WIRELESS ROUTER QUESTION

Currently I have a Westell 2100 DSL Modem which as I understand is a router
too with a 3 Mb DSL service from BellSouth. Attached to it is a NetGear 4
Port Switch which has three computers currently hardwired into it, two
desktops and a laptop. I have a Dell E1505 that has a wireless card built
in (501g), but while it is being used at home is hard wired into the NetGear
Switch.

What I want to do is utilize the wireless card in the E1505 by replacing the
Switch with a NetGear G Wireless Router that the only difference in
appearance between it and the current Switch is this one has an antenna
attached to it and has 4 ports for any computers or print servers hardwired
into it. I intend to keep the desktops hardwired into system and allow the
laptop to float and be used anywhere in the house. My question is, can I
just switch out the current 4 Port NetGear Switch with the Wireless NetGear
Router, or will there be a problem between the Westell Modem/Router and the
NetGear Router.

Now my next question is what would I gain by going to a 108 mps G+ as
opposed to the 54 mps G Router, other than speed and area covered. The
E1505 laptop is used like a desktop in that my son and me both surf the Net,
do e-mails, and do instant messaging, but no gaming that uses up a lot of
bandwidth.

Thanks,
Scotty

 

By going to 108 mps G+ (aka pre-N), you will probably by buying long term
incompatibilities with the 802.11n standard when approved. The wifi industry
is moving ever so slowly in the direction of 802.11n, with better speed and
range than the current 802.11g. Netgear, Linksys, Buffalo and all the others
have jumped the gun and they are hyping the speed of their pre-N equipment.

In practice, you would gain absolutely zero in terms of speed of access to the
internet. But you might see some speed improvement in file sharing between
your E1505 and the other computers connected to the switch. You would only see
an improvement if your E1505 also had a compatible Netgear G+ wifi card.

So... Save your money. You can probably buy a Netgear or Linksys 802.11g
router without G+ or pre-N, and pay a lot less.

Finally, if you get a wifi router, you will need to disable DHCP in either the
Westell or the router. You can't have two network units serving up IP
addresses as computers power up. Because your Westell is also a router, you
might consider simply an 802.11g wifi access point, not a whole router.

.... Ben Myers

 

the e1505 will not run at the faster speed. however, the reception will
be better slightly.

 

*** no cross-posting please. this reply only to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell where
it was read.

you can replace your switch with a netgear wireless router but it will
require a little bit of configuration. this is not difficult and offers
advantages.

right now you use a software dialer to log into your dsl service. with the
netgear router (or anyone's router like the dlink made 'e-home' wireless
router on sale for $5 after rebate this week at compusa) you will have to
put your bell south username and password into the router. this way the
router maintains the connection to bell south and so can then share that
single internet line with all the computers attached to the router. you can
also choose to name and password protect the wireless side of your network
so that neighbors or passerby's can't steal internet access from you.

if you want to have wireless access that is faster than the standard 'g'
variety then first you should have a faster internet connection for it to be
meaningful. also you would need the same technology on the sending and
receiving end (meaning that you would need a new wireless adapter for the
laptop for it to be able to communicate with the same faster technology that
might be in the router. stick with g. the only real advantage with going
faster it for copying files from pc to pc (or laptop) on your network - not
for internet speed which only goes as fast as it is, 3mpbs in your case.

good luck.

 

Interesting you mention about 'stealing' internet access from my neighbors.
Right now even hardwiring in the E1505 if I activate the wireless card it
will show me my neighbors' wireless accounts. Two are unprotected and one
has a protected connection. I haven't tried, but I'm willing to bet I can
access their accounts.

Scotty

 

A few years ago my wife came into my office really mad that the internet was
down. I was using my laptop and challenged her because I was working fine.
She was really mad at me.

Turns out that my laptop had just found the next strongest signal and
connected through my neighbor.

Tom

 

A better solution, although it might cost more, would be to connect a
Wireless Access Point (WAP) to the switch. A wireless router IS a
router, a switch and a wirless access point all in a single box. In
your case, you already have the router (only single port) as part of
your Westell DSL modem. If you need more ports, you could replace the 4
port switch with an 8 port switch. That's the logically "right" way to
do this, but it may actually cost more than just buying a wireless
router. However, that would connect a router to a router. While this
can be made to work, it's not really the architecturally "right" way to
do it. I think that there is an option in the Westell modem to turn of
the router (more correctly, to turn off NAT ... network address
translation; "expose" the computer to a public rather than a private IP
address).

Interestingly, on woot.com, they are having a "woot off" today, and they
had a Linksys 802.11b Wireless Access Point for $9.99. However, it's
over now. But woot.com is worth checking out, it's a unique site.

(look up woot.com on wikipedia for background info before actually going
to the site).

 

I believe that you are incorrect. While what you describe was common at
one time, most of the current DSL products handle all of the PPPoE
protocols and login/password entirely in the DSL modem and present the
computer with a straight TCP/IP interface with DHCP and all, just like a
cable modem. And although there are different models of Westell modems,
I have set some of them up and I know that most of them normally do this
as well (it can, however, be turned off/bypassed .... but that's no
longer a standard configuration). The issue for the OP is that most of
the DSL modems now go even further than cable modems and have a single
port router and NAT inside them as well, which complicates using a 2nd
router (wireless or not), although it's not impossible. "Double NAT"
(router to router) will work, although it can be confusing, or you may
want to turn off the router capabilities of the DSL modem (which are
separate and distinct from turning off the PPPoE handling inside the DSL
modem).

 

Re: "I haven't tried, but I'm willing to bet I can access their accounts."

You probably can. And in some states, you can go to prison for it.

 

Not in South Carolina because guess what, it's called 'War Driving' and it
is promoted by the local computer stores as a means to show why you should
protect your wireless account. The best one is our local library has their
antenna outside so if you park in their lot you can have access to the
internet through their system. Now it is filtered so you can't go anywhere
you want to.

Scotty.

 

if the westell 2100 is a brouter (bridge or router) in router mode then he
can leave it alone with the username/password already installed and just
configure the netgear wireless router for wireless network name and
security. but if it is a brouter then i think that the preferable
configuration is to switch the westell to bridge mode and configure the
netgear to do the pppoe login or it will be hard to troubleshoot should
there be a problem with either device.

 

Yes, that is exactly what I've preferred doing, setting up the Westell 2100 as a
bridge and letting the wifi router be a router. The other way works, too,
disabling DHCP in the router.

One further comment: Not all DSLs are equal. I suspect that Verizon DSL is
Verizon DSL is Verizon DSL, with apologies to Gertrude Stein. But DSL from a
CLEC can be something different to configure and set up... Ben Myers

 

Correct. In my experience, depending on the wireless card and it's
software, you can have it do this automatically or manually.

My kids in the past, got tired of my fiddling around with our
connection so they just piggy backed on to a neighbor's network to
access the internet. Lately tho, I don't think they can do it because
when I look at the available networks, they are secured (at least vs.
most people).