Wireless Cable Internet

The only high speed option I have in my area is cable. After talking with the company rep I’m thinking about going wireless at 256k. Does anyone have any experience or advise on wireless. It sounds like my only additional cost would be 40$ for the wireless modem and I would need to buy an adaptor/card for my PC. This option will also save me the hassle of putting a cable hook up where I want my computer. My basic question is – Am I going to like it or should I stick with a regular modem? Thanks in advance for the help.

Personally…I think wireless rules! No running cables all over house and you can basically put your computer where ever you want. Can even run a laptop out to the garage!

wireless is cool…if you can stand the speed. Get used to cable and your spoiled.

Dirk, depending on your use, I would tell you to get the cable service and a wireless card and transmitter. The cable service is so much faster it’s crazy. If you’re just checking e-mail you could probably survive with the wireless service. It’s hard to believe there would be no monthly charge for the wireless service. When I looked into it before there was a charge very similar to the cable charge.

I have a wireless modem at my house with Comcast as my ISP. The wireless works good, but if I have a problem, and I call the help desk, I get someone in India or Indonesia…..INDONESIA!! And I have had to do this quite a few times. I always ended up with someone who barely speaks english and is reading off a punch list of troubleshooting tips. They never seemed to really have a reason for the problem, just a chance at maybe fixing it over the phone. I have had to call back 2-3 times to speak with different people to fix the same problem because if I am on long distance long enough the phone connection has just got to fail, leaving me in line for another little helper. Ask for a service number as soon as someone answers the phone, so when you lose your connection you have somewhere to start with the next Indonesian. But, I’m not bitter. It takes forever so you really can’t call until your after 9PM or whatever your cell phone plan is. I am not sure what it costs to have the cable company run the lines through your house, but I would check it out first. I hope it works well for you. Tight lines!

We have cable internet and a wireless router. The router is a Linksys 802.11b and it feeds one computer with a lan line at 2800kbps and the wireless connects with;
1.Apple laptop with a 802.11g internal wireless reciever at 2600kbps
2.Dell laptop with a Linksys 802.11b wireless receiver card at 1220kbps
3. HP PC with a Linksys card at 2200kbps
I can have all the computers online at the same time with minimal speed loss. The speed is dependent on the quality of the reciever on the computer. Get the cable ISP and invest on a 802.11g router and card for your computer. A 256kbps Wireless ISP vs. 2600kbps Wireless router is a easy choice. Down side is that you will be investing approx $300 in hardware but the speed is worth it

I went to Walmart and bought a router for $90 and adaptor for $50 for my PS2. Cable company wanted $200 + $15 month rental fee.

Anything is better than 56k modem. 256k isn’t blazing fast, but unless you are downloading tons of gigs daily, it should be decent enough for cruising the net. It will not work too well for online gaming though, too high of ping time.

Anything is better than satelite though, I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone.

If I signed on for 256k (I’m assumming its 128k upload, I’ll check)no matter what speed router and receiver I get I’m still stuck with 256k speed, right? Thanks for the help, I’m going to have to study this stuff a bit.

If you sign on for the 256K and run it through a wireless router you will have 256 or less depending on which standard of wireless (802.11b or g) you use. Unless the cost difference between wireless 256 and cable ISP is prohibitive you will be much happier with a cable+router system.

I’d recommend getting a Lynksys 4-port Wireless router (go with G over B)

I’ve got a 4 port wireless router that i have 2 lan lines running to my 2 desktop machines, and then either use the wireless or additional lan line for my work laptop. Depends on what i’m doing. 3MB up/down speed.

The best part is that it is all FREE My work pays for it all

Dirk, I agree with Das Boot.

I purchase the wireless hardware…about $120. and attached it to my cable modem. So I have wireless and a cable connection. My wife loves spending money on the net from anywhere in the house including the patio. I work on the net all day and need the hard wire connection to keep the speed up. Linksys has good support even after the warrenty period.

For the cost of buying the wirless hardware…don’t rent.

With either system you will have to install a wireless card in your computer so that cost is a wash.
A wireless router (Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b)is 59.99 at Best Buy maybe less at Walmart.
Both systems require a broadband modem so that cost is also a wash.
The system would be cable>modem>router>wireless card. The modem and router can be placed anywhere in the house with a cable access. My router is in a sewing room upstairs with the computers in 4 different rooms. Sooooo…..
I retract my earlier hardware cost statement. Ten times the speed for $60 plus tax.
DB3

I have a question, I have all but one cable outlet in my house being used by a TV set. Is there a splitter available that I can run both computer & TV? I am thinking wireles as well, but if the cost for hardwiring another computer with another modem is a wash, I may do that instead.
Thanks!
Tuck

just went and looked at how my cables are set for our computers and televsions. there is the main line in with a splitter with one of the lines to the computer the other line goes to another splitter and then to the televsions. hope this helps. roadrunner setup our internet service.

The rep I talked to said you can use a splitter.

Why would a person have a cable modem and wireless? Shouldn’t I just go totally wireless? What about security/firewall protection which seems to be strongly recommended?

Heck, I may as well just buy a whole new computer while I’m at it…my system is getting a little old

Dirk…just to confuse matters…You can save $10. by going through Comcast for Cable TV, Internet and your phone lines…
We have old phone lines in our area and since I switch to comcast haven’t lost my phone…in fact my neighbors use my phone when theirs isn’t working.

Linksys has a security system built in (as long as you change the pasword). They also sell a firewall if you don’t have one in your computer already.
Others know the PC’s better, but I think if you turn off you file sharing…your fairly safe.

Dirk,

I believe the guys are talking about wireless inside the house and I believe you are talking about wireless to the house.

I’ll throw a couple things out that you might want to consider. Designing and installing wireless systems is a significant portion of what I do at work. The first thing I would suggest is if you have a laptop with an integrated wireless NIC, or access to a laptop with one, load Netstumbler on it and see if you can see any bridges or access points around your house. Wireless has specific frequencies that it can run efficiently on and interference is quite common. Interference will impede your speed. I’m assuming the vendor is selling a 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz solution. The products in these frequencies are unlicensed and anyone and their brother can put them anywhere they want.

Do many of your neighbors, if you have any, have wireless Internet? Again, I’m thinking interference.

How are they going to guarantee your throughput? Throughput is different than bandwidth.

What manufacturer of subscriber unit are they using? What is the distance between your home and the root bridge on the provider’s side?

With regards to why both wireless and wired; any wireless on the market today, for home use is in the unlicensed frequencies. Additionally, they are all half-duplex. This means, essentially, that they can’t transmit and receive simultaneously. Any wired solution today is most likely full-duplex. That means it can transmit and receive simultaneously. I wouldn’t use 802.11G. This is 54Mb at 2.4Ghz. It has more overhead than 802.11A and 802.11B. 802.11A is what I recommend. It is 54Mb at a frequency of 5Ghz. The effective range on it is less that 802.11B, but should work fine at home. I have a large two story home and mine works all over the house, including the basement and on the front porch and back deck. If you are considering wireless for inside your home, again run Netstumbler. I’m sitting here in my dining room, and my laptop can see a total of 4 wireless units. I have one, therefore I’m seeing some of my neighbors’. If my neighbors were on the same channel as my unit, there would be interference and degradation of performance. Wireless has its place, but I always go wired if reasonable to do so. Cable is going to be much better than wireless.

OMG, I got typing and just realized how long-winded I’ve been. Sorry for that.

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Why would a person have a cable modem and wireless? Shouldn’t I just go totally wireless?

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You need the cable modem/wireless router setup to get wireless to work. Wireless in reality uses wires up ’til the access point, in which it starts broadcasting wireless….if that makes sense.

Actually, if you get a cellular wireless card, you don’t need a modem or a router. You connect via the nearest cell-site to your location. Current max speed is 256k, and that is dependent on signal strength. Until EV-DO technology is rolled out, you won’t get much better speed than that. Of course, you can surf the net from the boat, I do it all the time, though it’s a little slow. At home I have cable 3 meg and use a linksys WRT56 G router (69.99 at best buy) so I can surf from the couch. Gotta love technology. Go cable, the speed is worth the extra cash.