Wireless into wired network

[chrisbr68]

Hello everyone,

I did do a search, but I didnt really see what I was looking for. I wonder if anyone can give me some advice please?

I have a network set up at home, 3 pc's one is the server which is connected to broadband. It has 2 network cards, one takes in the broadband and the other feeds it to the hub.

I have a laptop Ive had for a few years and never use anymore, but I figured I could use it for surfing the net and whatnot so I am not stuck in my room all the time.

What would you say the best way to get it on the network and get internet acces is?

The possible solutions I found so far are:

Wireless router
One of those wireless things that plugs into the existing hub
2 Usb sticks probably from one of the non server machines I guess..

At the moment, the server pc has to be on for the others to gain internet access, this isnt really a problem.

I would like to do this as cheap as possible, but from what I can see I may as well just go for a wireless router.

Thanks in advance, Chris.

[aldi]

I did this exact same thing about a month ago - got an 802.11g access point off ebay for £12.50, this plugs straight into your hub. I assume you're running windows with internet connection sharing? If so I'd go that route rather than putting a USB wireless directly into the server as I'm not sure if windows will share the connection to two other interfaces, only to one other interface I think.

For the laptop I had a PCMCIA wireless card for £11.50, chose this over USB because the card is less likley to get caught on something and snap your USB port off, which is more of a danger with a laptop.

Hope this helps
Neil

[chrisbr68]

Awesome, thanks Neil, just the reply I was looking for. One small thing, would you be able to tell me which ones you got?

Cheers.

[agent006]

If you're shelling out for an access point, you'd be better off getting a wireless router as they're not much more expensive. Sling the server and run the net connection through the router, it'll be quicker, quieter and more compatable with stuff than ICS.

[chrisbr68]

agent006 said:

If you're shelling out for an access point, you'd be better off getting a wireless router as they're not much more expensive. Sling the server and run the net connection through the router, it'll be quicker, quieter and more compatable with stuff than ICS.

I was just thinking that! I was looking, and noticed stuff like:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Netgear-WGT634U-108Mbps-802-11

Which appears to be cheaper than the access point, so far...

Got any recommendations?

Thanks for the reply.

[aldi]

£27 + £7 - bargain! did you buy it? Just noticed, 'justdeals-uk' is who I got my stuff off too!

[chrisbr68]

Heh, I was very tempted but no I didnt. I was looking on there and there seemed to be loads of them going for that sort of money. I figured I would rather do a bit of homework first, since I had visions of it arriving, and then seeing something else which I would rather of purchased instead!

Cheers for the advice though, I think I will go for one of these type babies at some point. Im sure there will be many up on there in the future.

[chrisbr68]

Well, I ordered at the end of last week.

108mb wireless netgear router - £22
PCMCIA 108mb card £18

Im damn pleased!