Wireless Networking.

[TypeR]

Fellow PH'ers, I need a bit of IT advice.
Next year, I'll be working from home, and I am currently having a workshop built in the back garden.
I have a number of queries.
My work email/ISP is Demon, but at home we use Wannadoo as our ISP. I would like to keep my current work email address, but dont fancy paying out for 2 accounts. Is this possible?
Can I share an Internet connection with the wireless enabled laptop that we use in the house with the desktop pc that I have currently at work, bearing in mind that the workshop will be at least 40m from the house.?
Is it possible to connect a printer to a pc without cables, ie a wireless connection?
I realise I can get answers to these Q's at PC World, but honestly I'd rather kill myself slowly than go there.
Answer in words of one syllable would be preferred as I'm not too PC literate.

[GregE240]

TypeR said:

Fellow PH'ers, I need a bit of IT advice. Next year, I'll be working from home, and I am currently having a workshop built in the back garden. I have a number of queries. My work email/ISP is Demon, but at home we use Wannadoo as our ISP. I would like to keep my current work email address, but dont fancy paying out for 2 accounts. Is this possible? Can I share an Internet connection with the wireless enabled laptop that we use in the house with the desktop pc that I have currently at work, bearing in mind that the workshop will be at least 40m from the house.? Is it possible to connect a printer to a pc without cables, ie a wireless connection? I realise I can get answers to these Q's at PC World, but honestly I'd rather kill myself slowly than go there. Answer in words of one syllable would be preferred as I'm not too PC literate.

OK, in order:

Absolutely, you can either still access both accounts, or just use the one. If you want both in Outlook, you'll probably need 2 profiles.

Yes, you can share the internet connection. 40m *should* be okay in terms of distance, it all depends what the line of sight is between the router and the workshop. You may need additional aerials or a wireless repeater though. At the end of the day you'll find out, I guess. If the signal has to go through a wall or two, you may struggle.

A wireless printer connection? Yes, you can, but it will quicker if it was hard wired (eg USB2). You could then share the printer out so other machines on your (wireless) LAN could print to it.

HTH,
Greg

[aldi]

40m = getting ropey, in my humble opinion. You'l have to be careful with antenna placement at the least. You can get wireless print servers here bearing in mind greg's comments about speed.

[victormeldrew]

The latest wireless "standard" - not sure if it's ratified yet, but Belkin for one have already released kit - 802.11n? - has a greatly increased range. Alternately some Pringles tubes may come in handy.

For 802.11b or 802.11g 40m would be stretching it, and unlikely if you had two brick walls in the way. You could put a repeater close to a window that looks out over the garden, which might do the trick.

[Don]

Whilst you are having a workshop built in the garden can I suggest running a cable between the house and the workshop. This will be faster and more reliable than a wireless connection. You can run a wireless network as well to give you mobility with the laptop.

All these new fangled WiFi things cannot compete with "Gigabit Ethernet" (the fastest cabled network). Tons faster.

[fazz81]

I would suggest running a cable, tried something very similar this summer with a distance of about 30m, wireless signal was none existant

>> Edited by fazz81 on Monday 19th December 14:48