help needed with wireless network

[NOKEVIN]

Hi all, im new to this forum and would like some advice. I have a desktop pc running windows XP, my daughter also has a desktop pc running windows XP & we have a very ols toshiba laptop (no cd drive) running window 95. Im waiting for the arrival of my wireless router, i dont know what make or model it is as yet as it is being sent from my telephone \ internet provider. what i want to do is run all 3 pc´s from the one router, will any wireless network cards work with any wireless router, as for the lap top is there any wireless PCMCIA that will work with win 95 as i dont know how to put 98 on as it has not got a cd drive. can anyone advise please


Thanks
Steve

Any 802.11 card should work with any 802.11 router. They'll probably send you something like a Netgear or D-Link router. Personally, I recommend Linksys wireless cards, but really, it's more about preference than quality. They're all pretty much the same.


Welcome to TechIMO.

as long as the router and the cards are wifi compatible, they will work with each other.

if one doesnt say that, then you could run into some issues

i use d link with linksys products and so forth all the time with no problems

[mksoccer]

Originally posted by Whir
Any 802.11 card should work with any 802.11 router. They'll probably send you something like a Netgear or D-Link router. Personally, I recommend Linksys wireless cards, but really, it's more about preference than quality. They're all pretty much the same.


Welcome to TechIMO.

Hold up... there are 3 different kinds of 802.11 wireless router/card on the market right now. 802.11a, b, and g, and they are in no way compatible with each other. Granted, most cards that support G will support B, but it doesn't work the other way around. I'm guessing that your cable company will give you a 802.11b device, since that is the current standard for Wifi. 802.11a is used for corporate networks, and operates on a completely different frequency from the other two versions. If you get an 802.11b card, or even better, a 802.11g card that also supports B, you should be set. Just make sure to set up WEP encryption and trusted MAC addresses so your wireless network is secure.

[kwebb]

Any and all .11g client cards/devices will support .11b associations. It's part of the standard. The only problem you can run into when worrying about .11b/.11g is if you have a .11b AP, but you have .11g client cards, the client will only associate at the 11 Mb signalling rate, using CCK modulation at 11 Mb. It's pretty much a given your provider won't send you 5 Ghz wireless equipment (802.11a). More than anything because of the cost of that gear. Likely with a broadband provider you'll get .11b. As far as security, hopefully they'll send you WPA compliant equipment and you should use that encryption if it is available to you. WEP will work as well, just more easily cracked. If you do get to use WPA, make your password at least 20 characters long as it is vulnerable to a dictionary attack when shorter than that. MAC addy filtering is certainly something to use if available however MAC spoofing is very easy to do for someone really wanting in. Change your AP's SSID and disable broadcasting if allowed. Change the default IP range as well to something more unusual IF you are really concerned with security. And as always, if you have anything shared on your PC's, password protect those as well. Layers, that is the best bet with any LAN, but essential to WLAN's.