Need help with maximizing an Xfinity Hotspot and other internet questions

[thatbonokid]

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I need to know what wireless card, or router setup, will worth the best for these Xfinity hotspots that are everywhere in metro detroit.. im getting playable connection with a 5+ year old USB adapter.. I cant imagine how clean i could get this. someone please help. :x

Main question is the bottom paragraph but heres the whole situation.

Heres the story, Counter strike is the main thing i use my PC for. I just moved into an apartment and the only way I can get a land line would be to pay 43$ for 3 down and less than 1 up... 6 down would be 60$.... (screw att)
I know my ping would be a little better with a direct plug in, but i cant pay that much on a 12 month contract.. I have an Xfinity hotspot account that I can log into on my phone/USB wireless card.. I get 25 down and 2 up and its a solid connection to the xfinity spot. I have 2 USB card, the is the exact model name of the first, but i cant find a link to the identical one.
D-Link DWA-140 RangeBooster N USB Adapter(rev.B2)
Here is the closest link i can relate to that model below. It is multiple years old, but seems to get a stronger connection than this one im going to link under it. It is a 'WNDA 3100v3 dual band'

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127244

The second one is this model but v3 instead of v2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122227

the netgear dual band one seems to have crappy connection but this linksys one is working full signal and not stuttering up.


Now the important thing i need to know is, how can i get the most use of the Xfinity hotspot being my main internet? can i maybe connect to the xfinity spot with a router and then line in from there? Or is there a nice internal wireless card that I can get in order to enjoy Counterstrike as much as possible? What steps do i need to take?

 

[Dlaw]

Basically all you really need is a good wireless card. A PCIe card would be faster for you, and probably provide a more solid connection.

 

[thatbonokid]

good wireless card at 20-25$? fastest possible slot and range

 

[Dlaw]

That I couldn't help you with, I've got no experience with add-in wireless on the high end. The most experience I have with such cards was to simply get a PC on a wireless network as cheaply as possible. I know they make some that are worthy of gaming on, I just don't know which ones they are.

 

[trents]

You want something with a high gain antenna. N300 is preferable to N150 because it can take advantage of routers in your area that are broadcasting with two or more antennas and give you some more bandwidth. But you may not be able to get these features for the price you quote.

And I trust you've reckoned with the issue that you will be stealing your neighbors' bandwidth.

 

[Dlaw]

No, he's using the city's already available Wifi (we have one here through our local phone company), not stealing his neighbors. Effectively, it's like a prepaid cell phone, except it's a wireless internet connection instead.

I would check with Xfinity to see what they recommend (they have a better idea of the equipment they use than I would, and therefor what would work best with it).

 

[trents]

So Dlaw, you're saying the cities you both live in has a contract with Xfinity to provide wifi to residential areas? Is this part of the utility bill or something? I don't understand. From post #1 it is clear that OP is not talking about a mobile computing situation but the PC in his residence. And to be able to use the Xfinity hotspots he has to have an Xfinity account password. So either he already has an Xfinity account (in which case he would not need to use a hotspot connection in his home) or some Xfinity customer he knows has given him a their password.

 

[Dlaw]

My city doesn't use Xfinity, but it essentially works the same way. It's a series of mobile hotspots located around the city, there to provide anyone with a wifi-enabled device access to the internet. Here, there are two ways to gain access to it: either add it to your phone bill (or Xfinity account, in this situation), or sign up for a prepaid account that is only for the Wifi service. I'm assuming it's the latter, since as you said, it wouldn't make sense for him to use the hotspots if he already had the full internet/tv/phone package.

Here is the information on it.

 

[trents]

Where I live, the town does not offer public wifi. Here, comcast/xfinity customers had the xfinity "hotspot" pushed to their Comcast residential gateways by Comcast. The only usefulness of it as deployed here is to allow visitors in your home who also have a comcast/xfinity internet account to use your wifi without having to use your account or your password. I suppose if your router is producing a strong signal it could be used by neighbors without their own internet who somehow got a hold of a Comcast account password. For the most part it just creates more signal interference and competition for channels where I live. I had mine disabled and have advised my neighbors to do so as well. People in my home wanting to use my wifi I just give them my password. If they use my password somewhere else to access an xfinity hotspot there is no risk to me since they are not using it with my account.