blue tooth LAN query...

Hi Guys,

My current home setup comprises of 2 win2k desktop PCs, one with a shared ADSL connection and are simply connected directly to one another (no hub, I didn't see the need with just two PCs). This is fine as the PCs are within 3ft of each other but as I have just re-thought out the layout of my house, and bought a newish laptop, this isn't going to be viable anymore.

In one room I will have one desktop PC, In another there will be the one with the ADSL router (not a combined hub). I will also be using the laptop in various locations (depends if I am relaxing and watching tv or not). I thought the least intrusive option would be to convert to Bluetooth, which would save drilling through walls and setting up connections all over the house... Only problem is I haven't really got much idea how I would go about setting it up.

All PCs (inc Laptop) have at least 1 free USB connection and All have onboard NICs... The laptop has a free type II PCMCIA slot as well. I have had a look on the net for hints but haven't really turned up much that I understand...

I gather that I won't have to change my current workgroup, other than to add the laptop to it, I'm more concerned about hardware which I don't know much about.

In the near future I may well be adding a 'nix box into the equation but I have no idea what version of OS (or even if it will be unix/linux yet) it will have as yet, but do I need to take this into consideration now ow will it be a relatively simple job to add it in later?

Any hints, tips, links about hardware or complications I might come across will be very gratefully recieved by a very much amateur networker

Many thanks in advance,

Dan

Instead of blue tooth, you could look at using a wireless router for your access. Check out the wireless products at www.linksys.com or other manufacturers.
The router has a place to plug in your ethernet, like an ordinary router, but it also acts as a wireless access point, for computers in other rooms. You'll need to buy the wireless router, and wireless network adapter cards for any computers that will not be directly connected (like the laptop, I would guess).
Be sure that the product you buy uses encryption, so people can't just wander by and snoop on your data, and check up on avoiding bandwidth theft too.
As a bonus, this type of network is cheaper than bluetooth. amazon.com is even having a sale on linksys (and maybe other brands) wireless network stuff.

HTH

From my personal experience: Stay away from bluetooth. Crappy concept, crappy hardware, crappy implementations.
...
Two or three months ago:
I got this new nokia 6310, you might know it. Bluetooth built in. I buy a bluetooth USB stick module (well-known brand, iirc Acer). After one complete day of fiddling with it:
- I finally got an internet connection. But no written or online documentation told how (at least none worked). After talking to at least 20 people from nokia and our GSM service provider, i got it. The handy does not use my connection details configured on the PC side. I have to setup the connection inside the handy and it will ignore what the PC tells it. Besides this: You need a "secret code" to connect (dial "#99www.provider.com*" - wtf, do they call that "security"?) Entering provider data with the handy keyboard is real fun... I would get bored soon if I didn´t have to switch providers then and when... And you must use the built-in drivers from XP, not those that came with the USB stick.
- The drivers on the CD-Rom actually didn´t work at all. The print on the CD-Rom says "driver V2.0", but there is only V1.1 on it. They don´t even have 2.0 on their homepage. To make sure it is not my fault, I of course tried on a fresh XP install too.
Now:
- I can not setup this "Bluetooth Brothers" thing to prevent other people from connecting to *either* of the two devices
- I can not use any encryption
- anybody near enough could now use my phone and / or notebook too
- I can´t access the phone book or anything else now. nokia: "this only works with our own bluetooth USB adapter". Dammit, what is the whole bluetooth concept good for then??? Well, IRDA was not so bad after all...
- Then I am up to spending the $30 for getting the bluetooth adapter from nokia. It´s on their homepage. iirc It´s supposed to be sold since last fall. But it´s summer now and all that nokia can say is that it is not available yet.

Ok, bluetooth trashed (returned), bought third-party nokia cable ($9.95) + a compaq USB and a PCMCIA WLAN card.
Plug and play. Really. No joke. Took me no 10 minutes to get a ping through. Honestly! ... haha (hear the laughter of madness?) haha

Now the nokia is connected via USB cable and I am using ICS. I remote-control the nokia PC suite via PCAnyWhere. Much more customizable now. Linux to come soon. I like .

...
my personal fazit:
Bluetooth is an artificially restricted WLAN. Crap. Crap. Crap.
I don´t even know how fast it is or how far away the stations can be (actually I don´t care anymore either). But with only 11Mbit(!) WLan now, I am more than happy. I can move around our whole company (about 500m**2) and I don´t feel like it was too slow.

Others?

Thanks for all the info, I think after your experiences with Bluetooth, I shall be looking into other alternatives (or finding, my favourite wire cutters)...

Just to add to the fun I have just been given an old Sun Sparc station as well which I hope to run as my local web server (though it is practically antique in computer terms, I reckon I might be able to coax it into life)... I'll post a reply when i get some reults from my setup

Thanks again,

Dan