Ok, so I've moved back to Darwin and sorted my accommodation. Im looking to get my ADSL provisioned within the next month. Now the part I need your assistance with is *drum roll*.....Wireless modems and cards.
Ive always been very wary of Wireless gear, as in the past it has really performed quite poorly for me. However now that I think about it, i can attribute this to my poor planning and the fact i was using first Gen wireless technology :(
Basically what im looking for, is a wireless adsl router and pci card, that is capable of the following:
Able to transmit data at a medium/strong signal approximately 10-15 meters. Be able to transmit through several walls (definately not Line of sight).
Is the ability to transmit through solid walls even possible with wireless these days? Or is it strictly LoS? What actual band does Wireless use? Is it ULF or other?
If it is not possible for wireless to punch through walls, then i will have to look at a regular (phone line) connection to my router. In this case, what would be the best router/pci card to use?
Im really out of date with this kind of hardware and any info you can give me would go a long way. The wireless solution is simply for convenience, no cords no fuss, so to speak. However if a phone line must be used, then hey, shit happens :)
Walls are OK but you WILL get degradation of the signal. Wirless uses the 2.4ghz frequency range.
In my place I get WiFi through 2 doors, a wall and a wireless handset phone from an antenna pushed up against a wall and mashed in the middle of cables. If you get signal drop outs (like I originally had) you can get a better antenna for $50 or so. I got 2 (One for the card, one for the router) and my signal went from very low/dropping out to whatever the second highest is. It's about 20m from my PC to my WiFi access point.
Edit: And what Unseen said - stay the f**k away from Belkin. Netcomm or D-Link are your best bets.
Edit2: One more thing - if you get a WiFi access point with a WAN port and a seperate modem, you can access stuff on the web hostred on your computer. As in, I host an FTP server from my PC, but normally have to get other people to log in to test it. With a modem on a WAN port, I can actually go to ftp://<insert my site name> and it will connect with my computer. With a modem/router all in one it would try to establish an ftp session with the modem.
Thansk guys. Now that i think about it, i can actually put the transmitter in my shed. That way its 10meters, has direct LoS and only has to punch through two glass windows.
Reckon that would interfere too much? (the windows i mean).
If your willing to spend a bit more I'd probably go for a Billion BIPAC 7402GL... I've used the non wireless version of this and its a very good modem with pretty much all the trimmings... QoS is good if you can be bothered to set it up to prioritise your gaming traffic :D
I'm using a Netcomm at the moment but I'm not too happy with it since its only allowing me to map 20 ports which annoys me because I use a lot of specific ports...
D-Link from my experiences are OK but their web interface annoys the hell outta me...
Edit: I don't think those windows will interfere too much
What if there was say....a nuclear sheilded bunker between them? There isnt really...but it would be cool if i had one.
But seriously, thats pretty groovy guys thanks. Wireless is the way to go by the sounds of it. Any other suggestions, tips or experiences with wireless brands/models ?
I will second Neo on that choice, damn solid unit, very stable, it's been connected well over a month straight before without a hicup, until we had to turn the power off :(
linko I'm still using the modem and wireless card from when we were sharing a joint have no problems with untill i upgraded I started getting dropouts so i got an antenna and no problems since. through 3 structual walls at an angle.
Alright thats awesome guys, I really appreciate the input so thanks heaps :) Spongey, that price is great for me as im gonna be a bit tight til a few bills are paid (and yet im going for a $80 a month adsl plan, go figure), so im leaning toward that at the moment.
Otherwise i will go for the one Neo suggested, it seems to have a good backing among our GU fellows here ;)
Morge - I cant believe that ****ing thing i still alive mate. Thats how old now? :p That was a Billion Bipac, wasnt it?
its a billion build to last and old 802.11b one at that although i do need to upgrade it soon as I'm adding a file server to the network and 802.11b isn't fast enough.
Quote from mepm: billion all the way - i got a 7402vgp and it works great, i havent had a single dropout since i got it, and it runs 24/7
Very happy wit this one, Also has the advantage of inbuilt VOIP, with fall back to POTS if power fails, its the All in one that Internode recamends and suporrts, It cost a bit more but it a very good ADSL wired/wireless Modem/router. If u lookin at VOIP it also has fall back to POTS if the power goes out, always a good thing in Darwin :)
Wireless seems to work well, I personaly have hade no problem with it :), U can also change the ariales :)