Connecting 2 locations; need much help!

Just a few ideas to throw your way..

Since your network is very small, since you have DSL already at the one location and a T1 at the other - why not go with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) solution to connect both sites? I'll admit I'm no expertin VPN networks, but I do know a bit and I know there is a huge volume of informaton about VPNs on the 'net and in bookstores alike.

A big thing to consider is obviously the amount of data that to locations will be sending back and forth to one another. Before you can even guess what solution to go with to connect both sites, its a good idea to determine your bandwidth needs first. (btw, what speed is your DSL - because DSL comes in many flavors and depending on your service provider it canvary greatly in the actual bandwidth you have. ;) )

As for the wireless, from a sheer equipment standpoint wireless solutions are actually more expensive than a cabled network solutions (the cost of wireless hubs, pc cards, etc. are higher than their traditional wired counterparts).

Usually the only time wireless is done as a cost savings alternative is because of unusual layouts or physical conditions of the building's construction itself. For instance if a cabling contractor would have to do considerable work to lay a cable through a wall due to its thickness or perhaps an area is just too tight to make it very difficult to lay cable in.

Keep in mind that wireless technology (the 802.11b spec) is spec'd only to 11mbps, where as with cable you could run a 100 or even 1000 mbps network. Also with wireless signal strength is very important. The max distance, the max speed and even the amount of errors in the transmission is EXTREMELY influenced by the distances between the wireless access points and the pc cards.

Just a few ideas to throw your way..

Since your network is very small, since you have DSL already at the one location and a T1 at the other - why not go with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) solution to connect both sites? I'll admit I'm no expertin VPN networks, but I do know a bit and I know there is a huge volume of informaton about VPNs on the 'net and in bookstores alike.

A big thing to consider is obviously the amount of data that to locations will be sending back and forth to one another. Before you can even guess what solution to go with to connect both sites, its a good idea to determine your bandwidth needs first. (btw, what speed is your DSL - because DSL comes in many flavors and depending on your service provider it canvary greatly in the actual bandwidth you have. ;) )

As for the wireless, from a sheer equipment standpoint wireless solutions are actually more expensive than a cabled network solutions (the cost of wireless hubs, pc cards, etc. are higher than their traditional wired counterparts).

Usually the only time wireless is done as a cost savings alternative is because of unusual layouts or physical conditions of the building's construction itself. For instance if a cabling contractor would have to do considerable work to lay a cable through a wall due to its thickness or perhaps an area is just too tight to make it very difficult to lay cable in.

Keep in mind that wireless technology (the 802.11b spec) is spec'd only to 11mbps, where as with cable you could run a 100 or even 1000 mbps network. Also with wireless signal strength is very important. The max distance, the max speed and even the amount of errors in the transmission is EXTREMELY influenced by the distances between the wireless access points and the pc cards.

Just a few ideas to throw your way..

Since your network is very small, since you have DSL already at the one location and a T1 at the other - why not go with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) solution to connect both sites? I'll admit I'm no expertin VPN networks, but I do know a bit and I know there is a huge volume of informaton about VPNs on the 'net and in bookstores alike.

A big thing to consider is obviously the amount of data that to locations will be sending back and forth to one another. Before you can even guess what solution to go with to connect both sites, its a good idea to determine your bandwidth needs first. (btw, what speed is your DSL - because DSL comes in many flavors and depending on your service provider it canvary greatly in the actual bandwidth you have. ;) )

As for the wireless, from a sheer equipment standpoint wireless solutions are actually more expensive than a cabled network solutions (the cost of wireless hubs, pc cards, etc. are higher than their traditional wired counterparts).

Usually the only time wireless is done as a cost savings alternative is because of unusual layouts or physical conditions of the building's construction itself. For instance if a cabling contractor would have to do considerable work to lay a cable through a wall due to its thickness or perhaps an area is just too tight to make it very difficult to lay cable in.

Keep in mind that wireless technology (the 802.11b spec) is spec'd only to 11mbps, where as with cable you could run a 100 or even 1000 mbps network. Also with wireless signal strength is very important. The max distance, the max speed and even the amount of errors in the transmission is EXTREMELY influenced by the distances between the wireless access points and the pc cards.

Just a few ideas to throw your way..

Since your network is very small, since you have DSL already at the one location and a T1 at the other - why not go with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) solution to connect both sites? I'll admit I'm no expertin VPN networks, but I do know a bit and I know there is a huge volume of informaton about VPNs on the 'net and in bookstores alike.

A big thing to consider is obviously the amount of data that to locations will be sending back and forth to one another. Before you can even guess what solution to go with to connect both sites, its a good idea to determine your bandwidth needs first. (btw, what speed is your DSL - because DSL comes in many flavors and depending on your service provider it canvary greatly in the actual bandwidth you have. ;) )

As for the wireless, from a sheer equipment standpoint wireless solutions are actually more expensive than a cabled network solutions (the cost of wireless hubs, pc cards, etc. are higher than their traditional wired counterparts).

Usually the only time wireless is done as a cost savings alternative is because of unusual layouts or physical conditions of the building's construction itself. For instance if a cabling contractor would have to do considerable work to lay a cable through a wall due to its thickness or perhaps an area is just too tight to make it very difficult to lay cable in.

Keep in mind that wireless technology (the 802.11b spec) is spec'd only to 11mbps, where as with cable you could run a 100 or even 1000 mbps network. Also with wireless signal strength is very important. The max distance, the max speed and even the amount of errors in the transmission is EXTREMELY influenced by the distances between the wireless access points and the pc cards.

Just a few ideas to throw your way..

Since your network is very small, since you have DSL already at the one location and a T1 at the other - why not go with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) solution to connect both sites? I'll admit I'm no expertin VPN networks, but I do know a bit and I know there is a huge volume of informaton about VPNs on the 'net and in bookstores alike.

A big thing to consider is obviously the amount of data that to locations will be sending back and forth to one another. Before you can even guess what solution to go with to connect both sites, its a good idea to determine your bandwidth needs first. (btw, what speed is your DSL - because DSL comes in many flavors and depending on your service provider it canvary greatly in the actual bandwidth you have. ;) )

As for the wireless, from a sheer equipment standpoint wireless solutions are actually more expensive than a cabled network solutions (the cost of wireless hubs, pc cards, etc. are higher than their traditional wired counterparts).

Usually the only time wireless is done as a cost savings alternative is because of unusual layouts or physical conditions of the building's construction itself. For instance if a cabling contractor would have to do considerable work to lay a cable through a wall due to its thickness or perhaps an area is just too tight to make it very difficult to lay cable in.

Keep in mind that wireless technology (the 802.11b spec) is spec'd only to 11mbps, where as with cable you could run a 100 or even 1000 mbps network. Also with wireless signal strength is very important. The max distance, the max speed and even the amount of errors in the transmission is EXTREMELY influenced by the distances between the wireless access points and the pc cards.

$100 per drop is very expensive, for common office space (meaning everything is relatively "neat and tidy" - lowered ceilings, straight lines, no drilling needed, etc.).

Before I did our drops myself I got a quote for $4760 for 70 drops, that's about $68 per drop (all labor of course). Personally I thought THAT price was outrageous, thus the reason I did it myself.

To get back on track. And to make sure I wasn't going insane, I actually checked prices at 3Com and Linksys - I'm not tryingto be rude - but how can anyone say that a wireless network is cheaper than a conventional cabled network --- EXCEPT, as I explained earlier, the environment calls for unusually hard cable installs.

The average wireless PC can of decent quality is about $100, the average decent quality PCI 10/100 card -- $30 (and if you wanted real cheap you can get NICs for $15!). Right there...11 pcs x $100 = $1100, vs 11 pcs x $30 = $330. Not to mention the wireless hardware (hubs, if you need a wireless bridge on your network, network access points,etc.) ALL of it is more expensive (varies of course on the degree of quality you seek) than their conventional cabled counterparts cost.

All that and you pay more for roughly 1/10th the bandwidth and less security.

The simple fact is wireless isn't mature enough yet. As time wears on, wireless will have the bandwidth, the security, the range and the lower costs....but save for very few unique cases...I'm still a big supporter of cabled networks over wireless.

If anyone knows of a place that sells wireless components of quality, that are new, for cheaper than the conventional parts cost -- please educate me. I'd love to know!

Take care.

Thanks to all for their replies. I am still trying to get in touch with someone at Macola's Tech Support for answers to my questions on Citrix alternatives, etc.

I've decided against wireless networking thanks to the comments here, and decided if we do need to set up Terminal Server to get someone else to do it, as I've got enough to do already ...that was decided in part on some comments here and in part by reading a book I didn't fully understand on TS.

However, I am interested in learning more about CarbonCopy, Gotomypc, pcanywhere, etc. Are these possible solutions to my multi-location problem? Can some applications from an accounting program be run through these types of setups? Any pros / cons that you are aware of that a simple little network person like me may not have taken into account?

Thanks!
Stacy