Wireless for Blueyonder & Linksys

[Skan]

I am connected to Blueyonder (Cable)?? They supplied a motorola Modem with USB & Ethernet connection?
I am considering wireless router so my laptop from work can be accessing when I am home in the evening and my home PC can access the internet too.

Q1) What are best?
Q2) Which made is reliable?
I have been looking at the Linksys products but slightly confused.

WRT54G or WRT54GS(Speedbooster?)

Q4) Which one is more value for money?
Q5) What are the main differences or problem in future etc?

Q6) The WMP54G & WPC54G can work with a WRT54GS?
Q7) Any other advise I should consider? Like security & future expansion for the growing children. I am not IT literate

Q8) Will the wireless 802.11g 54Mbps USB Adapter WUSB54G be a better solution instead of the wmp54G?

Q9) If use WRT54GS, do like have to find a WUSB54GS instead of a WUSB54G?

Q10) What set up is most suitable or most reliable?

Thanks

 

[Igorian]

I have sited quite a few WRT54G routers in small offices and homes and have had no complaints. They are easy to setup and have adequate security for your application (WPA/NAT/SPI and MAF). Not tried a speed booster, but for an extra ten quid, I would give it a try. According to Linksys, you can intermix the two.

Like all wireless stuff, it will have limitations which depend on the environment.

 

[bodger67]

For home networking, allowing several PCs to share a broadband connection, speed isn't really an issue. You have at most got a 2Mbps broadband connection and any of the wireless devices will let you have up to 54Mbps, so the Linksys SpeedBooster probably wont benefit you much.

As a guide, I often use my PC as a jukebox, streaming audio to a laptop using an old 11Mbps (802.11b) wireless network with no problems. I can stream video off the Internet to my PDA via wireless with no problem even at that speed.

Linksys is now owned by Cisco, the big guns in networking, so should be well supported. As an alternative, I've used and installed a number of similar Netgear devices with great success and would happily recommend them.

Whichever you go for, keep in mind that the antenna should ideally be central to the house as the signal is emitted in a kind of doughnut shape. Large bodies of water, metal or concrete kill the signal very quickly, as can a microwave oven or digital cordless phone if the signal is already a bit weak. All that said, mine is in my office upstairs at the front of a good sized house and I can still browse happily on the patio out back with a beer in my hand (not in this weather...).

Enjoy!

 

[Paintguy]

I've always used Linksys (wired) stuff myself, and been more than happy with it. The wireless router you mention is the one I'll probably go with, when the wife finally gets fed up of all the cables running through the house!

Don't want to be a spoil-sport, but technically you may be breaking Blueyonders rules if you do what you're suggesting.
They state that you can only connect one device at a time to your modem (and thus the internet), although I know many people who ignore this.
My argument would be: I do only have one device connected, my router. The fact that I have up to 8 PC's connected to the other side of it might be hard to argue though!

 

[bodger67]

They'll never know - the router does Network Address Translation and so presents only one IP address to their network. They have no way of knowing what addresses or devices exist behind the router.

In any case, the worst that can happen is that you'll use all 512kbps or whatever you pay for, so what do they have to complain about?

Bodger