I know this is prob the easiest internet ques you have ever seen, but I am clueless about wireless internet..

What do I need? I am going away to San Antonio for 2 weeks and the Post I am staying on has wireless internet. I have a laptop. What do I need?

Also, I want to get wireless for my house. What else do I need in addition to the question above?>

 

What processor is your laptop? Centrino? Pentium 4? Celeron? Celeron M? SOme of them can pick up wireless neatively, but others can't.
If your laptop does not pick up wireless signals already you will need a wireless card:
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/st...&cmArea=SEARCH

For wireless at home, you willneed the card for the laptop and a router, which emits the wireless signal:
http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/st...&cmArea=SEARCH

These are simple and basic products that can fufill the needs of many users.

 

For your trip, you'll need a wireless card. If your laptop is only a few years old, it should be built in. If you don't have built in, you can get a PCIMA card or a usb one. I don't know which one would be better.

For the house you just have to get a wireless router to plug in your cable or dsl modem. It won't really matter but buying the same make w/l card and router will make for an easier set up.

I know when I hooked up my bosses house. I got Linksys for all (laptop, desktop and router) and it connected by itself as well as setting up the security.

 

It is a Dell, about a year old. Using a Pentium M processor...

It is a work compoter that they gave me admid right for. SO I doubt adding new equipment should be a problem..

Are the cards plug and play?

 

I doubt it is has a wiresless built in. It is a State compter(I work for the State) and we are not allowed to have wireless.. For work that it is..

 

they plug in and the drivers for it have to be installed, but the USB ones might be plug and play, not sure.

 

i imagine the USB ones are slower that the expansion slot ones?

 

not nec. - usb can transmit up to 480mbps - fast enough for HD Video... but since they are quite universal, usb ones tend to cost up to 10-20$ more than the expansion alternative

but drivers should be in the usb, but they have cds too

 

Get yourself an Engenius USB EUB-862 Wireless adapter and call it done.

 

He has a Pentium M. If I'm not mistaken, all Pentium M computers have wireless drivers built-in. Unless the State computer has specifically taken out that option you should be able to get wireless. Here is what you do.

Go to Start --->Control Panel--->Network Connections

There you should see at least 1 icon that says "Local Area Connection" or "LAN" or "Broadband Connection" or something to that effect (all of which are exactly the same). That icon simply means you can connect to a high speed wired network. If you have wireless you should see another icon that says "Wireless Network Connection."

If you have it, check to see if it says "Enabled" or "Disabled." If it is "Disabled" enable it by double clicking. After it is enabled, right click and click "View Available Wireless Networks." If you are in an area with a wireless network, you will be able to detect it. Double click on the network you want and put in the password (if it has one). You should be on the internet. Any other problems, you can PM me.

Okay assuming you DON'T have the wireless icon. USB wireless devices are usually my preferred choice for its simplicity and transferability (between laptops or desktops). Any USB should work but I would suggest maybe a Belkin or Linksys branded one because they have a general reputation for decent products. As far as installation for USB, most are plug and play but if it comes with software, it should be a cinch to install. It shouldn't be anything more than popping in the CD and following on screen instructions.

Okay now for home setup. Buy yourself a wireless router. Buffalo, Belkin, Linksys, D-link are generally good choices but I'm sure someone here will chime in with problems pertaining to specific models. I've had problems with Linksys before, but my current one is working fine. Anyway, after you buy the wireless router, set it up following the provided directions.

If you have desktops, you can get a PCI or USB wireless card to make your desktop wireless. Of course, if your desktop is right next to the router, you can just connect it with the network (CAT 5) cable. If you don't have a desktop, the USB wireless adapter should all be that you need.

Any current (within the last 2 to 3 years) laptop should come with wireless capabilities and will be able to detect your network if you set it so it is discoverable. Make sure you put a password on it and you will be all set.

Any questions, feel free to PM

 

480mbps refers to transfer speed. It is the transfer of information across the network under optimal conditions. I'm not entirely sure what you meant by fast enough for HD video though. The speed of your internet connection is not determined by your device (unless the internet connection is G or N and you have a card that can only handle A or B) should remain the same with both a USB and PICMA card.

 

I hate it when customers say, "my wireless connection says I have a 54mbps connection, why is the internet so slow?"

54mbps is the speed from your wireless card to the access point. Your true speed is determined by your wired or wisp connection. So you may see 54mbps, but if your ISP service is only 1.5mbps down, your real (in an optimum world) internet download speed is 1.5mbps.

You're download is only as fast as your ISP service.

 

what he said was the he would suspect that a usb wireless one would be slower, which i assumed was that he thought that usb was slower than an expansion slot.

That is totally wrong and i noted that usb has the capability to transfer that fast - fast enought for internet and if needed over a network, transfer HD video

 

Ah, my mistake. However, just to clarify to CLean, your internet surfing speed will be only as fast as your service provider (which in this case is the hotel and hotel internet is not known for blazing speeds) so it really shouldn't matter which card you get. This principle applies at home as well.

I would suggest getting a card that can at least handle 802.11g/b which is usually standard now. With those 2 modes, you should be able to surf at the maximum allowed speed of a provider as well as transfer large files quickly over your own network (between the computers on the same router such as your family member's computer).