Laptop Computer Questions?

[ProMac1K]

Just got moved in this afternoon and got the wireless set up tonight. Works great, between 48 Mbps and 54 Mbps. I'm happy with it.

 

[jrobinson2]

Thanks for the replies, I finally caught up enough to get back to this



A few more questions:



My ISP offers a high speed wireless, I think like what TMaas has. If I use that with an 802. 11b? wireless router in my home will my brother be able to also use my high speed connection from his house about 80 yards away?



What about 802. 11 a/b/g, do I need to worry about all of them or only the latest, "g" I assume? Dell wants $40 more for a card that does all three.



Somone mentioned serial ports, I guess I need to find out if the OBDII diagnostic software use that or something else.



Jared

 

[guava]

Thanks for the replies, I finally caught up enough to get back to this



A few more questions:



My ISP offers a high speed wireless, I think like what TMaas has. If I use that with an 802. 11b? wireless router in my home will my brother be able to also use my high speed connection from his house about 80 yards away?



What about 802. 11 a/b/g, do I need to worry about all of them or only the latest, "g" I assume? Dell wants $40 more for a card that does all three.



Somone mentioned serial ports, I guess I need to find out if the OBDII diagnostic software use that or something else.



Jared

If ISP is feeding you a wireless connection, you'll have to have the ISP signal feed into the router (a little more challenging) or feed the router a signal from your computer using a shared internet connection. Probably worth it to learn how to do the first option.



80 YDS is a bit of a stretch for standard 802. 11. But like anything worth having, you can bomb the hell out of it.



check out the wi-fi shootout



If your brother was to use a directional antenna, it would probably work well. It would also help if you placed the wireless router in a place to generate the best signal for him.



802. 11b is really all you need to worry about. Your ISP is never going to feed you enough bandwidth to take advantage of the 802. 11G. Nice to have but not usable at the moment. (unless your willing to foot the bill for a T1 or T3 connection)



Regarding the dell card, read through the wi-fi shoot out info and you'll find the same hardware in use over and over. If Dell is 're-branding' one of these cards then go for it. Otherwise...



Personally, I'd try to get a card that allows for an external antenna to be used for those times you want to really reach out and touch someone.

 

[RRoton]

I have heard that you could get a little more distance with 802. 11g than with 802. 11b, but I don't know if it's true or not.



80 yards should be easy to do if there are no obstructions (line of site).



He will still most likely have to use some sort of directional antenna.



If there is another house in between, then that will make it a little harder to do. It can be done though. roof top antennas are not too expensive.