dgsmith

Going off the original topic here, but I am really inclined to just stick a wireless-n router in there if we're going to buy a new one. We'll probably be starting to buy laptops that support the current draft-n standard so I guess we may as well just pay the slight extra? Though, if the feed coming in to the wireless point is still only 100mb (taking the linksys wrt160n for example), would that actually increase performance if incoming bandwidth is not increased? I must admit I hadn't thought of getting a wireless-n device - is this the correct route to be thinking, or would be be best sticking with wireless-g this time and taking wireless-n when we need it?

Yes, I didn't see it was in the London GfL forum at the time

I've noticed we can have a WRT54GL wireless router for the same price as the WAP54G - may we as well just opt for this instead? I can't see us needing the switch or router functionality but it's for the same price, and I assume it'll do the same task we want of the standard WAP - and maybe more? We could even opt for a WRT160N which isn't much more than the WRT54GL but futureproofing for N tech (I would sacrifice DD-WRT for wireless N). No intentions of setting up a mesh - we're just looking at getting 1 WAP for now; maybe more of them as and when needed!

Pity the mainstream line of C2D chips (E8x00 series) haven't changed, as I wish to build a system with one, but do not wish to pay the current prices on principle (or more "frustration" that I should have done it in october when I had the chance at "reasonable" prices).

Not a good idea then by the lack of responses?

We have had a planet WAP fail on us (no surprise there), so are looking for a replacement. Our current setup is rather Ad-hoc, with a mixture of planet, dlink and HP WAPs scattered throughout the place (the planets dominate). Just wondering what thoughts are on the linksys WAP54G? Misco do it for the less than £45 whereas the HPs are in the £90 region, and we couldn't really justify that. Also, what is this DD-WRT I have been reading about? I can understand it seems to be a custom type of firmware, but what benefits does it bring? We are looking for a WAP that is capable of automatically setting the best channel if possible, but I also like the idea of this firmware allowing for proper logging, if I have understood that right. Is the linksys WAP above and this firmware a good combination? We're only looking to replace 1 WAP, so maybe if this works well we'll go for more with this setup.

I know you want to use ACTi cameras (we're also looking down that route too, although we have some Axis cameras too), however, this page might be useful to work out roughly the space requirements needed under various settings and circumstances. I know they are only Axis cameras, however any 640x480 cameras (and comparable MP cameras) with the same frame rate/compression would roughly be the same/very similar in bandwidth needed. We'll probably use an old P4 box for the short-term (while we have less than 5 cameras) and then as we expand get a more powerful box with PLENTY of harddrive capacity. Using MPEG4 reduces bandwidth but requires more processor power to decode the image. ACTi provide their own software, however I am a bit wary having read comments from people about reliability, and we like milestone alot (we have a free 1 licence copy running and works well), so would likely invest in that when we increase capacity. There is loads of useful info over at CCTV Forum .:. Welcome to CCTV Forum

Quite what I was thinking too. I assume we're all here as we work in education, so we are all gaining from all this "nearly-new" stock being sold off a B grade and as 2nd hand prices (some good bargains about too)! With regards to thin client - I'm not dismissing it at all, just saying that I don't see why there is a big hype about it. Sure, in some environments it can be life saving (whether that is budget restraining or what not), however if you don't have to take that route then why do so? I'm not prepared to take an interest in it if we aren't going to benefit in any way - that's just my opinion; i'm not dismissive of "all new technologies without first doing my homework on them". The OP wanted to replace an IT suite which I assume is used heavily, thus they'll want as much power in there as they can afford and do without too much inconvenience - fat clients I would say are better here.

For me, Thin Client is like Marmite, and I don't like marmite (but this isn't me who is in this situation)! Even if I were, i'd still look for proper 2nd user machines and get them built properly - I personally don't see what all the hype with thin client is all about! The figure I put before was just a guesstimate; I hadn't done any research on that and obviously we would do before a decision like that would be made. Anything is better than the nothing we have always got in the past! Maybe there are local schools who have surplus stock lying around that is half-reasonable?

Although we haven't decided anything yet, the chances are we would soon look to sell them around £40-£50 each (hardware only). They run XP fine and as dhicks said can be made to look better (and perform a bit better) for very minimum cost, yet we just don't require them anymore. Seems wrong that we have these computers wasting away and you're struggling desperately to get your hands on anything!

I feel for you. We currently have ~25 spare P4 machines (1.7ghz, 256MB, 20GB) that we probably will be disposing of/donating/bulk selling cheaply. The last machine we had to be less than this spec was disposed of over 2 years ago! I work out your budget to be around £205 each, which for a monitor too isn't too much. With regards to "widescreen", I don't think you can afford to be picky on such a stretched budget, so as others have mentioned, getting some from ict-direct for £40 would be the best bet (£65 for 17" - maybe cheaper for bulk purchase)? That still gives you £135 per machine. You'll be pushed getting a new machine for that. Personally in your position i'd get all 2nd user equipment (ict-direct again for example), which will bring your spec up to an acceptable one and tie you over for the short term.

It mentions "VHB32 OF07 RDY", so I guess Vista Home Basic 32bit with Office 2007. I don't touch celeron processors myself, but for someone wanting a new budget laptop, sounds ok.

We get a 100mb line from CLEO after christmas. At the moment we have internet through the air at 12000/6000, which I suppose for radio waves, isn't all too bad. However, it's been terribly unstable recently with wireless cctv camers being put up in the area, so for the last 2 weeks, have had wired 20000/1000 (upload was horrid considering when the classes use moodle all at once!)

We generally have a contractor in to do the work. We had a major refurb over summer with in excess of 140 points needed. We have just done an Art room ourself though with 14 network points.. just a stone throw from the nearest patch so wasn't too bad, just a box of cabling, some trunking and a drill! As most here I guess, we do it ourself if it's 1 or 2 or very close proximity to the patch, else it isn't cost effective considering we're being paid to do another job!

I was more wondering if we could set the printer to print regardless of colour toner left (so we can put empties in). I think some driver settings can be adjusted by the students and we'd need a mono only driver for this to be effective, even though it would be pointless for them to try colour!

I can't believe we're the only ones here to have experienced this If there really is no hope, is there a way this printer can be used mono-only without having to have colour carts in there? The mono works fine, so it would be a shame to dispose of it when that part works flawless.

Our rooms have numbers here, so the IT rooms go by these. However, our science labs have "unofficial" names of famous people on the door, although officially (and generally) they are referred to by their room number. As for the computer naming conventions, we use DEPT + ROOM + COMPUTER (so, computer #27 in Design Tech room 48 would be DT4827); allows us to identify it immediately and also find it quickly

A mix really.. never had any issues with remans in the other 2600n's.. most of which have been longer in service and printed more over that time. I think the warranty is 12months from new, which it will be out of by now.. bummer! 7500 pages.. that's just sickening :x

Black prints fine - near perfect in fact (what I would expect) - it's just the colours, so i'd have thought paper or feeder would affect transfer of any toner? Although the picture is blurry, that is because I was doing it quickly - the actual print quality is fine - just the alignment of the windows logo with the colours.

Quick picture of a test page I took (not best quality I know). I genuinelly have tried all the calibration and reseating to no avail, which I would have thought would certainly fix this. dhicks, you're right in that is costs £160 for a full set of OEM carts, and £120 for a full set of reman carts, and the reman carts price cost us just a few £££ less than the printer did when we first bought it (albeit with "starter" carts). It would be extremely difficult to justify printer replacement after just over a year...

I wouldn't mind, but it's only printed 7550 pages exact figure reported by web gui), and was bought only 18 months ago! We have many more of these around the school, most bought before this and printed alot more pages which aren't suffering this problem. I know it was a cheap printer.. but to do this after 7550 pages.. I cannot believe for 1 moment..

We have a dreaded HP Colour Laserjet 2600n (in fact quite alot of them), and with one particular one, it seems the colours have become misaligned (the black is fine). I have been through extensive testing and calibrating (I have calibrated several times per one recommendation), and even done a full calibration through the secondary service menu (pressing the ready button, then left arrow and cancel together), yet this hasn't worked. One the toners needed replacing which I did, as well as reseating the other colour toners and doing another calibration, all to no avail. As a last resort, I did a full factory default reset on the printer and reconfigured the network settings, and this still hasn't worked. Very frustrating and I am all out of ideas! Anyone else had this and could shed some light?

Price seems very reasonable, although we're up in Lancs so it's quite a hike!

Can they not copy the contents onto a pen drive and use for personal use, thus illegally using the school's licenced software, if they are able to view the folder?

I called them some weeks back - they wont accept them. I only found 1 company who will accept them, and they operate on a timetable as to when they are in the area. Still, rather hold boxes of these for 2 months than just throw them in the bin!