Which wireless

A standard 902.11b/g wireless router from LInksys, Netgear, or D-Link should work just fine.  Stay away from things like Super G, MIMO, 108, Pre-N, or Draft-N.  These are all non-standards that increase the speed on the local area connection, but will have no effect on the speed of your connection to the internet.  Note that all wireless routers have 4 ethernet ports, so you will not need wireless network cards for any computer that is close enough to the broadband modem to run an ethernet cable.  Also make sure that your broadband modem can connect by ethernet, as it is impossible to find a wireless router that can connect to the modem by USB.

 

Steve

Thank you Steve, but I still have Questions.  Is it 902.11 or 802.11??

Reason is we have coupons to use from dell and this will help keep our out of pocket to reasonable. We are looking at these items. Can you shed some light?

All are Linksys and wireless touters.

1)  WRT54GS  54 MBPS Firewall rtr with speedbooster %89.99

2)  WRT54G wireless-G rtr, firewall & 4 port 10/100 switch.  $59.99

 

Then:

1) USBBT100 Bluetooth USB adapter 49.99 Dell part A0215335  $49.99

2) WUSB54GSC wireless-G USB adapter with speedbooster tech. Dell part A0706919

 

Help??

Sorry, that was a typo - its 802.11b/g. 

 

You don't need the Speedbooster technology unless you are frequently transferring large files between computer on the local network  The bluetooth adapter has nothing to do with the wireless system you are trying to set up.  Thus I would recommend router 2, and then try to find a non Speedbooster USB wireless network adapter.

 

Steve

I think I'm down to my last question.  What do I need to connect our printer to the wireless network?

If you have another computer that is wired into the network, you can connect the printer to that computer, designate the printer as a shared printer, and connect to it from any other computer on the network so long as the computer it is attached to is powered on.   If the printer has an ethernet card in (a networkable printer) you can just connect it to the router by ethernet and it will be on the network and available to all other computers on the network.  You can also buy a print sever that attaches by wired etherent to the router, connect the printer to the print sever and make it available across the network.   While the last alternative sounds most attractive, my experience with print servers is that some work and some don't.   It depends a lot on the printer.   My view is that they are flakey devices.

 

Steve