08-02-2007, 06:36 PM

Howdy, all.

Pretty new to Mac, just bought my first one a few weeks back and I'm just loving it.

Anyhow.

I am debating going wireless in my house - never really had a need for it previously, my home was wired for Cat5 when I moved in. I've got wireless @ work that I use a few times a week.

That being said, I'd like to go wireless - what would you recommend? Is the Airport Extreme worth the cash? Or will a linksys work? I firmly believe that you get what you pay for and I have no problem paying more for quality.

I don't know if this matters, but current network design is:

DSL -> Cisco PIX-515 -> Catalyst 3500XL (LAN)

The AP would connect into the 3500.

Thanks in advance!

- Peter

08-02-2007, 07:59 PM

Wow - that's got to be the Cadillac of home setups. Is the Cisco PIX for a VPN connection, I wonder?

I take it you're looking for a dedicated WAP and not necessarily a router.

08-02-2007, 09:01 PM

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, the PIX is a VPN endpoint for work. It's also doing PPPoE termination from SBC (PIX 7.22 supports it). It's pretty slick!

A router wouldn't be bad - I can set it up with it's own static and do it that way - and it gives me something that I can use when the PIX and Catalyst go away (company owned).

Thanks!

08-02-2007, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by petenet

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, the PIX is a VPN endpoint for work. It's also doing PPPoE termination from SBC (PIX 7.22 supports it). It's pretty slick!

A router wouldn't be bad - I can set it up with it's own static and do it that way - and it gives me something that I can use when the PIX and Catalyst go away (company owned).

Thanks!

I work in IT and we use the Cisco PIX devices in tandem with Nortel VoIP equipment for what we call "virtual associates" - call center reps that work from home. That's why I'm familiar with it.

Like you, my entire house is wired for CAT5e with RJ-45 jacks throughout the house. I have a Leviton Structured Media patch panel in my basement where everything terminates. This gives me the flexibility to change any RJ-45 jack between voice and data. The backbone is just a little Linksys gigabit switch (6 ports, I believe). On my second floor, I have my Linksys WRT54GL wireless router that is patched down to the basement to provide DHCP/NAT to the rest of the LAN.

Call me crazy, but I like Linksys products very much. I've had some limited experience with D-Link and Netgear products as well, but found Netgear to be unreliable. I didn't like the antennas on the D-Link draft-N router I had bought to replace the Linksys - I also found that they couldn't be upgraded to high-gain antennas, whereas the Linksys' can. As such, I had far better range with my older WRT54G, so decided to just stick with it.

If you're planning on streaming video or need a lot of bandwidth across your wireless LAN, I would say go with an 802.11n product. Otherwise, the 802.11g stuff is very mature at this point and can save you a few dollars. I personally don't care for the latest AirPort Extreme base station. I find it to be overpriced and underfeatured. I also prefer a web-based configuration page to a client-based software package. The lack of gigabit ports (and the small number) is also dumbfounding for a product of that price point, IMO.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but I guess all that was leading up to my recommendation of the latest generation of Linksys WRT54G, if your bandwidth needs are miniscule (or fall within the 20-or-so Mb of real world bandwidth you'll achieve with 802.11g). If you're thinking of going with an 'n' based product, I'd still recommend Linksys, based on my admittedly limited experience with the different brands out there. I've also heard good things (particularly on this forum) about the Belkin products.

One other thing to note, some vendors don't support Macs at all, Linksys being one of them. I believe the only companies that advertise Mac support are D-Link and Belkin (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

08-02-2007, 11:21 PM

Cool.

Makes sense. I don't need anything more than 6MB, as that's my max download from DSL. hahahaha

When you say "don't support Linksys", I'm assuming that you mean support as in 'tech support', right? They still meet the specs of the standard, correct?

I was thinking of something like a base station on the first floor, then a repeater on the second.

Completely off topic, but have you played around with Pix 8 yet? I downloaded it and have been debating dropping into the 515.. What's life without any excitement.

08-03-2007, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by petenet

Cool.

Makes sense. I don't need anything more than 6MB, as that's my max download from DSL. hahahaha

When you say "don't support Linksys", I'm assuming that you mean support as in 'tech support', right? They still meet the specs of the standard, correct?

That's right. They work just fine, it's just if you call Linksys, they won't provide any kind of support once you say you're using it with a Mac. I don't imagine, you'll need any tech support based on your knowledge of networking, which seems substantial.

I was thinking of something like a base station on the first floor, then a repeater on the second.

You might be surprised. I have a 2400 sq. ft home and my single WRT54G, albeit with high gain antennas, stretches out and covers the entire property (including outside). A well placed wi-fi router's signal should spread out like an umbrella (imagine the handle of the umbrella being the point at which the AP is stationed). If you have it in a central location and at the second story, it should cover the entire house. Where you run into problems is when it's in a basement or near an outside wall, extending the signal out, away from the house.

Completely off topic, but have you played around with Pix 8 yet? I downloaded it and have been debating dropping into the 515.. What's life without any excitement.

I haven't - ours are pretty much "set it and forget it" type of installs. Frankly, I haven't had much in depth play time with any one of them, aside from initial config.

08-03-2007, 04:11 PM

Thanks!

Picked up the WRT54G and will install it tonight.

Any recommendations on the high gain antennas?

08-03-2007, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by petenet

Thanks!

Picked up the WRT54G and will install it tonight.

Any recommendations on the high gain antennas?

I use the Linksys brand, but be aware that they are standard and there are plenty of knock-offs out there (particularly on eBay). I don't know if they actually work as well, but for $10, you can't beat the price.