Getting the new house (un)wired

We are now unpacking vast quantities of boxes in the new house here in Washington.

Rather than keep DSL, I decided to go for Comcast cable internet service. My motivation was based on two factors:

1. DSL requires a dedicated clean line to get good speeds and your then tethered to that dedicated line for your DSL modem
2. Microsoft had a deal with Comcast (yes, item #2 probably holds more weight)

In any event I gave them a shout and the Comcast guy was over (pretty much on time!). It took him little time to drop in the modem and activate the account, although he suggested I install the "Comcast software package" as well - no thanks. Just the IP, ma'am.

My strategy at the new gig here was to drop the modem and my Buffalo router inconspicuously behind a TV in a reasonably central location and use a cable splitter to feed the cable modem. That was easily accomplished.

I powered up the Mac G4 in the new kitchen and the built-in WiFi found the Buffalo no problem. A single cable from the Mac to the wall for power - that's it - very beneficial when you have a one year old at around that level pulling on every cord in sight.

Downstairs I powered up the Dell with my Buffalo card - again AP found no problem. The notebook roams freely as well.

I ran a bandwidth test on the Dell down here and I'm at about 1117 Mbps. Not bad - that tops my Walnut Creek DSL connection by just a bit.

I haven't tested the signal distance yet, but the Buffalo router has an input for an external antenna. I have a "barn" at the back of the property that I plan to outfit with a 200" High Def overhead projector connected into an xBox 360 - but more on that later!

Comments

[Ed Zee]

Glad that your wifi router worked well. My experience is that WiFi can be liberating but can be much slower than cat5 wire and added hassle/security-worries. And now my WiFi router (Netgear, bah!) died. Back to Cat5 for low-hassle networking and ISP sharing.