wireless control

  • Thread starter Thread starter Scott
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Scott

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I am sure you guys get tired of hearing this question, but I hope you can explain the information in layman's terms. When it comes to computer jargon and networking I am very green.

I would like to be able to monitor and control my stoker from my laptop inside of our home.
We have a desktop computer connected to high-speed internet by an ethernet cable. We have conected to that a Belkin N router to allow internet access to my Dell laptop computer.
My 1st question is "what additional equipment will I need"?
Thank you.
 
I'm assuming since the topic of your thread is "wireless control" that you want to do this wirelessly. I'm also making an assumption that because your laptop is currently connected by a cable that your router is not wireless. If that is the case you will need:

- a wireless router like a Linksys WRT54G OR a wireless access point that turns your wired network into a wireless one. The access point is probably the same cost as a new router so I'd just replace your old one so you don't have 3 point of failures instead of 2. Also saves on electricity.

- a wireless game adapter like Linksys WGA54G

You might also want to get a wireless card for your laptop if it doesn't have it already built in. That way it's not tethered to a cable and you can monitor it from anywhere in the house.

-rob
 
Rob,

Thanks for the response. From your comments I'm not sure you understood my set up unless I am so out of the loop that you have already lost me.
My desktop is wired to the internet by ethernet cable. I also have a Belkin N router connected to the desktop by ethernet cable. My laptop is able to connect to the internet throught the Belkin N Router. My goal is to be able to monitor and control my stoker with my laptop.
Does that change your response to the first post?

Thanks.
 
Not really. All of your devices are connected to your router with a cable and not one of them is wireless. This leads me to the assumption that you do not have a wireless router. Look at your router - does it have an antenna on it or not? If so you have a wireless network and you only need the wireless game adapter.

-rob
 
Rob,

The laptop is not connected to anything by wire. The only thing connected to the laptop is the power cord. The laptop connects to the internet via the Belkin Router, so wouldn't that mean it is wireless enabled and already has a wireless card?
Please forgive my ignorance.
 
Yes, it appears you have a wireless network. What you'll need to do is get a wireless game adapter like a Linksys WGA54G and set it up to work with your network.

Your router is a "N" router which uses 802.11N technology. There are basically 3 specs (that I know of) 802.11B, 802.11G and 802.11N which is B,G,N on most routers. Most of routers I've seen are backwards compatible so a "N" router should work with a "G" access point as long as you put it in mixed mode. In fact, I just looked it up and your router does support it:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCa...ss?Product_Id=372043

You should be able to pick up a wireless game adapter for $40 shipped:

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R4...t=See-All-Categories

That's all you need other then a small ethernet cable to connect the game adapter to the Stoker.

-rob
 
Rob,

Thanks for the information.
How difficult is it to configure or get the router to pick up or read the gaming adaptor signal?
 
The router doesn't need to know about the adapter.

It is the adapter you need to configure to set up its wireless password and such. It should come with the software to let you do that.
 
Amir is right. The Linksys game adapter comes with a CD with the software. All you do is hook it up to a computer using a USB port and run the setup program. As long as you know the type of security you are running, the password (encryption key), and your network ID you should be fine. If you have problems just let us know and we should be able to figure it out.

-rob
 
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