Can someone offer me some advice on which way to go with my grand plan please.
I want to add a network storage device (Something like
this or
this What's the difference betwen the two? ) to store all my media, mainly music and photos, for all PC's to access plus media players by Hi-fi's (like
this) and the TV (like
this).
Small problem - I currently have ntl broadband distributed by a Linksys 4 port 802.11b wireless router. All 4 ports are taken by my CAT5 cabling (3 PC's and a PS2). The Linksys device is prone to locking up on a regular basis, say monthly, and requires a quick reset. Unfortuantely this normally loses the local network I have set up.
Questions as follows:
1. Do I need to upgrade my wireless to 802.11g for quality music streaming? If so should I go the whole hog and go for 108 MBps straight away?
2. a) If I don't need to upgrade to 802.11g can I just piggyback a Linksys 8 port hub/switch and connect everything to this?
b) Would this overcome the router reset problem and retain my network on all PC's?
c) Would the network storage device still be visible via the wireless router?
3. Option 2 - As I work from home, should I get a 'grown up' firewall type router to connect ntl broadband? Can I then attach an 8 port wireless broadcast device (if there is such a thing) to it?
4. Option 3 - How easy is it to set up a server using one of my old PIII PC's?
Blimey, that got a bit technical
I relaise there is almost an infinite ways of achieving this but I'm looking for the most cost effective and future proof method as I don't want to do it all again next year. Any advice greatfully recived.
Cheers
Adam
