Wok-fi - anyone done it?

[Peter Korsten]

Dave S schreef:

> Has anyone done this wok-fi stuff?  Does it work well?  Should I just go for 
> the network cable?  Any other suggestions?

No experience with cooking utensils when it comes to networking, but let 
me share my experience with wireless networks.

My wife's computer started out with a wireless network card, and a 
router at the other side of the house (about 20 to 25 metres, I guess). 
There was no direct line of sight, so it didn't work until I got booster 
antennas. After that, it worked so-so.

Later, I got an extra wireless router, and put it in her office, about 
three metres from the computer. It worked a lot better then, even though 
there were some problems now and then.

This weekend, I've upgraded her computer to Windows 7 (which, by the 
way, is a particularly nice and smooth operating system), and the 
network card does not have Windows Vista/7 drivers. So that simply 
doesn't work, which is also a consideration when using wireless.

So, I've connected it via CAT5 cable and the difference is immense. You 
can't compare the speed and reliability of cable to wireless, apart from 
other issues like security.

Mind, I'll be keeping the two wireless network we have, both for our 
phones and my wife's netbook, but desktop computers will just have wired 
network from now on.

So my advice would be to go for the cable. Just see if you can find a 
cheap option.

- Peter