So here's a question for you folks... Kirsten needs to replace the network card on her laptop, because the stupid dongle thing is doing what all stupid dongle things do, and is slowly breaking.
So, do we get her another network card for $50 (linksys has a nic without the dongle), or do we spend an extra $100 or so and go wireless? The actual network card is around the same price as a wired one, but we'd have to get a wireless router and hook my machines up to it.
The computer room is eventually going to end up in the basement, but I have to remodel a room down there to accomodate it first (it's currently a carpeted bedroom). Until we get around to doing that, we're going to toss the computers upstairs in the spare bedroom.
Posted by Darren James Harkness on Tuesday, October 7, 2003 01:00 PM
Trackbacks...
You should go SneakerNet! Unrivalled security...
-- Posted by >> Michael » Tuesday, October 7, 2003 01:15 PMI have a friend whose house just went wireless. Roaming laptops... pretty cool.
-- Posted by >> Anders » Tuesday, October 7, 2003 01:40 PMDarren, I don't have to tell you the freedom and flexibility I have with my wireless. You've seen it many times in my blog. It's worth the investment if you wish to be mobile in any sort of fashion.
I work on my back deck now, enjoying the autumn breeze and relaxing in the sun. When I am sick I can snuggle up in my bed and catch up on my reading. I never fret about cabling, and enjoy the relative easy in wireless freedom. And to boot, when friends come over I just need to give them a key and update the MAC filtering to let them use it, withouth fiddling with moving hubs around etc.
-- Posted by >> SilverStr » Tuesday, October 7, 2003 02:08 PMGo wireless.
Once you go wireless you will wonder how you survived before. It changes one's use paterns almost as much as going from dialup to broadband.
-- Posted by >> fozbaca » Tuesday, October 7, 2003 03:12 PMGo wireless? I haven't even completely banished coax from my network!
Anyone want a well-used DE100?
-- Posted by >> Michael » Tuesday, October 7, 2003 04:31 PMWell, I could lend you a USB Ethernet dongle. It's not wireless, but it makes for strange conversations... :)
-- Posted by >> Dan » Wednesday, October 8, 2003 01:20 AMI would think that a wireless network would be great if you had a laptop(s) of if you enjoyed pulling up stakes on your Desktop and lugging it around the house.
If not, and you foresee no laptops for the near future... I wouldn't go wireless, but that's just me.
Michael... Coax? dude!
-- Posted by >> Oorgo » Wednesday, October 8, 2003 07:04 AMThere are problems with wireless though, cool as it is (or so I've heard, I'm still coax boy myself). The first is that it's not always going to work. Silv has told me more than once how he can sit on the couch and code just fine, but move 6" to the right and he looses his signal, or it reduces greatly. The solution to this would be having your access point in someplace central that isn't behind walls or whatnot, but that depends on your layout now and in the future right?
The other is that wireless keeps you at 11megabit, or 22 megabit (have they figured it out yet?). Not a big deal for websurfing and email, but if you're moving files or movies around (not sure if you can play divx without stutter from a fileserver at 11mb/s, while it's not a problem at 100mb/s).
That said I've never had wireless so I don't know how big a deal it is. I know that it'd suck to go back to 10mb from the 100 I have now as I have a file server and have all my mp3s/files/movies mounted from a remote server.
In a perfect world you'd have both on your computer(s) (ie: powerbook), and a network drop in each room of the house for when you did need to plug in coax :)
-- Posted by >> Arcterex » Wednesday, October 8, 2003 11:24 AMPost a comment
* under no circumstances will your email address be traded for a sack of quarters. No-sirree.