[Sheflug] Wireless Networking Information

[Darrell Blake <darrell [at] xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm thinking of switching my home network to wireless but am totally 
confused so I'm hoping someone can shed some light on it. At the moment 
I have a cable modem which, via a router, is shared between two 
desktops, a laptop and an xbox.

I'm aware that I need wireless PCI LAN cards for the computers and a 
wireless PCMCIA LAN card for the laptop. I'm confused as to how I can 
share the connection between the machines. I'm assuming I'll need a 
wireless router but I've also seen wireless access points. What is the 
difference? They seem to do the same thing.

Also, is it possible to get a wireless router/access point with one 
ethernet point because I'll still need to plug in my xbox via a wired 
connection.

One of the machines is upstairs which, by a wired connection, is about 
20 meters away but through the floor is straight up so about 5 to 7 
meters away from where the wireless router/access point will be. Is this 
possible? i.e. If in a router's specs it says "1500 feet" is it true?

Finally, what kind of wireless support has the kernel got at the moment 
because there's no point in me switching if there's no support for it.

Cheers,

Darrell

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