Router w/ Cable ISP

[Peter Stahl]

I have a cable modem (can't get DSL in my area) for my high speed internet and would like to know what I had to do in order to hook up Wireless Router. One is close enough I could run a cable to the router from the PC the other will be in the lower level. I know I either use a router of I have to get a 2nd line from the cable company. Does the cable company use the Modem to identify you as the user? I know on our hard wired network at work the use the machines IP address. Also what is a good router to buy (brand)? Is wireless G the one to get?

thanks, Pete

[Lee DeRaud]

Two ways to handle this:
1. Replace your current router with a wireless router. All the ones I've seen also have 2-4 RJ45 sockets in the back to handle your wired machines.
2. Don't get a wireless router, get a wireless access point: it's basically a wired-Ethernet-to-wireless adapter that can be installed anywhere you have an Ethernet outlet.

I recommend #1, unless you're like me and your wireless router won't reach all levels of your house. In my case the cable modem (and router) are upstairs and the wireless signal won't cover the lower floor. But the signal from the downstairs access point covers the whole upper floor, no problem. Go figure.

And I have no idea why you would ever need a second cable line, except if your cable company is even greedier than average.

[Marc Langille]

Hi Peter,

The best wireless routers normally support the B/G standards (2.4 GHz). I would recommend you avoid any routers that support A - there's been a lot of feedback in tech forums recount the negatives for routers which support 802.11a (which is in the 5 GHz spectrum).

If you have issues with connectivity or it's becoming really slow on the wireless router, try using a different radio channel (default is normally channel 6) on the router. That's normally a problem with high density urban areas - everyone's using that channel because they didn't make any changes... :eek:
(This would be a moot point if you're living in the countryside).

Having a router usually means it has a hardware firewall, and will hide your PC's from those unsavory folks using port scanners, etc. to locate unprotected PC's. One extra layer of protection in addition to a software based firewall that's on your PC.

Linksys WRT54G is highly recommended. Several of the guys at work own them, with no problems. Testing by several tech sites put them at or near the top.

Regards,
Marc

(I forgot to add this in the original post: get wireless G cards - using any B devices alongside G capable devices will cause the router to throttle the speed to accomodate the B devices. Most routers do a poor job of handling the 2 standards in a mixed network)

[Jim Becker]

It sounds like you're plugging the Ethernet line from your cable modem directly into your PC. That needs to go away for two reasons: 1) security/privacy and 2) to accommodate your wireless needs.

My recommendation is to acquire a router/firewall with wireless, such as the Linksys WRT54G or similar. The cable from the cable modem goes into the "wan" port on that device and your current PC plugs into one of the other four Ethernet ports. Configure the router with your required login credentials for the cable modem service and you're up and running. Since this is an "in line" installation, you don't need to move things around, per se, unless you feel you need to locate the wireless router in a different location from your cable modem for better coverage in your home. Lee already mentioned this possibility...it's a situation I have in my home which I'll describe at the bottom of this post just for grins.

If I have misunderstood you and you already have an existing wired router, you may still want to replace it with the new wireless router. For some reason, the irrational pricing strategies out there have wireless access points at twice the price of a router/firewall with wireless. Go figure. But the bottom line is that you can run many computers off that single cable modem setup.
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I have to point out relative to Marc's comments on the 802.11a/b/g issue in that the 802.11b and 802.11g signals can often interfer with many 2.4ghz cordless phone systems (or vice versa). I was forced to replace my multi-handset/multi-line phone system with a 5ghz system. The good news is that I don't have the interference any more. The bad news is that the 5ghz system has reduced range...something that is also true with the 802.11a wireless sytems. However, 802.11a also has many more fequencies available which means in a business environment that wants to deploy many wireless endpoints (such as voice), the cells can be closer together for better coverage and more capacity. That's not a consideration in the home environment, but it also means you need to be careful about blanket statements regarding the technology. 802.11a (and newer standards in development) will likely be what gets installed in the future. 802.11g is a great way to get higher speed "now" while retaining compatiblity with the older 802.11b machines...but it has serious issues in certain environments.

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In my home, we have a situation where the oldest portion (about 250 years old) is plastered over wire lathe and also has a 24" thick stone wall between it and the other sections of the house. This wreaks havoc with wireless signals. To date, I had been using a range extender to help get some signal to the frame portion of the house, (demark is in the older section below my office) but it was minimally effective due to the construction materials involved and minimal openings through the stone wall. (2, one on each floor)

Because of a new relationship my employer has with Juniper, I was lucky enough to acquire a Juniper 5GT firewall/router during a recent sales/technical meeting...so I reconfigured. The 5GT is now in my rack down in the basement and performing the firewall/router/DHCP function for our network here in the house. (It's a really nice enterprise-level small router...lots of features and great performance) I took the Linksys WRT54G and reconfigured it to be just an access point by turning off DHCP and changing the IP address so it would not conflict with the 5GT and then put it up in Dr. SWMBO's office upstairs, inserting it in the drop between the rack and her computer. It just so happens that the signal now has a straight shot through the one opening in the thick wall to the MBR and beyond. We now get usable signals throughout the house when we want to roam around with the notebook computers.

[Frank Hagan]

I have a Linksys WRT54G wireless router, and it works fine. You have to follow the (easy) instructions, so don't plug the stuff together without reading them first!

The router will copy the "ID" information from your computer so that it appears to be your computer to the cable company. So even if the cable company allows access by the ID of your computer, the WRT54G should work.

It has 4 "wired" ports as well as the wireless transmission, so you can plug in another 3 ethernet cables if you want to. For some reason, the way my company sets up our laptops, I can never connect to any wireless network, so for my work laptop, I have to plug in. But it works fine with other wireless computers.

[Peter Stahl]

Thanks everyone, sounds like it should go pretty easy. Is all I need for the PC that will go wireless is a wireless card? Plugged into a PCI slot?

thanks, Pete

[Vaughn McMillan]

Yes Peter, a wireless card is a quick and easy plug-in to a PCI slot. It's probably take longer to shut down the computer than to install the new card.

Regarding routers, I have a D-Link DI-624 wireless router, but I'm currently using it as a wired router since all my computers and the DSL modem are in the same room. When I first bought it, I was in a different house and was trying to send a wireless signal only about 20', but through a real lath and plaster wall. (I ended up drilling a hole and running CAT5 to the second computer, and used the router in "wired" mode.)

Like the Linksys, it's a simple installation as long as you follow the instructions. For someone like me who knows just enough about computers to get myself in trouble, it was dead simple, and even I didn't mess it up.

- Vaughn

[Frank Hagan]

Thanks everyone, sounds like it should go pretty easy. Is all I need for the PC that will go wireless is a wireless card? Plugged into a PCI slot?

thanks, Pete

Yep, you can add the wireless PCI card, or use a USB wireless card (they are usually a bit more expensive.) For laptops, there are PC Card wireless cards too.

[Rich Konopka]

Peter:

I have the same Dlink setup that Vaughn has for 2 years or so. I also would take Jims advice very seriously and recommend that you DO NOT DIRECTLY HOOK UP to the iINTERNET.

I have a set up where I have my Cable modem hooked up to a DLINK DI-624 rounter with 2 wireless connections My wifes laptop and the Kids computer. The kids computer has a wireless PCI adapter which was so easy and is so reliable. It is about 25 feet away from the access point which is in a closed cabinet ( it is ventilated) my wifes laptop is 30 feet away with a wall in the way. The reception is great. The family room computer is hooked directly to the Dlink through a cat5 cable. My office computers upstairs( 1 laptop and 2 servers) are hooked through a 50 foot cat5 connecion to the dlink which has a netgear gig switch which also has a mirrored netdisk ( network attached storage). So the Dlink handles all of the computers just fine and assigns IP addresses to them because it acts also as a DHCP server as well as a firewall and router.

Make sure you also set the encryption security up on your router/access point. This wll prevent unwanted guests from piggybacking your wifi access or even worse, gaining access to your computer. I had an unwanted punk who was trying to gain access to my home network. Lets just say that his skills were not up to par with my skills :D;)

Good Luck.

[Peter Stahl]

I have the same Dlink setup that Vaughn has for 2 years or so. I also would take Jims advice very seriously and recommend that you DO NOT DIRECTLY HOOK UP to the iINTERNET.

I use Zone Alarm and AVG antivirus and MS Antispyware. So far I've been ok but I did have something on my PC but was able to exercise it.

Thanks, Pete

[Peter Stahl]

More questions: Will a wireless network work like a wired network, e.g. can each PC access the others harddrives?

I was looking at the Linksys WRT54GS and it says it has SpeedBooster Performance Enhancement where the WRT54G doesn't. Does they Speedbooster increase the speed for Broadband usage with this router?

[Jason Roehl]

More questions: Will a wireless network work like a wired network, e.g. can each PC access the others harddrives?


As long as you set up the permissions in Windows, yes.

[Peter Stahl]

As long as you set up the permissions in Windows, yes.

Well I got a Linksys Router for the main PC and a wireless card for the other. Both seem to connect to the Internet just fine. Now what I want to do is share files, printers, etc. How do I set the Network up to this. One PC (the one with the router) is running Windows 2000 Pro the other is running Windows XP Home. There is a Network Wizard on the XP PC but the 2000 machine doesn't have this. How do I get it on the local network? I know it would be easier to have both with XP but that's not a option. The Win 2000 PC will be around until I can afford to replace it. Thanks for any help.

Pete

[Jim Becker]

I had some "ornary" problems with sharing between Win2K and WinXP awhile back when my work machine was still on Win2K and my personal machine moved to WinXP. It was incredibly frustrating! That said, if you have both machines set to the same "workgroup" name and have file/print sharing enabled, you should be able to share drives and printers by just right-clicking on a folder or printer and telling it you want to share. You need to do this on each machine. If you are also using firewall software (and you should be), such as ZoneAlarm, you'll need to tell that application that the local subnet (network) is ok for this kind of activity. It defaults to "no".

[Peter Stahl]

I had some "ornary" problems with sharing between Win2K and WinXP awhile back when my work machine was still on Win2K and my personal machine moved to WinXP. It was incredibly frustrating! That said, if you have both machines set to the same "workgroup" name and have file/print sharing enabled, you should be able to share drives and printers by just right-clicking on a folder or printer and telling it you want to share. You need to do this on each machine. If you are also using firewall software (and you should be), such as ZoneAlarm, you'll need to tell that application that the local subnet (network) is ok for this kind of activity. It defaults to "no".

Jim,

How do I set the "workgroup" name on the 2000 PC?

[Jim Becker]

Control Panel --> System --> Network Identification --> Properties

You're lucky...I happen to have a lone Win2K machine next to me...a old notebook I'm playing with ;) The bad news is that it doesn't play nice with the WinXP machines...

[Peter Stahl]

Control Panel --> System --> Network Identification --> Properties

You're lucky...I happen to have a lone Win2K machine next to me...a old notebook I'm playing with ;) The bad news is that it doesn't play nice with the WinXP machines...


That's just my luck! Guess I have to be happy just hooking up to the internet for now.

[Curt Harms]

I had some "ornary" problems with sharing between Win2K and WinXP awhile back when my work machine was still on Win2K and my personal machine moved to WinXP. It was incredibly frustrating! That said, if you have both machines set to the same "workgroup" name and have file/print sharing enabled, you should be able to share drives and printers by just right-clicking on a folder or printer and telling it you want to share. You need to do this on each machine. If you are also using firewall software (and you should be), such as ZoneAlarm, you'll need to tell that application that the local subnet (network) is ok for this kind of activity. It defaults to "no".

In addition to what Jim said, I think you have to have the same account name (and password?) on each machine. Wouldn't it be nice if different machines would play nice with one other and still be secure? (I hope this isn't probable cause for a drug test):D There were several threads on this at the annoyances.org web site.

Curt