Thanks for the reply. You did answer some of my questions.

Some more specific questions are how do you deal with the multiple DHCP
servers? I played around with a couple of wireless routers that I had
and I could use one as a switch and the second as a wireless
router/access point hanging off the first. When I did this, I ran into
problems with machines from each of the two networks being able to see
the machines on the other. This impacted file and print sharing. I
thought this was related to the firewall configurations, but I was not
able to figure it out. I feel sure this was user error or lack of
knowledge, but it made me think that the problem was that first router
was assigning IP addresses from a different segment than the second
and, due to the hardware configuration, there was a firewall between
the two. The second router in essence thinks the first router is in
the wild; so to speak, so it is restricting access.

What I think I want is for the wireless router to employ a pass through
DHCP call to the first router so that it is in effect, one network.
Again, I am not well versed in this so it is a trial and error.

Am I making this too complicated in my mind?

The question on hardware really was more about what someone might
suggest given the goal of reliability. Just looking through the online
descriptions of routers, I have seen some of the routers described as
having QoS functionality... should I be looking for things like this?
Most of the advanced functionality seems to be targeted one step above
home office but the prices didn't seem to be too high (looking at wired
routers). In my job, I work at many companies and connect either
through their wired network or their wireless networks... they never
have the problems that I experience with my home network.

As I mentioned before, I am not as concerned about the wireless
connections. If that connection fails on occasion, that is not a big
concern (annoying, yes), but with this configuration, I am trying to
isolate the wireless so that when it flakes out, it doesn't impact the
primary, wired connections (like when I had a wireless router as the
center of the network).

I guess I am really asking how companies solve this. All my efforts to
date with home/office equipment has been less than encouraging... is
this a training effort on my part or a matter of spending a little more
money and getting better results.

Thanks for any input.

Bill

bill wrote:
> I think you're asking rour questions:
>
> 1. Wired and wireless together/cabling. Yes, I recommend what you
> suggest, I'm doing it the same way right now; 4 computers connected
> with ethernet cabling and routers, plus two computers with wireless,
> one is my laptop I bring from home. You plug a wireless router
> somewhere into your network, it will have one ethernet cable going to
> it. I use a LinkSys WRT45G
>
> 2. File Sharing: I think you need to set up a server (if you don't
> already) and set up a folder for cross platform access (Mac) Windows
> servers have options for that. The cableing/wireless is invisible to
> that process. One way to do it, is to set up your file sharing on a
> server, and test it with a Mac connected thru ethernet cable. Once it
> works with ethernet, then try it on the same Mac with wireless. Should
> work the same/be the same. The ethernet cables are invisible, The
> wireless "cables" should be too.
>
> 3. Printer sharing-How would you set up printer sharing if you're on a
> wired network? You should do the same thing when using wireless.
>
> 4. Which wireless router? You can visit
> http://www.consumersearch.com/www/co...s/reviews.html
> for a review from PC Magazine, PC World and CNet.
>
> Or do you have more specific questions?
>
> Bill (2)
>
> BCage wrote:
> > First, the disclaimers. Although I am relatively computer savvy, I am
> > not a networking expert (that will be obvious if you read the rest of
> > this post). Also, I have read several postings that appear to be
> > trying to get a similar setup working to what I am describing... those
> > posts are enlightening, but I am going at this more from a greenfield
> > approach rather than trying to fix something that I already have.
> >
> > Quickly, what I want is a wired network for my desktop machines with a
> > wireless access point hanging off of that. I have had way too many
> > problems with wireless routers as the center of the network in the
> > past: some were stable, but would not pass my work VPN; some were
> > unstable and required constant recycling; some worked ok, but only
> > within a short radius. Because of this, I have decided that the center
> > of my network will be wired.
> >
> > That said, I still need occasional wireless access. My thoughts were
> > to have a wireless access point hang off the wired router. The AP
> > needs to be placed well away from the router to have it placed
> > appropriately to provide reasonable coverage.
> >
> > I would like all machines that connect via the wireless AP to have
> > access to the machines that are connected via the wired network (appear
> > as one single network) and vice versa to facilitate file and printer
> > sharing etc.
> >
> > Once the network is reliable, I plan to introduce a NAS and start
> > trying out video streaming, VOIP and other network heavy applications
> > that demand reliable connections.
> >
> > Some particulars if they are needed:
> > - I have a mix of different OSs on my network currently: WinXP, Mac
> > OSX, Linux and Win Mobile 5.0. Plan to introduce XBox 360 to the mix
> > soon.
> > - My budget is not huge, but if something would bring about a
> > corresponding increase in reliability (capacity, speed, etc) to the
> > price increase, I would tend to lean that way.
> > - I use DSL (BellSouth) to connect the network to the internet.
> >
> > I have several questions that I hope someone can help me with:
> > - First, does this setup makes sense or should I be trying to handle
> > this in another way (just don't suggest using a wireless router as the
> > center of the network... I want the reliability that wired ethernet
> > brings)
> > - Does anyone have an example of a working setup like this that I can
> > emulate? I have no problem being told what to do if it removes
> > headaches ;-)
> > - Does anyone have opinions on hardware selection?
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.
> >
> > Bill