Wi-Fi usb adapter

**c21** · 06-12-2006, 01:32 PM

Hello!

I've recently got my carPc working and i'm interested in the wifi transfer of music from my homepc to the car pc... So i was thinking of buying two usb wifi adapters from Netgear... Would this thing work? Would the computers connect to each other...from my parking place to my computer is about 25 meters and there are about 3 or 4 walls between them. The home computer is in 1st floor.
And i'm interested in this war driving to...for this usb adapters the Netgear says they have a range of 100 meters...Is it true and would it work? Or are there any better usb wifi adapters?

**midiwall** · 06-12-2006, 02:02 PM

Are you talking about the WG111? If so, I just bought two and they're pretty dern nice.

What you're asking about is what's known as "AdHoc mode" which is where you setup what's called a "point to point" network between two machines.

Yes, you can do it, yes, it will work. _BUT_ there are a couple of things to make it complex:

If your home computer is on the 'Net, then things will get interesting to setup for the carPC.
- Don't expect the carPC to be able to get onto the 'Net just 'cause your home machine is. That can be worked out, but it'll take some networking knowledge. The home machine will need to be setup as a "gateway".
- Also, the network configuration on the home machine will be "interesting". That machine will need to become the center point of two subnets. XP _PRO_ will let you configure this, I don't know if XP Home will.
- Running two network paths on a single machine isn't the best thing in terms of speed. Depending on the CPU & RAM in the home PC, it could get bogged down.
I figure that you're talking about Windows XP on both sides, right? XP, like all other Windows OSs has a real issue with USB network interfaces. They work right up until the point that you bring the machine out of Sleep or Hibernate. 8/10 times you'll have to unplug and replug the interface (or warm start the machine) to get it to work again.
An AdHoc network is pretty open... you can secure it in the normal ways, but be careful with leaving the thumb installed on the home PC.
In the end, you may be better off getting one USB thumb and a nice wireless router. It'll secure your home PC and let you _truely_ network the carPC which means it can have Internet access while it's in the driveway.

WarDriving wise... I dunno if that's okay to talk about here.

**v8 scimitar** · 06-12-2006, 03:52 PM

I dont see why you would need 2 subnets as 1 subnet will work unless you want to use both the network interfaces on the home PC at the same time even then they could both be on the same sub. You will have to set the IP addresses manually as your car pc has no access to a dhcp server. If you want to do this regularly then I would get a wirless access point. Its much cleaner way to do it and is much more secure as adhoc cant be secured as well plus your car PC will be able to access the net for updates and stuff.

edit***

Actually thinking about it you will need 2 subs if the address on your normal network interface is public as in your ISP has given it to you.
If you do go for an adhoc conection make sure you can only connect between the PC's and dont leave the connection open to anyone joining as you will probably get hacked to death.

**midiwall** · 06-12-2006, 03:58 PM

Originally Posted by v8 scimitar

I dont see why you would need 2 subnets as 1 subnet will work unless you want to use both the network interfaces on the home PC at the same time even then they could both be on the same sub.

I don't know that XP Pro will act as a bridge (I know Server will, and I'm betting Home won't). It may, and if so, then yeah, he can set everything up on the same subnet.

My comment about setting things up as a gateway was based on my guessing that he's driect-connected now, no router or firewall, just PC->modem. So, if he wanted the carPC to be able to hit the 'Net, then the Home PC would have to serve as the gateway, which of course would require him to run two subnets.

**c21** · 06-12-2006, 04:07 PM

I already have a network of 4 PC in my house and i recently bought a nev NETGEAR RP614v3 router so i'm not very inclined to the whole new access point buying idea. And i don't really need to update those Xps on the carPc, what is the point of it...The connection would be used just for copying my mp3s to the carPC. Anyhow...i now enough about windows type of networking, i was more concerned about the distance and the objects between the two computers...I'm not familiar with wirelless ranges and so...Thanks for the replies...i am now convinced that i'm gonna buy the WG111. Btw, what is the price?

**evandude** · 06-12-2006, 04:12 PM

I'd go with the wireless router idea, especially since you already have a wired network; you can simply connect the wireless router to one of the ports of your regular router, then you could run a network cable and mount the wireless router somewhere closer to your driveway for better signal, if it didn't work well from where your current home PC is. Wireless routers aren't that expensive (you can get a linksys wireless G router for like $50), and it makes life easier in a lot of ways; built-in firewall/etc, really easy to set up - no need for special configuration of either computer's network settings, gives you general wireless internet access in your house (useful if you or a friend have a laptop), and also makes it so you don't have to have your home PC running to get online with your carPC, which seems like a big advantage to me...

not to mention, I would expect you to get better range from a router to a usb wifi adapter, than ad-hoc between two usb adapters. I don't know a ton about the power specifications of 802.11G, but even one of the two antennas on a linksys router is almost as big as the entire WG111 usb adapter.

**midiwall** · 06-12-2006, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by c21

i am now convinced that i'm gonna buy the WG111. Btw, what is the price?

I bought two off of eBay for $14 each:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=9732455080

Range wise... yes, you'll be fine. You'll want to mount the WG111 in the car as high as possible though. You can use a standard USB extender to make it happen (but make sure it supports USB 2.0). The WG111 comes with a slick little holder and a 1' extension cable, but you'll want to go higher than that.

**v8 scimitar** · 06-12-2006, 04:57 PM

yes pro will act as a bridge no problem no idea about home but probably not like you say.
Do it the easy way get a chunk of cat 5 cable for a few $ and wire it into your existing hub if you already have a network in the house. Cheap simple and cant be hacked

. Still say access point is the way to go tho for loads of reasons.

**midiwall** · 06-12-2006, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by v8 scimitar

Still say access point is the way to go tho for loads of reasons.

Yeup... The cost of something like a Linksys WRT54GL makes it WELL worthwhile to just do it right the second time.

btw... If you do end up going this route, BE SURE to get the WRT54GL (_L_!!) this is the "old" rev 4 box that's running Linux. The source is GPL, and there are a good number of replacement OS's available for the router. There's some EXCELLENT stuff out there for it. And all of them will let you CRANK the antenna power.

**midiwall** · 06-13-2006, 09:46 AM

Here's a chance to get a WRT54GL for $25:

http://en.fon.com/shop-us/product_in...products_id=28

I wouldn't suggest going against the agreement you make with them, but if you didn't want to share your bandwidth with the world, then there wouldn't be anything stopping you from reflashing the box with the stock LinkSys firmware or one of the other OS's available.