I'm BUYING a New WIRELESS LAPTOP, I have NO IDEA what to Look For, HELP!!!>>>...

[rluto77]

I want to get a wireless laptop so I can go on the internet, etc. from anywhere in the house. I also want to be able to watch dvd movies on it. My home already has 2 desktop computers connected through a 5 port NON-wireless router. The max amount that i'm willing to spend is around 600-700 dollars but less is better and it doesnt have to be the fastest laptop in the world but stability and reliability are important. With my current set up, what else would I need to do the wireless internet? Will I have to change anything with my 2 current desktops? Will the speed of the internet on my 2 desktop computers drop at all? I really dont want to change much of anything related to my current 2 desktops because thier setups are nearly perfect. Any help you can offer is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[ImaNihilist]

You could get a Dell for like $699 and throw in a WiFi card. $700 is not a lot in terms of a laptop. You will most likely have to settle for a Celeron.

[rock]

Work just bought me a new Dell D600 - very nice w/ DVD and wireless built in. However, the built-in wireless doesn't play nicely with my LinkSys WAP11 -- it's fine sitting still in the office and some places in the house, but as soon as it moves around, I loose the network connection.

So, I've gone back to the LinkSys PC card (had this from the old replaced laptop) and disabled the onboard. So if you're buying fresh, make sure the brands match or that you've read people have had your combination working together.

[SkyDog]

On your Dell Latitude D600, do you have the Intel 802.11b or the Dell/Broadcom 802.11g option? I've got the 802.11g internal and haven't had a single problem with wireless reception or connections. I don't think I've connected to a Linksys WAP11, but have connected to all sorts of other hardware by Cisco, Proxim, Belkin, Netgear, Linksys, Enterasys, Apple, and who knows what else.

[rw96823]

Are you trying to get a brand new laptop with built-in wireless for $600-700 ? If you do get one, please tell me where to go because I don't think that's possible.....even the Celerons go for no less than 800, and those are far from what you'd want to get.

My total home setup, using an IBM off ebay, cost me a total of $800, including buying a wired router to link to the cable modem and a wireless router acting like a hub/switch.

good luck!

[maxkewl]

Last Summer Bestbuy had a Mail in rebate on the A15-S127 and S128 Toshiba 2GHZ+ laptops that lowered them to $775 after sales tax you can still pick them up on ebay for around this much. I own a 127 I'm currently in Europe and run mine 20 hours a day on average and carry with me everywhere no problems.

It doesn't come with a Wnic, but I would recomend an ASUS WL-100 (got mine for $40 off newegg.com I think) thats what I have and I have connected to half a dozen different networks with no problem I can even walk with the laptop and don't lose sync.

I also play DVD's with no trouble even on Battery power and I only have 256MB of PC2100 installed.

The only major drawback is the Vcard is integrated RAM and maxed at 32MB. So don't plan on playing current 3D games, although I can play Dues ex at max settings and DAOC with it.

Bottom line, it is a cheap sturdy, laptop.

[rock]

Originally posted by SkyDog
On your Dell Latitude D600, do you have the Intel 802.11b or the Dell/Broadcom 802.11g option? I've got the 802.11g internal and haven't had a single problem with wireless reception or connections. I don't think I've connected to a Linksys WAP11, but have connected to all sorts of other hardware by Cisco, Proxim, Belkin, Netgear, Linksys, Enterasys, Apple, and who knows what else.

It's the Broadcom wireless (there's Intel software everywhere, though, because of the ethernet adapter). Once it gets connected, the connection is stable and as fast as the card. However, if I move sometimes just a few feet, I get the popup that it cannot find a wireless network. Redoing the setup or rebooting often gets it back, but I can't move around again. Since I had the LinkSys pc card anyway, after a couple days of that I opted for the path of least resistance.

[/hijak]

[SkyDog]

Originally posted by rock
...there's Intel software everywhere, though, because of the ethernet adapter...

If your wireless is Broadcom, you shouldn't need any Intel networking software at all since the wired Ethernet in the D600 is also by Broadcom.

I don't see how that would affect your wireless reception, though. I wish I could suggest something that might help instead of just saying mine works fine!

[rluto77]

But my main concern is Will this affect the performance of my other 2 desktop pc's? Will I have to put wirless ethernet cards in them? Will their internet speeds drop? Please let me know.

[rock]

Originally posted by rluto77
But my main concern is Will this affect the performance of my other 2 desktop pc's? Will I have to put wirless ethernet cards in them? Will their internet speeds drop? Please let me know.

Sharing the bandwidth with another computer means that you won't have the full internet pipe, but you'll probably not notice.

It certainly won't slow down the ethernet connections.

[SkyDog]

Originally posted by rluto77
But my main concern is Will this affect the performance of my other 2 desktop pc's? Will I have to put wirless ethernet cards in them? Will their internet speeds drop? Please let me know.

You can continue using the wired Ethernet NICs in them, just as you're doing now. If all machines are trying to access the Internet at the same time, you'll be bottlenecked, but that's just because you'll have 3 PC's competing for your ISP connection -- it has nothing to do with whether you're using wired, wireless, or both.

[rasputinj]

You can get the Dell Inspiron 1100 with a Celeron for $674 + shipping right now from Dell Home, You can also get one from Dell Small business for $699 with free shipping. I like the built in miniPCI card myself, that is an add on at $49 I believe. I would save up a bit more, the better laptops can be had in the $900 -$1100 range like the 5100 series Inspiron. $1200 gets you the 8600 which is a sweet model.

A Celeron is ok, if you are goin to surf the web and you are a patient person, the P4 are much faster, do better with multitasking.

[rluto77]

so how do I have 2 routers running at once? How can I have a wireless one and a wired one? How much are wirless routers and what should I know about them? I pretty much have the model laptop picked out but I still need to know about its funcionality and how to set it up. What drawbacks are their to laptops over a regular pc besides the obvious ones?

[SkyDog]

The easiest thing to do would be to replace your existing router with a wireless one. Wireless routers generally have four wired ports, too.

If you want to use a wireless router *and* your existing router, you'd be using the wireless router as an access point. To do that, disable the wireless router's DHCP server and connect one of its LAN ports to a LAN port on your existing router using a crossover cable. (If either router has autosensing MDI/MDI-X ports, you could use a standard patch cable or a crossover cable.) Or to do it the easy way, just buy an access point instead of a router.

[rw96823]

as Sky Dog said, you can setup the wireless router as an access point connected to your wired router....

a wireless router is cheaper than an access point.....I know because I just setup a home network with the same config.

be sure to setup the wireless router with all the security (SSID name change, WEP, etc.) before you disable the DHCP server option....otherwise, you'll have to reset the wireless and start all over again.