Wifi for desktop?

[RussSchultz]

PCI? Or USB?

We re-organized the office, and I don't want to have cables on the floor, anymore, so I'm looking for a 'good' wifi solution.

Is USB OK? Or should I get a PCI card?

 

[Mize]

What's your router/AP speed? (b/g/n)?
Do you have any other regular high-load USB devices (hard drives used for encoding for instance)?

 

[RussSchultz]

What's your router/AP speed? (b/g/n)?
Do you have any other regular high-load USB devices (hard drives used for encoding for instance)?

I think its 'g', and I don't have any other USB peripherals except a mouse.

 

[Mize]

USB 802.11g should work just fine and be much less hassle than putting in a PCI card.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

The bad thing with the USB is poor range. The card would give better range and you can get a better antenna for the card too.

 

[Ty]

Used PCI for the wife's PC. Prefered a cleaner solution with less sticking out - no USB dongle I might trip into and break.

 

[RussSchultz]

FWIW, I bought an "Airstream G extreme" or something like that, at Fry's.

Seems to work just fine.

 

[Mize]

FWIW, I bought an "Airstream G extreme" or something like that, at Fry's.

Seems to work just fine.

You bought an RV/camper? Cool.

 

[RussSchultz]

Following up on this:

I dunno if it was my router, or my card, but it would just simply stop talking every once in a while. Really irritating, so cables it is, for now.

 

[Tokelil]

Following up on this:

I dunno if it was my router, or my card, but it would just simply stop talking every once in a while. Really irritating, so cables it is, for now.

I have seen this with different equipment far too many times by now. Personally tried with two Linksys components that worked shite together and have friends that regularly have the same symptoms with different brands. Connection is just dropped randomly.
I have just bought a new Wifi router as well, but I have given up on wifi for my gaming PC and will run cables at least until I move apartment sometime in the not to near future. A non stable connection is surprisingly annoying after a few weeks.

 

[Mize]

I've had two linksys routers that randomly disconnected. No issues right now with my D-link 802.11n router - two laptops, PS3, Wii and x360 (via Netgear print server access point) as well as my psp and phone all have no drops.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

Following up on this:

I dunno if it was my router, or my card, but it would just simply stop talking every once in a while. Really irritating, so cables it is, for now.

I have seen this with different equipment far too many times by now. Personally tried with two Linksys components that worked shite together and have friends that regularly have the same symptoms with different brands. Connection is just dropped randomly.
I have just bought a new Wifi router as well, but I have given up on wifi for my gaming PC and will run cables at least until I move apartment sometime in the not to near future. A non stable connection is surprisingly annoying after a few weeks.

I've had two linksys routers that randomly disconnected. No issues right now with my D-link 802.11n router - two laptops, PS3, Wii and x360 (via Netgear print server access point) as well as my psp and phone all have no drops.

Welcome to the wonderful world of consumer-grade wireless networking equipment, brought to you at bargain basement prices.

For that matter, even the professional grade stuff I've worked with has been less than stellar.

Wireless is unreliable in my extensive experience with hardware from all major vendors through the last 5 years or so.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Did you have WEP enabled? If so, did you set the "key renewel" timer thingy?

I just found out about it on my router last weekend as my wife's lappy had a tendancy to drop. Changed its time-out from 1-1/2 hours to 15 hours and haven't had drop out problems since.

It could be totally unrelated as I suck with networking, but I thought I'd mention it since it seems to have worked for me.

 

[Mize]

WEP is generally a waste of time since it's trivial to crack. WAP-PSK or WAP2-PSK is the way to go along with a non-broadcasted SSID. BTW, I haven't dropped my wifi since switching out the router.

 

[Davros]

ive just got 2 of those ethernet over mains plugs havnt tried them yet though

 

[Lukfi]

Years ago, I had WiFi in my home as well. But, just as you are describing it, I experienced random connection drops - sometimes I turned on my PC and it wouldn't connect unless I restarted the router. Then it ran fine for several weeks, and then again. Since the time I'm using an Ethernet cable (if it's irritating having them on the floor while you're cleaning it, try hooking them up to the ceiling). Since then, I recommend to anyone to use cables whenever they can.

 

[Sxotty]

Years ago, I had WiFi in my home as well. But, just as you are describing it, I experienced random connection drops - sometimes I turned on my PC and it wouldn't connect unless I restarted the router. Then it ran fine for several weeks, and then again. Since the time I'm using an Ethernet cable (if it's irritating having them on the floor while you're cleaning it, try hooking them up to the ceiling). Since then, I recommend to anyone to use cables whenever they can.

I am trying to wire my house now, but never thought about hanging from ceiling. That seems a bit crazy, though that is how many labs are done.

 

[Ty]

How about flat Cat 6e? A guy at work had some great success with fishing that under carpet and his padding.

 

[epicstruggle]

I just throw a mat over my wires. Looks neat and keeps my chair from wearing my carpet badly.

 

[Sxotty]

Well I like them in the walls anyway, and fishing a wire through doesn't bother me, I was just surprised by the idea of them dangling all over a house. Like spaghetti from a petulant child