle. If you leave it unencrypted, anyone with a computer and a wireless card can connect and download whatever they want from your Internet connection -- child porn, pirated software, how to make a bomb, etc. It has happened that people have gotten in trouble with law enforcement (all of their computer equipment seized, etc.) because someone did that to them. So, spend the 5 extra minutes to put in a WPA-2 password to protect yourself.

Hope that helps!!

Stay nude.

bg