802.11b/g ? bluetooth?

About the selections below, which is better and I thought they were both bluetooth?

54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)

54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth
Get Bluetooth to connect wirelessly to other Bluetooth-enabled devices such as PDAs, cell phones, printers, etc.

I currently have the Built in 56K Modem+10/100 LAN selected, but want to know if I'll still be able to use phone line (internet connection) with the 802.11 b/g selection?

I don't know much at all about going wireless. Our desktop is not wireless at all (6 years old). I do have a UX50 Palm that has bluetooth/WiFi, but I havn't used that feature as of yet.

SK

 

The Ethernet and modem jacks are integrated into the motherboard, you always get those. There's only one 802.11b/g card, Bluetooth is a separate card. HP should have a separate checkbox for Bluetooth rather than confusing people by lumping it in with the various WiFi selections. I recommend getting 802.11b/g and Bluetooth. I've found using a Bluetooth wireless mouse to be very nice, and your Palm can make use of it, so... it's worth getting.

 

So, the option:

802.11b Wireless LAN would work with my UX50, since it has WiFi.

I don't think I'll use bluetooth much. Trying to keep costs down as much as possible.

SK

 

I'll say it's depend on what you are going to do with the connection between the two system. Bluetooth are made for small data transfer. it would be very slow to do websurfing or transfer file. checking e-mail(w/o attachment, or non-webbased) and IM would be ok. but generally just use for synchronization for phone/pda and computer.
and yes 802.11b should well in your case, unless you need to transfer bunch of movie/music files, something large, then go for 802.11g. while all the new bell and whistle like speedbooster, anything advertise above 54mbps is prettymuch a gimmick, it doesn't work well, works w/ certain restriction, and never works as advertise. so ignore those.
<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by fishcube

 

Hey Fishcube,

1. SpeedBooster is something companies are doing to try to increase wireless data transfers. They use compression and also try to increase the signal strength. They usually may increase overall transfer speed a bit, but nothing to the 108 or 125 speeds they advertise.

2. BlueTooth option is used only for peripheral connections at the moment (PDA, Cellphone, printers, etc...). Max speed for BlueTooth is 1Mbits/sec. These devices don't transfer a lot of data or require to send highspeed data.

3. The selections are, modem+LAN, modem+LAN+54g w/SpeedBooster or modem+LAN+54g+BlueTooth. So any selection you make, you will have modem & LAN as Freeman mentioned. All you have to do is decide if you want Bluetooth or not. So you will still be able to connect to the internet using the phone line of you select the option that doesn't list a modem.

4. At this point, since you don't have highspeed internet, the only use for going wireless, would be to transfer data from system to system. So you may be able to connect your PDA to your notebook and send data, but I think that'll be useless since the PDA has a cradle. Once you get highspeed internet, you can get a wireless router so that your PDA & your notebook can connect to the internet wirelessly.

So, if you're trying to save money, go for option 1. This will give you modem+LAN+wireless.

-Vb-

 

Just have two notes on these two. Originally when those companies tried the same gimmick on the 802.11b and bump the speed advertised as 22mbps, yes they were using compression, only come to realize that most of the data on the internet are already compressed and such technique are pretty much useless. So they decide to go the other route, using two wifi channel instead of one. the problem is some of the channel overlap eachother, and as a result, nothing close to speed advertised. nice try, but should have been working as advertise.

some older PDA/phone use IrDA for connectivity, and because IrDA is seen as a serial port, therefore it's pretty much support right w/in windows, and no special software neccessary. It may be an older technology, but it's a proven technology. I have used IrDA connect my lappie w/ my phone and dial out as a modem. problem is that dialing out on cellphone cost you per minute, and got a very slow speed of 14.4k. good news was I was able to do IRC and IM all day wirelessly on weekend prettymuch anywhere I can get a reception, and didn't cost me anything extra.

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Venombite

 

Actually the second choice is: 802.11b Wireless LAN, without the speedbooster. What do you mean by option 1? since the first choice at HP says Built in 56K Modem+10/100 LAN ...I thought this option wasn't wireless.

by the way, thx for the explanation.

So, going wireless with just 56K, isn't going to work? even for just e-mail/internet? It would be nice to not have a phone cord when we move from room to room etc.

 

What you are trying to do is just very unusual. It is possible, but unusual.

In order to check your email wirelessly, you need to have a dial-up connection of some type, an access point to broadcast the signal and a client to receive it.

So, first you need a PC that has dial-up access. You then need to configure it for connection sharing. That isn't a simple configuration, but it can be done. Windows Connection sharing first appeared in Windows 98 Second Edition. It was pretty rudimentary in 98SE and ME and then became more stable and friendly in Win 2000 and XP.

Then you'll need to connect that PC to an access point. So, the PC will need to have an ethernet adapter. You will also need an access point and either you need a switch/hub to connect them or you'll need a crossover cable.

All in all, you will spend at least $100 on the equipment and all it really accomplished is you will have very slow wireless service. You will still need to plug your laptop into a power source (or just use it in short bursts on the battery). You will need to leave your PC on all the time (or atleast anytime you want to use the wireless conection) and when the connection doesn't work, you'll need to troubleshoot several different components to find out what is wrong. And the PC (not the laptop) will decide when to dial-up and hang-up so you'll have to accept that you lose control of that and will have to wait more often for it to redial and you'll occasionally pick up the phone to find it hasn't hung up yet.

All-in-all, most people would find the solution to be more complex that it is worth. I suspect most people would find it far easier to just plug the phone line in since they have to plug the power in anyway. And those who typically demand the added convenience of wireless would also demand an always-on broadband connection. There is a reason why the dial-up routers were discontinued. No one bought them. So as we said, it can be done but I'm not sure anyone here would actually advise doing it.

If you are trying to save money, I'd dump wireless entirely and just get the standard modem and ethernet ports. You can always add a PCMCIA wireless card later if you change your mind.

 

I didn't know that's what you want to do. it's a lot more simple than that. get a wireless router, probably cost your around $100+. this will not a normal cheap $20 router, that won't do it. this will be business class router that have a console port on the back and support dialup as a backup. generally in the past, these business class router have a console port for maintenance purpose, but later firmware also allow them to connect an external modem to do dialup when the broadband connection are down. So, in your case. this would be a best fit w/o the need of laptop to be on all the time.

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by fishcube

 

Thanks for all the info. Would you suggest getting the 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth together?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by fishcube