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-   -   Computer type techy query. (/showthread.php?t=31991)

phoenix n max 13-Jun-2006 12:32

Computer type techy query.
 
I'm about to move house and i'm looking into ways of connecting new house to internet/phone etc and I have a couple of questions for you techy types if I may please ?
Firstly can't transfer my telewest/ntl account as they don't serve the house i'm moving to so recco's for providers would be nice.
Secondly, we have 3 computers here and i'm buying a wireless laptop. As far as I know 2 of the 3 puters are ordianry cable/lan ? connections. My own puter is set up for both cable and wireless as far as i'm aware and the laptop will be too.
My question is - how do I get both connections, eg wireless and cable off the one incoming cable modem ? Can I get that ?
I don't want to go for a wireless installation from the provider as I believe that means I will need to update the kids computers to wireless connections - am I right ?
Or would it be easier and cheaper to just upgrade their pc's to wireless and be done with it ? Thing is one of them I don't think would cope hence the need for a further pc.

Does any of that make sense ???

antonye 13-Jun-2006 12:57

Go the wireless route - a lot less hassle and probably cheaper too.

You just need a USB Wireless dongle for each pc. One of these will be fine:
http://www.savastore.com/productinfo...=0&rstrat=7833

I bought one to go with my laptop as it was less than a tenner on special, and it works a treat. I can even use it when I take the laptop round to my old man's, and connect to his Wanadoo Wireless broadband that he signed up to, as this included the wireless modem as part of the package.

You can connect as many wireless computers to it as you want, and a computer via an ethernet cable too.

He finds the Wanadoo service fine, and it was cheap when you include the price of the wireless modem.

As long as all of your PCs have a USB connection, you should be fine.

ath748 13-Jun-2006 13:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonye
Go the wireless route - a lot less hassle and probably cheaper too.

You just need a USB Wireless dongle for each pc. One of these will be fine:
http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=102 87182&pid=0&rstrat=7833

I bought one to go with my laptop as it was less than a tenner on special, and it works a treat. I can even use it when I take the laptop round to my old man's, and connect to his Wanadoo Wireless broadband that he signed up to, as this included the wireless modem as part of the package.

You can connect as many wireless computers to it as you want, and a computer via an ethernet cable too.

He finds the Wanadoo service fine, and it was cheap when you include the price of the wireless modem.

As long as all of your PCs have a USB connection, you should be fine.



Are you allowed to mention Wanadoo?
;)

twpd 13-Jun-2006 13:17

Wireless is all very well if you know how to secure it properly. My neighbours don't and leave theirs wide open to the extent that it's possible to browse their pc's. I went round to a mate's house recently cos he was having some wireless issues - turned out his neighbours networks were causing probs cos they were all on the same channel and unsecured.

I prefer wired. It's more secure, faster and more reliable.

2 cylinders are all you need but, 3 is a fine compromise
www.twpd.co.uk
www.twpdracing.com

Tonio600 13-Jun-2006 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by twpd
I prefer wired. It's more secure, faster and more reliable.


I prefer wireless. It's fast enough, much more convenient and very reliable. Then I leave the security (still using WEP128 though...) to my operating system, Linux.

twpd 13-Jun-2006 14:04

I'm Linux too - Ubuntu and fedora 4...but...that ain't relevant to the thread ;)

twpd 13-Jun-2006 14:21

What you need is (depending upon your connection) a cable or ADSL modem connected by cat5e ethernet cable to a wireless/wired router (Linksys is decent kit). They connect to the WAN port. Most wireless routers also have a number of ethernet ports (4 normally) for wired connections to them. This gives you the option of connecting each pc to the router by wireless or ethernet cable.

An ADSL modem uses normal telephone lines for the connection to the internerd. Cable as you know uses fibre optics. ADSL performance is limited by the distance between yourself and the local exchange.

Then for each pc you need a pci wireless network card (forget the USB wireless dongles cos USB uses loads of resources and isn't fast enough unless you have USB2 ports on your pc). A typical pci wireless network card costs about £20-25.

As long as the pc is reasonably modern and running Win2k or Xp then it will cope well enough with a wireless card - if it's old and running Win98 then stick with a normal wired network card which can be connected to the router by ethernet cable.

Install each network card in each pc. Do the usual installation of drivers and configure each wireless nic (network interface card) for DHCP in its network properties.

Configure the wireless router as a DHCP server so that it hands out i/p addresses to each pc.

Specify the MAC addresses of each pc to be connected in the relevant router setup - this will ensure no outsider can use your connection.

Bish bosh - sorted.

One thing you should do for best performance is ensure that the wireless network cards or adaptors are of the same make and model range as the router. i.e use Linksys cards with a Linksys router or Belkin with Belkin as there can be interoperability issues with a mix and match approach.

I'm sure others can fill in the details to make this outline more comprehensive.

2 cylinders are all you need but, 3 is a fine compromise
www.twpd.co.uk
www.twpdracing.com

Tonio600 13-Jun-2006 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by twpd
I'm Linux too - Ubuntu and fedora 4...but...that ain't relevant to the thread ;)


Man of good taste :) But you're right, I was right off the thread.

[btw I love the sig in the post mate, you using a bookmarklet or anything to make it easier? You're giving me ideas ;) ]

antonye 13-Jun-2006 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by twpd
Wireless is all very well if you know how to secure it properly.


Wanadoo have their modem/routers setup with WEP 128bit as default, so thats is plenty to keep others from eavesdropping.

phoenix n max 13-Jun-2006 16:22

Just looking through wanadoo's stuff now.
Anyone any opinions on if it's better than BT ?


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