Wireless network card recommendations?

[Davey_Pitch]

I'm looking to get a wireless network card for the PC upstairs to connect with my router when it arrives. They all seem very similar in price and spec, so does anyone have any recommendations on what to buy or what to stay away from? £20-£25 is the rough range i'm aiming for, though they all seem to be around that price.

If it helps, I'll be using the card for the PC to connect to my wireless net, than using an ethernet cable to connect the 360 to the PC and share it's connection for online gaming, so something as fast as possible will of course be required. :)

Oh, and the router is a Netgear as well if it makes any difference :)

[Daz]

There's not much in it these days Davey, so I wouldn't worry too much. Cant go wrong with the brands (Linnsys/Netgear et al), but if it's only a short term thing, I did see this the other day:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/133272/belkin-f5d7330uk-gaming-adapter-wir/

Could move that between the PC and xbox faff free until you get your own netcon :)

[Davey_Pitch]

Is a wireless bridge the same thing as a wireless access point? I've not looked into the difference in terminology.

[Daz]

No, it's a single wireless client you can plug into any Ethernet port to give that device access to the network :) Your Sky router will be your AP if you stick with that router.

[Mark]

No, it isn't, though an access point can often be used to do the same job. As Daz says, it'll get the Xbox360 online no probs (or PC, or Wii, etc.). If you can find one, that is.

[Davey_Pitch]

I think I'll stick with the access point for now then, as the range of the wireless signal from next door won't reach up to the upstairs pc, whereas an access point by the 360 in our living room will get the signal upstairs so that pc can go on the net as well. The AP I've seen is only about £20 so with a wireless PCI card around the same price it's not a bad deal, considering I'll need the wireless card anyway.

[Daz]

I'm a little confused. You want to buy an AP now to do what? Be a wireless client to next doors LAN and also be an AP to your own wireless client (the PC upstairs) and route its traffic over to next doors LAN? A £20 AP probably wont do that - ideally you'd need two routers that support WDS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Distribution_System).

[leowyatt]

I think he wants an AP so it can be used with the 360 for now and then it can be used on Lynnie's mum's PC so she can steal their bandwidth :p

[Daz]

I think he wants an AP so it can be used with the 360 for now
To what end though? To talk to the other PC, then that works and I've misunderstood, but to get online as well?

[Mark]

Aye, bridging wired segments is a bit more challenging that just plugging in any old AP. Don't get me wrong, it's possible - it's a setup I battled with for 2 years before I gave up due to lack of bandwidth between the two routers. As Daz says, you'll need an AP that can do WDS or (less likely) one that can work in client bridged mode. Bandwidth and pings are also likely to suck, badly, if the signal is going through walls.

[Davey_Pitch]

I'm a little confused. You want to buy an AP now to do what? Be a wireless client to next doors LAN and also be an AP to your own wireless client (the PC upstairs) and route its traffic over to next doors LAN? A £20 AP probably wont do that - ideally you'd need two routers that support WDS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Distribution_System).
I'll explain the setup properly and hopefully that'll clear up what I'm after :)

We currently have a wireless Netgear router in Lynne's mum's house (http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/dg834gt.asp), and in our current house we can pick up the signal with fairly decent speeds (over 3MB download, 50ms ping). What I'd like to do is get an access point that will sit downstairs next to the Xbox so I can wire in the 360 (I assume most, if not all AP's have a few ethernet ports on them) and broadcast the signal upstairs, where the PC will get the signal wirelessly (with a wireless PCI card that I'll be buying shortly).

When we get our own internet up and running in the house, I'd then move the AP into Lynne's mum's house so that we can hook her PC into it (via ethernet) so she can use our internet without having to worry about buying her own.

The AP I'm currently looking at is http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=276873 . Have I misunderstood what I can do with it?

[Daz]

Possibly yes - you would need two routers that support WDS or as Mark says, one that supports client bridged mode, and then actually make the thing work. What I'd suggest you do is just buy 2 wireless cards (one for your PC, one for Mums) and connect them to the Sky router when it arrives :) Save faffing with any wireless bridging (which is indeed a real faff sometimes).

[Davey_Pitch]

Guess I did misunderstand then. I thought all an access point did was effectively take whatever wireless signal it got, and bounced it on, extending the range. That'll teach me to assume without checking I guess. Thanks Daz :)

[Mark]

I'd go with Daz's suggestion tbh. For starters the Sky router doesn't support WDS.

You're thinking of a range extender btw - that's the device that will 'bounce' on a wireless signal. Some AP can do that job too but it's as much a faff as going the WDS/bridged route.

[Daz]

Guess I did misunderstand then. I thought all an access point did was effectively take whatever wireless signal it got, and bounced it on, extending the range. That'll teach me to assume without checking I guess. Thanks Daz :)
No worries :)

All most consumer AP's do are take wireless clients and allow them to access the wired network the AP is attached to. You can of course do more things with the wireless clients but as those kinds of things are mostly out of scope for 95% of Joe consumers needs they come at a premium.

[Davey_Pitch]

Ah well, back to waiting another 10 days for Sky then. Thanks to you both, much appreciated :)

[Daz]

If you want to get online now without wasting money then you could buy that Belkin adapter (or any little bridge device) for your 360 and hook it to Mums wireless, and then when you swap it round, put the Belkin adapter on Mum's PC and hook it to your wireless. That'd work and you wouldn't be throwing money away :) Only downside I guess is that the bridge needs to powered.

[leowyatt]

as Daz says the bridge I linked for you will get your 360 online as soon as you get it setup :) then you can give it to Lynnie's mum when you're online yourself.

[Davey_Pitch]

That's a good idea. There's a Staples not far from me, so I'll pop in tomorrow and take a look. If it's any more expensive than say £20 it'd be just as easy to wait for Sky and to buy 2 wireless network cards.

[Davey_Pitch]

as Daz says the bridge I linked for you will get your 360 online as soon as you get it setup :) then you can give it to Lynnie's mum when you're online yourself.
Ah, so buying http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=276873 and (I assume) setting it to Station Mode is effectively the same as a bridge?

[leowyatt]

I'd say so yes it's been a while since I setup ours :o I just set it up to connect to our wireless network and that's it you're online :)

[kaiowas]

I'm not a big fan of using wireless as part of a 'permanent' network. It's great for laptops and the like but for anything else I prefer to use wires.

Is sticking some cat5 through the wall between the 2 houses not an option?

[Davey_Pitch]

Not really, the rooms are on the wrong sides of each house, and I don't think Lynne's mum would like me drilling through the wall :D

[Mark]

Ah, so buying http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=276873 and (I assume) setting it to Station Mode is effectively the same as a bridge?
Yes, that just makes it the same as the one Daz linked to - i.e. connect one ethernet device in the back and it'll put it on the wireless network.

I'm with kaiowas on wireless networks, though Powerline seems to work well enough (it's still wires - just power wires instead of network wires). No good for you though as I doubt it'll work between the two houses.