The WiFi card wasn't expensive, and I'll probably put it into the Windows 98 box or something since I just stole its cable, but it leads me to ask yet again - why is windows wireless networking so amazingly crap? Is it just me, or is everyone running into this sort of difficulty?
Still trying to make up my mind what to do with the Windows 98 box - can you realistically run linux on a 400mhz machine with maxed out 256mb?
Later: I was obviously a bit tired when I posted that because I missed the most important part, which is that the WHOLE NETWURK was freezing, and would only work if I reset the router, and that this hasn't happened with the cable.
With regards to the questions people have asked, this first happened with the official Bittorrent client, then Azeurus, then Bitlord. I've ended up using Bitlord because it incorporates file finding etc. and seems to work pretty well.
Thinking about it, I've never previously tried to use bittorrent over a wireless connection for anything big, so it's possible that this is something about the router, not the PC.
Re. the limitations of the Windows 98 box, sounds like the best bet is to reformat it with 98, take out the second drive and put it into my external case (which will give me a 40gb USB drive which should be useful) and pass the PC itself along to charity or something. Unless anyone wants it here, and can pick it up from me in London? It'll have 26gb in two HDs and a CD writer, and is normally pretty reliable; I haven't pinned down the source of the recent problems but I suspect a rebuild will fix things - won't get it done for a few days though. I'll throw in a 15" CRT monitor if it's wanted... Also a SCSII scanner and card.