router help

[blueboy68]

Hi all, just a little help needed nothing to complicated..
Here goes I have always had upstairs and downstairs pc's connected
via peer to peer and used ICS (internet connection sharing)
So I got a new wireless router today and this is the questions I need
answering if anyone would be so kind:happy:

1.Can I have my pc downstairs connected using ethernet cable to router
while having the upstairs connecting via a wi-fi usb adapter

2 Will the upstairs pc notice any different speed loss/gain
than when it was connected by cable

Thanks people:happy:

[jtdoom]

Hi,

Q1, yes.

Q2, probably.. Reception can be weak. (you have the wires already in place, and the router may have more than one wired port, so you can compare.)

[blueboy68]

Thanks for the reply jt
Thing is the cable i have is crossover so i either got to go and buy
some straight through cable or wi-fi usb connector and was thinking of going
the wi-fi route but I don't want to go and buy usb connector only for my son
to start complaing that his pc is slower..

[jtdoom]

hi, if you have a short length of cross-over and a RJ45 joint (to extend the wire with another) you have a straight.

cross plus cross makes a straight.

Come to think of it, a RJ45 male to female crossover adapter will do this too. (I see prices ranging from less than one dollar to exorbitant sums like 8 dollar.)
A straight coupler is dirt cheap, and shops selling CAT5 cable should carry those.

[giradman]

Well, although I'm using Wi-Fi for my laptop computer connections, I'd use cable if possible - more reliable & certainly safer (no worries w/ needing WEP/WPA/etc.) - :happy:

Also, keep in mind that if your ISP is DSL/cable that the maximum speed is likely in the 1-2 Mbps range (just tested my connection - 1.4 Mbps); the 802.11g Wi-Fi standard has a theoretical speed of 54 Mbps (of course, interference, distance, sharing a router, etc. will reduce that value), so quite unlikely that your Wi-Fi connection will be the 'bottleneck' in the network system; your ISP, esp. w/ sharing a cable connection w/ the neighbors will be your limiting factor - :happy: