How to get wireless internet in my room

[Blah DTMM]

Okay well first off, let me say that I know next to nothing about internet connections and routers and all that. Basically, my family has a computer on the main floor of our house which has a wired internet connection, and i recently bought a computer that is in my room, which is on the upper floor of our house. We have a 2 wire 2700 hg e router on our main computer, and I was wondering what I will need to buy to get internet on my computer, as well as how to do it. My computer is going to be mostly for gaming, is it a bad idea to go wireless for that? Will I not get as good of a connection as opposed to having gone wired? And is there any way for me to get wired internet in my room?

I really have no idea how any of this works, so please try to bare with me on this. Thanks.

Edit: Oh, and I was reading about wired connections on multiple computers in different rooms here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/setup/wired.mspx

And it says I can just buy a wall plugged network extender kit, plug one of the wall mounts into an outlet by my main computer and connect it to the router there, and then plug another one into the outlet in my room and connect that to another router and I'll be able to get wired internet that way. How well does this work and is it a possibility?

 

[Guest]

If your family's 2Wire router has an ethernet socket that is not being used (most routers have several) you should be able to connect that to a mains plug networking device and then add a second device in your room and wires that to your computer by ethernet.

The mains plug devices are quite expensive but probably much better for gaming than wireless which can be slow and subject to interference.

But before spending money I woud check whether the 2Wire is a wireless router (an antenna is a clue) -- if so you just have to enable wireless and set up your computer, perhaps adding a wireless adapter to the computer for as little as $25.

I would have a look at the router's manual or download it from the maker's website -- this should help you figure it all out.

 

[Blah DTMM]

Yes it is a wireless router. So just how slow of a connection for gaming are we talking? Is it going to be noticeable and hinder my games? Will my downloads be really slow too? Also, Looking at the router on our main computer, it has a CAT 5 cable going from the back of the router into the back of the computer, and then another cable into a jack on the router labled phone line, and that goes into the phone line jack in our wall. My question is, I have a phone line jack in my room, could I just buy a router and do the same configuration that my main computer has? Or would I have to pay for a second internet connection through my service provider? (Which is Telus by the way)

Sorry for all the questions, this stuff really confuses me.

 

[Guest]

Re: the phone extension in your room, you cannot attach two modem/routers to a single line. So, yes, you'd have to pay for a second line.

As far as wireless speed is concerned you can take the claimed speed and divide by two, perhaps. How that affects your gaming ? I'd have a go a and see.

If your computer is a recent laptop it probably has wireless already -- or an adapter (preferably PCMCIA if laptop and PCI card if desktop) shouldn't cost very much.

 

[Hailie]

If you have the option to upgrade and grab a wired connection, that's definitely the way to go from my experience. I have a wireless connection and although it's pretty convenient, it's anywhere near as reliable and lacks the speed of my wired connection. I suppose that's to be expected though.

As fihart says though, you're gonna have to pay for another wired connection and it's not always ideal to be tearing up the carpet to run a new wire to your computer! Assuming the original connection is fast enough, it shouldn't have too much of a downturn on your ability to run online games.