Wireless Networking

By Don Watkins

The Issues

There's always an issue of cost and there's no question that CAT-5 is cheap but prices on wireless networking products is very reasonable, especially compared to patching sheet rock. There's also the issue of speed; current technology limits wireless networking to 11Mb using the 802.11b standard. Then there's the security issue. I'm not a security expert and I don't even play one on TV, but in doing my homework there, seems to be some concern in this area. However I don't have any security issues with data on my network, in fact it'd bore the heck out of anybody snooping. However if you have concerns in this area be aware that it's an issue and consult an expert.

The Gadgets

There are two components; the wireless "access point" (I'll call it a "hub") that acts as the central control for the wireless network and the wireless network card. Since I had an existing network using conventional wire, routers and hubs, I wanted to make sure that I could integrate the wireless hub onto the existing network. If you're starting from scratch this won't be an issue but all of the products I looked at supported a mixed configuration.

The Gear

I looked most closely at products from Linksys and Netgear since both are very reasonably priced and I've had good luck with products from both companies in the past. In fact I use a Linksys router for Internet connection sharing and a Netgear hub and a mix of Linksys and Netgear NICs.

I ended up going with Netgear based on price and availability; the ME102 "access point" or hub and since I was hooking up my laptop as my first wireless device the Netgear MA401 wireless PC card. Also the ME102 performed very well in the Mobile Computing range test, second only to the much more expensive ($500 vs. $145) Cisco Aironet hub.

Netgear offers other devices, a standard NIC, a wireless hub with integrated router that allows you to share an internet connection and more so there's a solution for just about any need. They also offer devices based on the 802.11a wireless standard which allows faster network speed.

Installing

Installation was a snap. The hub attaches via a USB connection and after installing the software and setting up the parameters for my standard tcp/ip network I simply plugged it into the wired network hub. It couldn't have been easier. The install software was truly elegant and made me remark on how far setting up this stuff has come. Instructions were clear and easy to follow.

The PC Card was equally simply. I installed the software and didn't even have to change the old wired network tcp/ip settings; it was ready to go.

With some careful shopping, total cost with shipping was $185. $140 for the hub and $45 for the PC Card. Street price on a wireless NIC is running about $45 (the usual caution, prices should continue to drop). Since there is a 802.11b standard devices from other vendors should integrate just fine. Note the key word here is "should". I haven't tried this but it is a standard.

Performance

I get good signal strength up to about 150 feet from the hub going through two walls. There's a nifty little icon that the Netgear software places in the system tray of the wireless computer that uses green/yellow/red to show good/poor/no signal. Clicking on the icon brings up details.

When the wireless computer is in the poor zone, speed is limited to about 2Mb, still more than enough to get good performance from a shared Internet connection.

What a Hoot!

I can now carry the laptop all over the house; in the kitchen to call up a recipe, in the shop to call up plans and my guilty pleasure.

Okay, I Come Clean

Yeah, yeah, well okay. In addition to wanting to not be tied to the office when I was expecting an important email I really wanted to be able to couch potato and participate in some of the web interactive stuff on TV so yes, during the super bowl I did maintain my voice in the conventional wisdom that the Rams were going to whip the Pats and I love looking up a movie on IMDB so I can catch the trivial and the flubs without hiking up to the office.

Am I a couch potato or what?

What I'd Really Like

Of course as a true couch potato the laptop is a little inconvenient to lug around. How about a handheld device? It appears to be possible but I don't have a handheld device. Comon' Compaq or Toshiba, how about an eval unit before I strain something

Back to article index