🚀 go-pugleaf

By going to 108 mps G+ (aka pre-N), you will probably by buying long term
incompatibilities with the 802.11n standard when approved.   The wifi industry
is moving ever so slowly in the direction of 802.11n, with better speed and
range than the current 802.11g.   Netgear, Linksys, Buffalo and all the others
have jumped the gun and they are hyping the speed of their pre-N equipment.

In practice, you would gain absolutely zero in terms of speed of access to the
internet.   But you might see some speed improvement in file sharing between
your E1505 and the other computers connected to the switch.   You would only see
an improvement if your E1505 also had a compatible Netgear G+ wifi card.

So... Save your money.   You can probably buy a Netgear or Linksys 802.11g
router without G+ or pre-N, and pay a lot less.

Finally, if you get a wifi router, you will need to disable DHCP in either the
Westell or the router.   You can't have two network units serving up IP
addresses as computers power up.   Because your Westell is also a router, you
might consider simply an 802.11g wifi access point, not a whole router.

... Ben Myers

On Thu, 7 Dec 2006 16:39:33 -0500, "Scotty" <rsilton@bellsouth.net> wrote:

>Currently I have a Westell 2100 DSL Modem which as I understand is a router 
>too with a 3 Mb DSL service from BellSouth.  Attached to it is a NetGear 4 
>Port Switch which has three computers currently hardwired into it, two 
>desktops and a laptop.  I have a Dell E1505 that has a wireless card built 
>in (501g), but while it is being used at home is hard wired into the NetGear 
>Switch.
>
>What I want to do is utilize the wireless card in the E1505 by replacing the 
>Switch with a NetGear G Wireless Router that the only difference in 
>appearance between it and the current Switch is this one has an antenna 
>attached to it and has 4 ports for any computers or print servers hardwired 
>into it.  I intend to keep the desktops hardwired into system and allow the 
>laptop to float and be used anywhere in the house.  My question is, can I 
>just switch out the current 4 Port NetGear Switch with the Wireless NetGear 
>Router, or will there be a problem between the Westell Modem/Router and the 
>NetGear Router.
>
>Now my next question is what would I gain by going to a 108 mps G+ as 
>opposed to the 54 mps G Router, other than speed and area covered.  The 
>E1505 laptop is used like a desktop in that my son and me both surf the Net, 
>do e-mails, and do instant messaging, but no gaming that uses up a lot of 
>bandwidth.
>
>Thanks,
>Scotty 
>