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Since you don't have equipment yet I can tell you that the Linksys (Cisco Systems) WRT54G and WRT54GS routers are extremely stable and a very good choice. You should be able to get into one of these for anywhere from 45 -75 bucks depending on the G or the GS model, and rebate/where you shop. The GS has twice the internal memory and a proprietary speed accelerator that can, in theory, double your connect speed because the router doesn't double check the connection all the time if the router is talking to a matching "Speed Boost" device. The GS model still works just fine when not in the proprietary mode though with any vendors 802.11b/g adapter.
The WRT54G is perhaps the first router that really broke the market open and paved the way for many other companies to follow in the limelight that Lynksys enjoyed with this product line because they produced this router using a linux kernel. Since they used a linux kernel as part of the GNU agreement Lynksys was required to make public the firmware code. As some may have guessed there are a host of alternate builds of firmware for this and now many other routers that followed in Lynksys' footsteps.
For instance I own a WRT54GS and instead of running the Lynksys firmware I am currently running Satori build 4 stable with some serious enhancements to firwall strength. Likely this will make little difference to you initially since it doesn't sound like you desire to understand the world of the TCP/IP stack intimately, but if you ever wanted to tinker with this it's like having a 1973 Super Charger with 440 hemi under the hood :) Some serious MUSCLE!
NOTE: if you don't have any intention of playing with the routers firmare, and since the Dell Axim is an 802.11b device I would shoot for a WRT54G (not GS) and save a few bucks.
I have played with a few different wireless cards too. I think if I were to do it all over again I'd still purchase the WRT54GS (because of the larger RAM size - since I play) but I'd lean toward a Hawking USB 802.11G adapter. Very good range, built-in 6dB gain antenna and portable from one computer to another, easily. If a friend comes over with a laptop and you want to give him/her acess to some files just pull the USB adapter out and hand it to them (they may still need to install a driver though).
The reason for this is because you have the option in the router to set the network up, handing out IP addresses via DHCP, but for some measure of security on your network you should trap the MAC addresses that you allow to attach to your network. If the USB adapter is one of the MAC addresses you allow to attach to the network, then voila, when you give the USB adapter to your friend they will be able to attach without having to re-program the routers MAC access list.
Hope this helps, and if it's confusing to anyone let me know and I'll see how I may be able to explain it more effectively.
Last edited by MetalHead; 03-06-05 at 11:35 PM.
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