Da Booga

I have a laptop with wireless network capability. At the moment I connect the laptop straight to my main PC by a CAT5 crossover cable (no router etc.).

This works perfect for what I want, to be able to transfer files & browse the web on the laptop even though the connection is through the PC.

I would like to be able to browse the web on the laptop downstairs. If I purchase a wireless adaptor for the main PC (either USB or PCI) would I be able to connect the 2 as I do at the moment with the same functionality but without the CAT5 cable.

I basically don't want to have to buy a wireless router/modem as the main PC is by the phone socket so there's no point in it being connected wirelessly[sp]!

Does anyone know if this is this possible?

Thanks

mike1210

yes it is possible taking the AD-HOC route. However with a wireless router they normally always come with 4 cat 5 ports. So laptop can be connected with wireless and other computer connects to router with cat5. This way you dont have to have the 2 on at the same time for browsing only the one (and the router)

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Also be aware that a wireless connection will be slower than a cabled connection.

Da Booga

Thanks guys.

The main PC is on constantly anyway so that's not a problem.

I know that you can connect to some routers with CAT5 it's really the cost of a router in the 1st place if I didn't really need it

The speed issue isn't really an issue either as the laptop will be used for web browsing 95% of the time & if I do need to tansfer large files I can always connect it using the CAT5 cable.

I'm assuming that the network will be fast enough to run a 2mb broadband connection without any noticable difference in speed seen as the network adaptors are rated at 54mb/s on the box?

mike1210

yeah it will be fine. With wireless divide the rated speed in half to get a more realistic speed. This is still more than enough to accomodate a 2 meg connection. I used to get around 2M/Byte per second transfers with my wireless connection.

RoadrunnerV2

FYI even if you have 54Mbps 802.11g adapters, you might find your Ad-hoc only operates at 802.11b as per the IEEE specification. Some adapters do exceed the specified speed though.

mike1210

I would still go the router option to be honest though. As well as sharing an internet connection, most even out of the box will provide an excellent firewall for your computers. Can get them for cheap nowdays