Wi-Fi

[Cant-Fix-It]

Is there a way i can install Wi-Fi at home?? when i collected my Laptop yesterday he was using Wi-Fi to show me it all working, when i asked how he can access Wi-Fi at home he said he has it in the loft, i want to install my broadband connection on my laptop as well, but being AOL it comes with loads of other stuff so don't really want to, so Wi-Fi would be ideal.


Any help appreciated.

[HAN]

Cant-fix-it: If you have a broadband connection, you can do WiFi with it. It does not matter if it's AOL or whoever. All you need is a PC that can connect wirelessly and some kind of access point (where the wireless part connects the wireless signal back to the broadband wired source.) The most common method is a wireless router. Wireless routers are widely available and are reasonably inexpensive. So if your laptop is wireless ready, and you track down and purchase a wireless router (and 1 extra piece of network cable, which may come with some routers) you should be ready to hook things up.

Rather than re-write something that's already been done, here are a couple of links on how to hook everything up. The only other thing I'd like to emphasize is that it's always a good idea to keep your wireless network fairly tight, security-wise. This keeps others from mis-using your connection and also helps protect your data that travels between your router and your PC. (Once you have the basics down, and you still have questions on the security aspect, post back and we'll help you lock things down.)

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/more...lesssetup.mspx
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1277381,00.asp

Good luck and enjoy! Wireless means freedom. Especially with a laptop.

[Tuttle]

Note that if you already have a wired router you're using to share the Internet, you only want to buy a wireless access point instead of a wireless router. Adding a second router gets complicated.

[Cant-Fix-It]

Thanks very much guys,

Just a quick query, i was reading up on the microsoft link posted, and it says to conect my modem to the wireless router, now the modem supplied by my ISP only has a USB input, and a DSL input, so how would i connect this modem to the router?

[Steve R Jones]

The modem has to have an "out" going line that you're using to connect to the pc. You would just connect to to the router instead.

[Tuttle]

Routers generally expect the modem to have an Ethernet output. I think you can get routers that accept a USB connection, but make sure you check compatibility.

Alternatively, if your connection is ADSL then you can get all-in-one modem/router/wireless boxes that will replace your current modem.

[Cant-Fix-It]

Thanks all,

I've just purchased a Netgear all in 1 router/modem and USB network dongle, i was told my the guy in the store that this is the only brand that works with AOL.

I've just read the instructions ready to install (never done a network before) and it says 'before you begin, locate the ADSL config info from your ISP.?? what's this mean?

Sorry lost when it comes to this stuff

[SuperSparks]

It means that you will need to contact AOL and get them to give you all the configuration info required to set up the modem/router.

[Cant-Fix-It]

Still need help with this if anyone can help.

I bought the Netgear modem/router, and a netgear PCI ethernet card, i've installed the card and checked in devices it's working fine, but still when i click IE the page cannot be displayed, been trying for days now and i cant crack it.

Any info appreciated

[SuperSparks]

Welcome to the wonderful world of trying to set up wireless networking

I'll move this thread over to the Networking forum, where hopefully some of the gurus there will be familiar with Netgear.

[HAN]

Have you checked/looked over the router setup yet? The router and the card need to talk to each other so the setting in each need to be compatible.

[Tuttle]

Can you log into the configuration web page for the router? That should confirm whether the wireless bit is working, and should also have a page where you can check if it's successfully logged into your ISP.