Super Newbie question..

A

Acydebyte

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Hi guys,

I just want to link my PS3, imac, laptop, iphone and wii to a single internet acess point, i have 2 3G modems each with a 500MB allowance.

Do i just need a normal Wifi router and what would a 30min session of usage for playing something like Fifa10 online would i be looking at ?

This is Grade R level for most of you out there but this is all super new for me.

I am running windows XP on the laptop, on the iMac i am running W7 and OS Leopard via 2 partitions using boot camp.

Thanks

PS i mainly use the internet to surf a little, social networking and small application downloads.
 
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any "normal" (Retail/Consumer) WiFi access point will work, BUT, it's important that we know what modems you have, are they the router-type (A box with several flashing lights) or is it something you "plug-into" your laptop/computer. If it's the type that has to be plugged into your computer, such as USB or PCMCIA (broad, flat card-like device) then you will need to get a "3G router" and beware, they are very expensive, however, all is not lost, depending on your answer, you could do what is known as "Internet Connection Sharing" or ICS, this is a feature of Windows, that will allow you to 'share' it's internet connection with other devices - this however is tricky, and not recommended for "super newbies".

With regards to bandwidth usage, I'm not too sure what kind of usage console devices (Playstations, Wii, etc) have. Also, those "30 minute sessions", we will need to know, is that a once-off thing, or will it be 30 minutes every hour,etc? - It's better to ask how hungry certain games are...

For General Internet surfing, 1 GB will suffice, but as soon as you start watching video clips, such as youtube, or download music, 1GB will fly out the virtual window very quickly. Some company policies, also ban Facebook - which some of my colleagues say, is also bandwidth hungry, but I tend to disagree.
 
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kwaggawerner said:
a "normal" WiFi access point will work, BUT, you it's important that we know what modems you have, are they the router-type (A box with several flashing lights) or is it something you "plug-into" your laptop/computer.

With regards to bandwidth usage, I'm not too sure what kind of usage console devices (Playstations, Wii, etc) have. Also, those "30 minute sessions", we will need to know, is that a once-off thing, or will it be 30 minutes every hour,etc? - It's better to ask how hungry certain games are...
Click to expand...

Thanks, its the USB stick 3G vodacom modems....

Also gaming will be about once a week or so... Will be looking mostly at sports games on the PS3 like Fifa 10 and then on the Wii it woulb be Mario Kart, for maybe like an hour a week...
 
I think you may need to invest in a cheap switch/hub and then set up the machine with the 3g modem as your gateway and allow internet sharing on that so your other devices can connect via it. Not sure what fifa and the playstation games use bandwidth wise but you should be good for say 50MB/hr as a thumb suck. Best try something for 1hr then check your usage stats.
 
I have a DIR451 DLink router. You can plug your 3G stick or card modem into it and then it connects to the internet for you instead of your desktop software. The router has 4x 100mb network points for cable connections and it is a wireless router at the same time. I still use it even though I no longer use 3G. The other problem with 3G is that the latencies are not so great for gaming. So... you will have to prolly look for a better router and considering that + your cap for the month for gaming (mine is around 6GB for MW2 and GW around 4 hours a day) it might be better to go with a wireless package like with Amobia that gives you great latency, 2GB cap and a 2mb line for R299 per month and a topup only costs R69 per GB (which is high vs adsl but lower than 3g) and then again you still need to purchase CPE which is gonna cost you between R1000 and R2000 (inc installation)

Bottom line, don't waste money on trying to get your 3G set up for gaming IMHO.

Edit: soz, saw you only want to play an hour... but still - once you start playing your will probably play longer hours. But still use the info I gave above ;)
 
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Chris_H said:
I have a DIR451 DLink router. You can plug your 3G stick or card modem into it and then it connects to the internet for you instead of your desktop software. The router has 4x 100mb network points for cable connections and it is a wireless router at the same time. I still use it even though I no longer use 3G. The other problem with 3G is that the latencies are not so great for gaming. So... you will have to prolly look for a better router and considering that + your cap for the month for gaming (mine is around 6GB for MW2 and GW around 4 hours a day) it might be better to go with a wireless package like with Amobia that gives you great latency, 2GB cap and a 2mb line for R299 per month and a topup only costs R69 per GB (which is high vs adsl but lower than 3g) and then again you still need to purchase CPE which is gonna cost you between R1000 and R2000 (inc installation)

Bottom line, don't waste money on trying to get your 3G set up for gaming IMHO.

Edit: soz, saw you only want to play an hour... but still - once you start playing your will probably play longer hours. But still use the info I gave above ;)
Click to expand...

Man, I wish I had 4 Hours a day to spend on MW2!

I would assume that any sporting / racing game is not necessarily affected by bad latency, so you should be ok with gaming over 3G. But Like Chris_H says - the DIR451 should be good, the other option is the Linksys WRT54G3GV2-VF - http://www.linksysbycisco.com/ANZ/en/support/WRT54G3GV2-VF
 
Savage152 said:
Man, I wish I had 4 Hours a day to spend on MW2!

I would assume that any sporting / racing game is not necessarily affected by bad latency, so you should be ok with gaming over 3G. But Like Chris_H says - the DIR451 should be good, the other option is the Linksys WRT54G3GV2-VF - http://www.linksysbycisco.com/ANZ/en/support/WRT54G3GV2-VF
Click to expand...

:) That's what happens if you and your wife work from home and she only finishes around 21:00 at night >.<
 
:) its not all sunshine and roses though... but I still prefer the stress from having to source your own income to the stress of working for someone else any day!
 
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