The wireless escapades: the inevitable journey into frustration
Sure, I can understand wireless technology has been experimental at first, slowly developing into a technology which is ever increasing in speeds, reliability and connectivity; just look at 802.11a through to 802.11b.
From experience, British and European homes are very stone and brick oriented, whereas according to my colleagues over the pond, American homes are very "lightweight"; one of the reasons why when hurricanes hit, they hit hard. Brick and wireless signals do not work very well, which I believe to be the problem here.
The problem I face is a relatively simple one. The closer to the telephone exchange you are, due to the copper wires which the Internet travels around in, the faster your broadband speeds are. It's simple as that. Also, depending on how far away your computer is from the router, including whether you are wirelessly connected or plugged in through an Ethernet cable, your speeds will also decrease.
This is the fastest broadband I have ever have, and I do not intend on losing a single kilobyte of speed as a result of defunct technology. I will not be beaten by hardened clay matter; wireless shall prevail, I am sure.
With most of my Sunday afternoon being taken up by this wondrous technology and the multitude of combinations possible, here are my short list of possibilities available to me.
Router -> Ethernet -> PC
As most enterprise environments will have, the Internet will chunnel through the router, and down a whopping great big Ethernet cable to the computer. Regardless of the length of the cable, the speed will be almost unaffected and whatever speed the router provides you (if you are the only person on the network) will be the speed you get.
Router -> wireless -> PC
Ultimately, if I was to choose a solution which the configuration was made up of an 802.11n USB adapter, depending on the bus speed of the USB port, I could well be getting super-fast Internet flowing along the airwaves, but be cut short at the slow bus speed.
Router -> wireless -> Ethernet bridge -> PC
Something which I am currently exploring is using 802.11n technology to blast out a more powerful set of airwaves from downstairs, being picked up by an Ethernet bridge upstairs to then being converted into an Ethernet signal. Yes, it sounds confusing, but somehow in this messed up mind of mine, it seems the simpler solution.
With many gaming devices such as the Xbox and the PS3 having Ethernet ports in the back, and predominantly wireless configurations, one of the clear options is having an Ethernet bridge which converts wireless waves into Ethernet signals. My brother has one, and from seeing it work pretty effectively, this is something I'll hopefully be looking into for my house.
Router -> plug -> electrical wiring -> Ethernet -> PC
Finally, a new technology which uses the infrastructure of the internal wiring's of your electrical system within the walls of your house. Don't get me started on how it works because I couldn't explain it even if I wanted to; suffice to say it's not always as fast as some of the wired Ethernet solutions, but works for people who are on a budget and are new to the technology scene.
From what I've learned over the years, keeping devices communicated isn't as simple as it may seem, and because of the transferable speeds between technologies (802.11n to USB, for example) may not always guarantee the speed you get through your broadband router. There indeed is an awful lot to think about, than just plugging things in and hoping for the best.
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