Need help networking a small office

[Jeepfreek]

I am going to be putting in a wireless network in a small office and it has 1 laptop with a docking station running Win XP home and 5 other computers running Win 98. Any tips I should try before I get into this?

 

[JackMDS]

AnandTech - FAQ. What do I need for wireless networking?

You can look here as well:

Practicallynetworked.com - Wireless Network Troubleshooting.

 

[rw120555]

Are the 5 desktop computers near each other or spread far apart? Depending on physical layout, it may be cheaper to connect some or all of them via a switch than to buy wireless nics for each of them. For example, you could buy an 8 port switch + a WAP + wireless NIC for laptop + ethernet NICs if necessary. Machines connected via switch will also communicate among each other more quickly than they would if connected via wireless. Anyway, just something to consider, just because you want wireless for the laptop does not mean you want or need every machine to be connected via wireless. I try to hook up as much stuff as I can via ethernet and then use Wireless and HPNA as needed.

 

[JackMDS]

One thing you should avoid in an office setting is a "hot fudge" of Network standards and strange settings. Go with one standard whether it is Ethernet, HPNA, or what ever.

At the moment Ethernet is the dominant standard for home, and business,

 

[rw120555]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
One thing you should avoid in an office setting is a "hot fudge" of Network standards and strange settings. Go with one standard whether it is Ethernet, HPNA, or what ever.

At the moment Ethernet is the dominant standard for home, and business,

Ethernet + Wireless is very common though. Given that there is a laptop, I probably wouldn't recommend adding other technologies unless for some reason the wireless wasn't working very well for all machines

As far as strange settings goes, it is a function of the kind of equipment you buy -- for example, if you buy a hpna/ethernet bridge device like the Netgear PE102, your computers won't even know hpna is in the system anywhere -- it will all just look like ethernet. There are no settings or drivers or other software with a bridge like that, it is totally OS independent.

I am sorry I ever bought an internal HomePNA card though -- if you've got multiple pcs in one location, a bridge + switch is probably better. I think part of HomePna's problem was that so much of it was confusing and conflicted with other equipment -- looks like the powerline people may have learned something from that experience.

 

[Jeepfreek]

Let me clear things up a bit. It will be ethernet. I am thinking of going wireless throughout the office- not just the laptop. Reason being is that running cat-5 will be a complete pain in the arse. I was thinking of a wireless router from the DSL line and such. The other computers are in different offices but within say 40ft of each other down a hallway.