PC Wireless question

Posted by: Stephen Bennett on 09 November 2004

Hi all

I want to set up a wireless system for a friend who has a PC running Win98. They are using NTL broadband. Can anyone recommend a wireless router and a card/dongle that would work with the PC?

Regards

Stephen
Posted on: 09 November 2004 by Mekon
I use a (now discontinued) Netgear DG824M (modem/switch/router/wifi), and a (now discontinued) Dell Truemobile PCMCIA wifi card with a Win98 (not SE) laptop with no trouble.

Don't most wifi bits work with 98?
Posted on: 09 November 2004 by Chunny Nochubb
I know nothing about these things but was recommended to use a Netgear DG834 wireless router and combined modem and a Netgear WG511 card.
I use it on windows 98SE but the instructions don't differentiate between versions of 98. It works over most of the house and you can also plug in 4 cables as well, and was easy to set up.
you can get them as a package for around £100 now at places like Dabs or DSL warehouse. other makes are cheaper. You can also now get faster 108 mbps versions but they work out much more expensive.

CNC
Posted on: 10 November 2004 by Not For Me
Another Netgear recommendation, this time the MR314. Also is a firewall, and 4 port wired hub.

I have 3Com, Dell and Netgear x 2 wireless PCs connected, all work fine, though it sometimes drops the connection at the furthest corner of the house (through 3 walls and a floor)

DS

ITC - Interpol - Antics

*** All the views expressed within this e-mail are the sole responsibility of DS, or the other person in his head ***
Posted on: 10 November 2004 by Paul Hutchings
I have a couple of Belkin wireless PCI cards talking through a Linksys wireless adsl modem/router.

It surprised me how simple it was to get it all working.

I believe the cable equivalent is the WRT54G at around £40 plus VAT.

Paul
Posted on: 10 November 2004 by Andrew L. Weekes
Stephen,

Whatever you do, change the default settings in the wireless access point and add some encryption (standard features on all wireless hardware).

I was more than a little shocked how easy it was to access a neighbours network and discover way more information than I should have been able to.

XP encourages you to hack with its 'I've found a wireless network, click here to connect' messages!

The wireless access is always the wrong side of any hardware firewalls the router may have, I strongly recommend running a personal firewall on wireless network connections.

quote:
It surprised me how simple it was to get it all working.


Indeed! Therein lies the security problem, my stupid wireless access point tells you on the administration page what the default password is if you don't change it - aaaargh!

Andy.
Posted on: 10 November 2004 by Steve Hall
Whatever you buy, make sure it can support WPA - (WiFi - Protected Access) as WEP is truely rubbish in protecting your data.

For home use, a Preshared Key is used (Read password), but you MUST set it to be 20 characters or more, or it can be found out by brute force.

Steve