Laptop and wireless network help please
 

Thinking about adding a laptop 'puter to my home network and upgrading to wireless.
Anyone want to shed some light on whats hot and whats not out there right now?

Links to local nerd forums would be good also...:mrgreen:

Just bought an Acer from Memory Express. Paid $1250.00. Seems pretty good and I like it.

Also bought a D Link wireless router at Memory Express. Seems to work well too. Added a wireless USB to the old computer and all is working well.

Pretty much hard to go wrong with anything available at the moment.

Something like this: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...21221(ME).aspx
and any new laptop are going to play nice with each other.

Even a $500 laptop by now should have wifi on it. I doubt anything new will not have this option, but just check what 802.11 level they have. 802.11g is faster than 802.11b and 802.11n is even faster but just be wary that the 802.11n standard is still in draft form (last time I checked anyhow) and may in fact still change (although I doubt it). Which just means if it DOES change any device that claims "802.11n compliant" may need a firmware update down the road (not really a big deal though).

More reading on the standards here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11

For security there's WEP, and WPA and WPA2. WEP encryption was cracked eons ago so don't bother but WPA2 should still be OK I think. Unless you're OK with giving your neighbours free internet access (although there are incidents of creeps though who drive around looking for unsecured wifi points to download kiddie porn and so on so it just makes sense to lock your network down anyhow). Basically you just get a network access key password generated and you have to enter it anytime you have a new device you want to connect to your network. No biggie.

Fun stuff though, you'll love having wifi in your house. :)

If you are willing to spend a little more, I'd look into an Apple. Much more user friendly than windows. I've used Macs pretty much all my life and I would never buy another windows machine.

I was looking at this D-Link wifi router:
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...15586(ME).aspx

Is one better than the other? (Performance, Customer Support, etc.)

Lots of newer laptops are now also coming with wireless N built-in.
I don't know anything about brands though. Any I should steer away from based on personal experiences?

That router is fine too. :)

I picked up an HP laptop a couple months ago. Here's what I can tell from that experience:
- Vista does suck a little. Maybe I just don't adapt to change very well but I like XP better. Now, to be fair, it doesn't suck as bad as some people say, but it's definitely not glitch free.
- I believe XP service pack 3 is the last major release for XP before Microsoft officially stops supporting XP. I don't think you can buy any new computer with XP anymore already.
- I don't really pay much attention to these things but I think Microsoft is already talking of releasing Vista's replacement.

- If you want to have >4Gb ram then you need to look at a 64bit system. Some device drivers aren't there for 64 bit yet but .. I dunno, how many devices does one attach to a laptop anyhow?

- The only complaint I have about my laptop (outside of Vista), and the one thing I would warn people about ... it has a ridiculously super glossy screen. While this increases the "shininess" factor and will make you fall in love with it at the store, if you do any work while near a window, you will not be able to see ANYthing on the screen. It drives me nuts that I have to draw the blinds closed to surf during daylight hours. My work laptop is a Dell and it has about as flat/non-reflective screen as you can get and it's far more forgiving in this regard. So nothing to do with brands but do watch out for the glossiness. I'm not sure why they would even make laptops like this..

Did you buy from MemoryExpress Tony?

The router yes, the laptop itself I got from Futureshop. (**Someone** had given me a gift card for there as payment for something, and I was giddy I was finally able to use it for something... :lol:) If I hadn't have had that I would likely would have gone memory express for the laptop too.

Now I want to get me a EEE notebook. Have you seen these things? $300-400 gets you this itty bitty notebook with 4gb solid state "hard drive" (more like a big honkin' USB key built in), wifi and Linux/Ubuntu ... perfect if you want to surf or msn while watching tv or something..
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...19464(ME).aspx

You probably don't need or care about 802.11n (or pre-n, since I don't think it is officially ratified yet). For in-home networking and internet browsing, b/g is fine. I like linksys and netgear, but have only bought and thrown-away one d-link, and it might have been a lemon. Look for one with a wireless print server built in. Something like this, maybe.

And for the laptop? A shiny new macbook pro?

For routers I've had good luck with Linksys and D-Link.
If your not going to be gaming the Mac is pretty slick, I've got 2 windows machines running downstairs that I've hardly touched since getting a Macbook. With no virus or spyware worries I'm a convert. When your operating system doesn't have to run on every possible PC configuration out there things run pretty smooth.
My kid has another two Macs running as well, and we have three additional hardrives and a printer that all play together on the same network.

I also just converted a friend to a Mac and transfered all her stuff over no problem.
With "Black Friday" this week in the States there might be some discounts at Apple.

For some reason the link double pasted for you there Matt, here try this link: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...X8571(ME).aspx

Just a comment from a diehard wifi'er...

Stay away from linksys routers; D-Link aren't bad (though I suggest the extended warranty the seller will offer - saved my arse 3 times now); Belkin has become my favorite by far.

Once you go wireless, have a look at the newish wifi printers, you'll never realize until you've used one, how nice it is to park that printer away in a closet somewhere not have to plug in, just click print, go and collect the printout :) Other than the price of new replacement cartridges, I love my z1400

As for laptops, check out laptop depot / computer trends, the refurbished ones are a deal (mine is "refurbished" due to a blemish on the stainless trim)

My .02

Yeah Vista sucks... I mean it has cool aspects but my brand new (< 1year old) Toshiba laptop is way slower than the Compac I had with XP. My finance has a brand new Sony Vaio which also seems a lot slower than it should be for a brand new computer... and it's not like we bought the low end models.

I've got Vista on my laptop and my desktop, absolutely glitch free now for almost a year. Or at least, no more glitches then XP ever gave me. Just like the transition from 98 or 2000 to XP if you're running borderline hardware then you're bound to have problems. My transition from XP to vista was WAY smoother than the transition to XP Pro.

Anyways, I've got a linksys router at home and it works fine. Not having experience with any of the others I can't make a comparitive statement but I do love having the wireless. Nice to sit out on the deck in the summer with a coffee and the laptop and get stuff done!

My best recommendation.
 

My usual recommendation is the simple one (IT by trade). Buy the cheapest laptop that fits what you need. 90% of the time, people buy these huge, heavy and short on battery life laptops because the sales guy talks them into it.

But of course, what do you need. Personally, i go for the small and long battery life laptops with tiny screens (I have and eee and acer asipre). But if you NEED more power, got for something a bit bigger. I find the Asus Eee 701 has just too small a keyboard for any real work. It does make a great "portable".
Generally, nobody uses the full power of a computer anymore, so buying a slower CPU means better battery life.

None of that matters if you are going to put it on a desk and leave it there. If you are doing that -- Really -- buy a desktop with a nice 22" LCD and full size keyboard.

As for the networking. 802.11g is the most common. And they are all compatible EXCEPT 802.11a. All laptops that you will find have at least 802.11g, so don't even worry about the wireless.

As for the WEP/WPA/WPA2 debate. Don't use WEP, everything else is Ok. I can break WEP is under 5 minutes.

Just don't listen to the sales guy telliing you that you will need HDTV outputs and all the other junk. Normally a good laptop should run you under $500, and a cheapy wireless router about $50-100.There really isn't much difference between routes, unless you get into the enterprise level stuff, and spending $1500 on a router with feature that you won't even know what they are is just silly.


Finally, windows vista is a PITA. And no, you can't by anything with XP from a big box store, and the store that still have XP (for corporate customer) charge a few hundred extra to get it. My advice -- download, or have mailed to you for free a "ubuntu" or "kubuntu" linux cd, and install that. Much nicer, simpler, and problem free. I have a few thousand machines running linux, and very few people have any problems with it.

I agree, mac's are very user friendly and they have a sale on right now. I would never go back to a windows based machine. Also you can get windows on a mac if you need it.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...ok?mco=MTE3MjA

I say get this
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...15586(ME).aspx

I got my wife a mac bookpro last year for her work and using boot camp was able to run Windows on a mac as well. You get the best of both worlds that way. Only problemn is you cannot upgrade XP to service pack 3 if you go this root. I believe you can still buy a copy of XP from memory express as an OEM version as long as you buy some sort of component, such as some cables, if you don't want Vista.

So laptop newbie question. Is this security, something you download, comes with the router, buy it or what ?? :question: :smile:

Another security question

I'm sort of forced to use WEP for the kid's DS (WEP only) but enabled the MAC address filter on the router, any benefit?

The way the MAC filter works is by only accepting traffic from MACs on the allowed list, others would be ignored. It's easy to bypass because MACs can't be encrypted so all somebody has to do is listen in to the traffic for a while and pick an allowed MAC to assign to their device. So it's more of a hurdle than a fence if you get my meaning.

WEP and WPA can both be broken quickly once somebody has listened in long enough to get a sample of your traffic. That can take a while depending on how much the wireless link is used. WPA2 is secure for now but somebody will get it eventually.

Ultimately I don't think it matters much for the home user. Your biggest problem is the potential for somebody to use your access point without your permission. The idea of anyone spending the time it takes to breach your network is kind of absurd. What do you really have that makes it worth while?

WEP is probably good enough.

Different devices will support different standards depending on how old they are. If you want to upgrade your encryption you usually have to buy new devices unless you have a device where an upgrade isn't possible like the Nintendo DS.

Wireless security
 

Ok, just to answer a few questions and point out an option!

In my favorite wireless analogy, think of a wireless router and computer as a cordless phone base and handset. WEP/WPA/WPA2 are just ways of keeping the converstation between your handset and the base private, and stoping other people from using "their" handsets from using your phone line. MAC address filtering in considered lower than WEP, it doesn't do anything good, but it doesn't hurt either :biggrin:

For the most part WEP and WPA only keep out people that just don't care to go to the effort. I have been known to break a few WEP's when I REALLY needed to borrow and internet connection. WPA takes a few minutes longer.
Any encryption scheme is breakable, as they all technically are.

I light of all this, I run my wireless open as can be. If someone need to use an internet connection to check their email or whatever, feel free, just don't abuse it. For the most part, it's not all that often that someone will try to attack you computer or anything, just use your internet. If you haven't noticed at this point, don't worry.

I've had my connection open for about 5 years, I've had a total of 1 attempt to hack my network. I do however get attempts at one my my work sites, that has a 1 gbps internet connection, which brings up the other point.

All "secure" web traffic that you do is encrypted in a much more secure way. As the rest of the internet is not secure either. So, at most someone will be able to track your browsing history. In terms of the cordles phone, if all that is going on is your 16 year old kid gabbing at their friends then who cares if someone listens in? If it is confidential stuff, it's a different story.


For those of you now trolling around for my wireless, the rest of my servers are behind a separate firewall :wink:

Thanks for the info. I was looking at a new D-Link.