PocketMatrix

I'm looking for some good networking equipment and information on how to hook it up.

I want a 4 port wired hub with a built in cable/dsl router. Then I want to go about adding 2 wireless access points to this hub, 802.11b; or one 802.11a... are than any downsides to the 802.11a wireless? It's supposed to work better indoors, have higher bandwidth, and run on the 5GHz frequency so it won't interfere with my portable phone.

But do I need to get a special hub when I'm thinking about adding wireless access points or do they just plug into one of the 4 ports in the hub like a regular wired computer does?

Has anyone heard of a 4-port hub with broadband routing and 802.11A wireless all built into the one thing?

Should I expect the 802.11b range to go around 150 feet (up to 50m) indoors? If so then I only need one wireless access point so i can get a dual wired/wireless hub/router.

What about a quality cable modem? Will I see a huge speed increase if I go with one I purchase myself or should i stick with the Toshiba PCX2000 cable modem that they gave me? Know of any good firmware updates that would increase speed?

Thanks for all the help. I'd prefer 802.11b because Dell laptops can come with that built in, but if it can't cover the entire inside of my house then there's no point.

Spend good money on the wireless card. I have tested out the linksys one, Compaq WL110 (good for war driving/walking), Xircom, Cisco aironet 340 & 350.

Xircom is basically the same as the Cisco since they are both made by Cisco.

Linksys is very weak on the PC card.

Compaq WL110 kicks major ass and uses the hermes chipset which allows you to use wireless packet sniffers the same as the cisco and symbol cards but way way cheaper.

I have used both the Linksys wireless AP and also the 340 and 350 series aironet AP. Linksys is very good for the money as long as you the up the firmware on them. Aironet gives you mad crazy roaming space. As for adding an additional AP you will need to ask yourself is that nessacary can you just place the 1 AP you have in a good location. Remember you will have both signal strength and signal quality. Signal Quality is what you are more concerned with. You can have minimal signal strength and med to high signal quality and be zooming on the internet.

I can get some technical whitepapers if you would like. I have some buddies at Cisco that can get you some internal info, not sure if it will be better than what is on the net though.

I have the perfect location for the AP/hub in the corner of my living room (which is basicaly the exact center of my house). The living room has plenty of windows so it will go outside to the pool deck and over to my garage apartment.

What I need is an WAP with good range because if I don't get good range then I'll HAVE to have two. It has to have 4 ports and a Cable/DSL router built in, plus 802.11b wireless.

Will the Linksys hub that I mentioned give me good enough radius (50 to 60 feet). As long as the connection won't drop and the speed won't fall below 3-5MB it's perfectly fine. But if it will then I'll need a second WAP, or just a good first one. I'm not spending mega-bucks on this, this is just to spread my cable connection to everyone in the house, about 125 feet across and 95 feet back. There will probably be only one wireless device using the WAP, maybe two once I get my laptop.

Can you mention a good integrated HUB and PC Card. I took a look at the Compaq card and it's a little pricy, but I might be able to swing it. The hub, around $200 is my limit. I was looking at all this Linksys stuff because there's a really good deal at my local OfficeDepot on all Linksys networking equipment, but if you tell me it's not good enough to be a child's toy then I'll have to go with something else. As long as Linksys can get a good connection through 3-5 walls in a 50-75 foot radius then that's what i'll go with because it's cheap. Please reply quickly, I've got an appointment in town and I was going to buy this stuff while I was there, in about 30 minutes.

[EDIT] This is for every computer in the house and one laptop. I doubt I'll waste money putting my dinky PocketPC on the wireless network, especially when I get my laptop. So make sure we're all talking about Laptop and Desktop equipement.

Oh, and this stuff won't interfere with my 2.4GHz walk-a-bout phone, will it?

And on Linksys' website it says the PC Card is rated for a further distance than the Compaq card. I know those ratings are far from real life performance, but still... just wanted to bring that up for argument's sake.

Do NOT use an Orinoco. The signal from my school's laptops only has to pass through two walls to get to the hub and the reception is borderline. And I have a Linksys router in my home for the DSL, it works great. It has 6 ethernet ports on the back, one port to connect to the broadband modem, 4 ports to connect to computer, AND a port to add on another hub or wireless access point. Good old Linksys. And the router works great. The only down time was after my dad played around with the settings too much.

How do I check the settings of my cable connection. Comcast doesn't have any information that I can find on their website. I'd like to find the DNS server address, whether it's PPP or PPPoE, just generally what things should be set to.

And what does this mean:
DHCP Remaining Time: 6 days 23:53:58
Is that like a time period before my cable modem has to reset?

that'll be the time until your dhpc lease expires, then you get a new IP as far as i know.

What exactly is a DHCP? And what about PPPoE (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet)?