My Ethernet Dilemma - Hardware & Software

ok so, my dad bought me a tower on accident, I'm ok with this, because I actually don't leave the house with my laptop too often. So we've spent the last couple of days collaboration about what accessories to buy (monitor, mouse, keyboard). But here comes the kicker, apparently wireless for desktops suck a camel's dick. I am on the other side of the house of the router, and my parents don't seem to want to drill holes in the walls or under the carpets. Wat do? Also, it'll probably have to be around $60 or less.

run Ethernet through the roof cavity, or just use wireless N

Casual browsing, Wirelress N on 2.4Ghz is pretty damn good. If gaming is something you're going to be doing regularly though, find a way to get an Ethernet cable going.

[QUOTE=Bladerunner1;27533481]run Ethernet through the roof cavity, or just use wireless N[/QUOTE] how challenging will that be? Because one of the main reasons (I think), is the difficulty of installing a wired connection across the house. At-least comparably to just installing a wireless card.

Run the cable outside the house, under the edge of the roof. Otherwise, get wireless with a focused antenna for much better signal strength.

[QUOTE=WaLLy3K;27533562]Casual browsing, Wirelress N on 2.4Ghz is pretty damn good. If gaming is something you're going to be doing regularly though, find a way to get an Ethernet cable going.[/QUOTE] I will be gaming, except not online. Though I will be downloading games and updates and whatnot with Steam.

[QUOTE=Greenwhirl;27533454]But here comes the kicker, apparently wireless for desktops suck a camel's dick.[/QUOTE] Wireless is a dick on anything, the hole point on using it with laptops and phones is that, well, its wireless. oh and get some of these (not necesairly this one) [img]http://salestores.com/stores/images/images_747/XE102GNA.jpg[/img] use your electric circuit for ethernet

[QUOTE=Greenwhirl;27533626]I will be gaming, except not online. Though I will be downloading games and updates and whatnot with Steam.[/QUOTE] Wireless N's the best choice then as you'll still have a solid connection. 2.4Ghz if you need range, otherwise 5Ghz is a fine choice.

Also, on a semi-related note, what kind of wireless card should I look for?

[QUOTE=Greenwhirl;27533594]how challenging will that be? Because one of the main reasons (I think), is the difficulty of installing a wired connection across the house. At-least comparably to just installing a wireless card.[/QUOTE] you just drill a small hole in the corner of your roof next to your computer, put cable into it. go into your roof, pick up cable, walk over to above your router, drill second small hole, thread enough cable through to reach the router. at a later date you can paint the cable wall colour/fill in any gaps around the cable going into the roof. also if you have rats in your roof i dont advise running cables through it

I can't imagine that it would be worse than laptop wireless, which is fine in my opinion. You won't have blazing speeds on downloads and your ping in games might get a little high, but with some configuration there shouldn't be any problems.

[QUOTE=Richy19;27533724]Wireless is a dick on anything, the hole point on using it with laptops and phones is that, well, its wireless. oh and get some of these (not necesairly this one) [img_thumb]http://salestores.com/stores/images/images_747/XE102GNA.jpg[/img_thumb] use your electric circuit for ethernet[/QUOTE] Part time electrician here. Homeplug adapters only work well in houses where the electrical system is still fairly good. If it's a old house with old wiring, or on a electrical line with lots of "brownouts" and similar, they'll suck more than wireless.

I get very good pings using wireless when I'm playing things online. Unless there's 10+ people on the connection, you're just fine with using wireless. DON'T use a USB adapter, get a PCI adapter for wireless.

Why do people think that wireless brings down pings?

[QUOTE=Van-man;27540145]Part time electrician here. Homeplug adapters only work well in houses where the electrical system is still fairly good. If it's a old house with old wiring, or on a electrical line with lots of "brownouts" and similar, they'll suck more than wireless.[/QUOTE] We have a (relatively) new house, I believe it was built within the last couple of years. [editline]20th January 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Killuah;27540429]Why do people think that wireless brings down pings?[/QUOTE] I've just been told before that Desktop wireless is for some reason 1/2 the quality of laptop wireless cards.

Bullshit. If they are conform to the standard, they are just as good as the cable connection in terms of quality. Problems could come from interfering other signals, like to many networks in your neighbourhood using the same channel and of course the speed is lower but 52mb/s or whatever you have will still not have an impact on the ping. [editline]20th January 2011[/editline] Homeplug adapters are shit. I tried them and even with a fairly good house network you are prone to every little disturbance coming from the outside. Just don't use them.

[QUOTE={ABK}AbbySciuto;27540189]DON'T use a USB adapter, get a PCI adapter for wireless.[/QUOTE] USB adapters are fine, if you actually do some research to sort out the crap one's.

I am in the same situation. I don't know what wireless card to get for the desktop because cable is not an option.

Get this: [url]http://www.netgear.com/landing/wnce2001.aspx[/url] + a 5-10 meter long ethernet cable, route it under your door and put the adapter on the floor or blu-tac it to the wall. I use it at my Uni accommodation which has really thick walls, with normal WiFi I only get about 50% signal strength about 10 meters away, but if I stick this outside my room I get the full 50Mb from my router. [editline]20th January 2011[/editline] Great alternative to a WiFi card and routing. [editline]20th January 2011[/editline] And way better than homeplug.

[QUOTE=ijyt;27540706]Get this: [url]http://www.netgear.com/landing/wnce2001.aspx[/url] + a 5-10 meter long ethernet cable, route it under your door and put the adapter on the floor or blu-tac it to the wall. I use it at my Uni accommodation which has really thick walls, with normal WiFi I only get about 50% signal strength about 10 meters away, but if I stick this outside my room I get the full 50Mb from my router. [editline]20th January 2011[/editline] Great alternative to a WiFi card and routing. [editline]20th January 2011[/editline] And way better than homeplug.[/QUOTE] A cheap router supporting DD-WRT can do the same, and is also more flexible.

[QUOTE=Van-man;27540898]A cheap router supporting DD-WRT can do the same, and is also more flexible.[/QUOTE] cheap would really be the best, if you haven't seen, this thread. [url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1051395-What-just-happened?[/url]

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