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Solve : Which wireless router to buy? Which 802.11 adapter in my laptop??

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I'll be using this router behind my ISP's Arris TM502G cable modem. I'll be connecting 3 PC's wired, and need the wireless range to reach the living quarters (well insulated) in my barn ~ 100' from the routers location in my house.
Will a 802.11 n router reach?

Also how do I dentify which factory installed 802.11 adapter is in my HP 6715b laptop? The specs list several. I don't see any listing for 802.11 in system information or via Everest Corporate Edition

I'd like to spend as little $ as possible.
Suggestions for which to buy?
!st off the range for the wireless function may be overly GREAT for adequate reception without some additions.It has been my experience that distances over 60 feet (and even less sometimes) can be PROBLEMATIC for adequate reception. My recommendation would be to purchase a wireless router (transmitter) that has the ability to plug in an antennae. Then buy an antennae that is the best you can for extending the signal range. I am going to tell you what i use.I have an Airlink 101 Model ASB-10MA ant. connected to an Airlink Model AR430W super G router. Before i changed the antennae my maximum full strength signal distance was about 40 feet now it is at least 80 feet. Still would not meet your needs. So to further increase my range i went to the other end of the issue. For a different reason than yours i wanted to see if i could increase my reception range in a mobile situation for wi fi reception on a laptop. I purchased a "Wi-Fire" (www.hfield.com) external antennae receiver for the laptop. It was advertised to increase the range "up to" 1200 feet. The operative word was "up to" My experience is that it varies greatly (MOSTLY due to intermediate structural interference) but i have successfully received adequate signal at about 200 feet. As I'm sure you can appreciate many factors can influence your range and reception not least of which is the power of the transmitting source. While i have mentioned very specific products for some of them the market offers many choices. So i suggest you do some research on what is available to get the best product at the best available price. good luck,truenorthQuote from: lectrocrew on February 08, 2011, 02:32:20 AM

Also how do I dentify which factory installed 802.11 adapter is in my HP 6715b laptop? The specs list several. I don't see any listing for 802.11 in system information or via Everest Corporate Edition

Network adapters show up as network adapters.

The reason that wifi adapters don't show up "classified" as 802.11 is the same reason we don't see standard ethernet cards/capability classified as 802.3; that is, we normally just call it ethernet. For some reason the 802.11 IEEE classification for Wifi has become more ubiquitous as a synonym by comparison.Quote from: truenorth on February 08, 2011, 09:03:11 AM

Airlink Model AR430W super G router.

Before i changed the antennae my maximum full strength signal distance was about 40 feet now it is at least 80 feet. Still would not meet your needs

I purchased a "Wi-Fire" (www.hfield.com) external antennae receiver for the laptop

So i suggest you do some research on what is available to get the best product

Thank you for your information truenorth!!! Based on it and my research I decided to try an 802.11n router / adapter only w/ no external antenna capability, purchased from my local Walmart, SINCE they have always refunded/exchanged any device in the past with no problem. That way, if the 802.11n range will not fit my needs I can return to Walmart, then go with the antennas on a different type router with external antenna capability from an alternate supplier. (Walmart had none).

I bought
Belkin Surf N300 Wireless N Router
and
Belkin Surf & Share Wireless N300 USB Adapter
These work FINE for my 100' range. Also, I tested max range via taking the laptop w/adapter further from the router and it connected fine streaming video until ~250'-275'. At that time I lost the connection.
But at 100' it works fine, and it allows me to stream video on two laptops (1 USB N300 adapter at my barn - 1 USB b/g adapter in my house) and music on 1 desktop (wired 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet) simultaneously.
I had an issue with setting up the communication between adapter/router but this issue was solved via phone call to Belkin support. (I might add that I was very impressed with the service I received from the Belkin tech. This has always been such a big issue for me when selecting which brand equipment to purchase).

Quote from: BC_Programmer on February 08, 2011, 11:29:52 AM
Network adapters show up as network adapters.

The reason that wifi adapters don't show up "classified" as 802.11 is the same reason we don't see standard ethernet cards/capability classified as 802.3; that is, we normally just call it ethernet. For some reason the 802.11 IEEE classification for Wifi has become more ubiquitous as a synonym by comparison.
I'm sorry. In my post my terminology was inaccurate. I did not look for 802.11 devices in Device Manager, Everest, System Information ect. I did look for "Network adapter".

Obtained from your website: Quote
"The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up, there's no law against whacking them around a little. (Eric Porterfield)"

So I submit myself to be "whacked around" at this point, but just a little. lol

Now, onto an issue with this PC and it's factory installed wireless adapter that has me baffled, and, on which I need your expert help/explanation:

When I viewed Device Manager at the time I first posted this thread, under 'Network adapters', it displayed only:
Broadcom Netlink Gigabit Ethernet
Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Bluetooth Device (RFCOM Protocol TDI)

(The button on the machine to enable wireless connections was set to 'on' at this point).

As posted previously, I installed the Belkin N300 network adapter. Now, after viewing your response, I opened Device manager and found, under 'Network adapters', the hardware shown in this print screen image

As we now can see, this machine does have a network adapter installed:
Broadcom 4321AG 802.11a/b/g/draft-n Wi-Fi adapter
This hardware required driver installation, the results of which are shown in the print screen link posted above.

This adapter now works fine and I will test the range tomorrow morning to see if it will connect to my 100' situation as discussed already.
If so, I can return the Belkin N300 adapter and re-claim my much needed $45 + tax.

My question is: why did this hardware not show up when I first started this wireless project 3 days ago? But read on:
I also just installed Vista Home Premium SP1 64 bit OS (OEM disc for system builders I purchased 4/15/2009) in place of XP Pro on this machine 3 days ago.
But this fresh OS install was done before I ever posted this thread. And 130> Windows updates were downloaded and installed in order to correct for the 2009 Vista X64 SP1, among other old software/hardware issues'
I accessed device manager several times after the install in order to find drivers for my hardware that was flagged as ? in device manager.
after which, until today, the only hardware device flagged was my fingerprint scanner, which, as you can see in the linked image, is still without a driver (more about that later - maybe in another thread).

Long story short:
The machine is performing fine now. I'm just curiuos to learn why the Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n-draft adapter did not show up in Device Manager until after the Belkin N300 adapter was installed?

Thanks again for your help for many years around here BC!
















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