A Little Help & Advice Please

[Rob M]

Hi Guys,

I'm moving to a new flat soon and I need a bit of advice concerning the best setup for my computer equipment.

I have a laptop with a wireless card in it as well as an ethernet adaptor.

I am planning on having broadband installed in the flat.

What I would like to do is have the SACM, a wireless router and a printer in the spare bedroom and then connect to the internet either from there or anywhere else in the house using the laptop's wireless facility.

So far, so good.....

I would also like to be able to print from my laptop without having to physically connect it to the printer (so if I am surfing in the living room I can just hit the print button and it will print in the bedroom).

So, what do I need to know?

Well, any advice on a good router would be apreciated - especially any pointers on how I can get the printer to work in the way that I want to (or even if it is possible at all!).

Recommendations for a good (preferably cheap) printer that will be compatible with the router etc.

Also, some advice on security. I have a firewall on the laptop so I'm not too worried about people accessing it through the wireless link but obviously I need to be able to lock the router down nice and tight. Remember, I will be in a block of flats and I don't want to share my connection with everybody else. So I suppose that any router recommended will need to have good built in security.

I'm on a fairly (VERY) tight budget so any pointers to good deals on the net would also be greatly appreciated.

Sorry this is such a long post, thanks in advance, for any suggestions / advice.

[Bender]

in answer to your printer query, I know for a fact Maplins sell a wireless usb printer connector. Maplins is sometimes quite pricy, so check the usual web based shops (aria, overclockers, etc) as I'm sure you can fine it cheaper (Maplins sold it for £25 last time I saw it).

[Rob M]

Thanks for that Bender.

So I just plug the USB adaptor into the USB port on the printer and the I get wireless connectivity between the printer and the Laptop?

[Bender]

spot on mate - simple as that!!! I may well get one myself as I'm getting a new laptop soon.

[Ramrod]

The WGR 614 hase come down a lot in price since I bought mine

[mick70]

Had several makes of routers in my time, can strongly recommend the Netgear range for quality and ease of set up. Best place I've found for buying all my computer gubbins is E-Buyer.com.

[Rob M]

Ramrod / mick70,

What sort of security is in place on those two routers? I take it that they can be setup to only allow connections from certain machines? Do they have built in firewalls etc or do they have other tricks up their sleeves?

Thanks for your help so far guys.

[Ramrod]

It has a built in hardware firewall (not too sure what that means though )
It also has something called 128 bit wep encryption (so any other pc's connecting to it must have the same 'key') and you can also set it up to only allow certain wireless cards to connect to it.
It can also be set to deny access to certain sites (parental controls) and you can also block individual ports or port forward to 'nowhere' if you want to 'stealth' a port.

A true firewall secures your network against hackers: Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) and Denial of Service (Dos) attack prevention averts potential threats by scanning incoming traffic and Network Address translation (NAT) shields your networked devices from intruders. Powerful WEP encryption (40/64- or 128-bit) on the wireless LAN conceals your information from eavesdroppers. MAC Address Control prevents unauthorized access to your wireless network. VPN pass-through give secure Internet access to your office or corporate network.

Parents are able to limit web access by blocking offensive content and URL addresses, and the router sends real-time email alerts and logs of all network web activity. Comprehensive anti-virus protection ensures safety for your networked computers.