Thank you Admin and Eagle for coming back to me. I seem to have implied I was looking to change broadband providers but I'm not. I'm happy enough with AOL - the speed's fine, it works with my firewalls and anti virus and the cost is comparable with their competitors. Also it'd be too much hassle switching all our home and business email addresses to a new ISP, not to mention the reported aching delays obtaining MAC codes, cancelling accounts etc it would entail.
What I'm trying to achieve is to get the laptop to feed off the main pc's broadband account, so I can cancel the separate dial up account on the laptop. It does have a wireless card, Eagle. The computers are both in different rooms so I couldn't link them with more wires.
Admin - you say "for now you just plug both directly into the router or even connect wirelessly" It's that 'even connect wirelessly' bit that I'm struggling with. Then "here are some suitable routers if you go ADSL" Huh? Should I go ADSL? What is it?
Alas I am still confused of Sydenham. I'm good at lots of things but computers aren't one of them!
Reliable Computer Person?
BingBong - if you are on AOL broadband - that is ADSL. You can use your phone while your PC is connected yes?
A USB modem has just two connections - a wire to your filter/splitter which is plugged into a BT phone socket and the other to a USB port on your PC. When you connect - your PC appears to dial out.
Replace this with a £40 router as mentioned will give you a connection that is online all the time - ie your PC does not need to be switched on for the laptop to connect wirelessly. This requires a LAN port on your PC to connect to the router. It should have one if its not too old.
If you laptop is 2/3 years old it will have WiFi (be careful of the term wireless on older laptops - it sometimes just means infrared which is no use). But even if it is not WiFi ready - You can get an adapter for £15. That's all there is to it provided you don't have more than one solid brick wall between the laptop and where the router will be.
It is possible to do it all for free. The free FON device on offer (see Town Asylum) wil plug into your PC and provide a wireless connection to your laptop BUT it requires that you keep your PC on. I would not recommend that unless £40 is prohibitive.
If all this sounds too confusing - I can pop round with a router to check it will all work before you commit to buying your own router. That will up the cost by a bottle though
Admin
A USB modem has just two connections - a wire to your filter/splitter which is plugged into a BT phone socket and the other to a USB port on your PC. When you connect - your PC appears to dial out.
Replace this with a £40 router as mentioned will give you a connection that is online all the time - ie your PC does not need to be switched on for the laptop to connect wirelessly. This requires a LAN port on your PC to connect to the router. It should have one if its not too old.
If you laptop is 2/3 years old it will have WiFi (be careful of the term wireless on older laptops - it sometimes just means infrared which is no use). But even if it is not WiFi ready - You can get an adapter for £15. That's all there is to it provided you don't have more than one solid brick wall between the laptop and where the router will be.
It is possible to do it all for free. The free FON device on offer (see Town Asylum) wil plug into your PC and provide a wireless connection to your laptop BUT it requires that you keep your PC on. I would not recommend that unless £40 is prohibitive.
If all this sounds too confusing - I can pop round with a router to check it will all work before you commit to buying your own router. That will up the cost by a bottle though
Admin
BingBong I will leave it to Admin to sort you out.
You could not get a better offer then his (checking to see a router will work on yours).
If money is a problem look on ebay under computing>networking. Type in AOL.................you will see some WIRELESS routers there for a lot less that £40 Also look for Linkys; Netgear, Belkin just to name a few.
Just be a little careful though when buying, some ISPs lock the routers so they only work on their own networks, thats why I suggested doing a search for AOL. Most routers can connect using USB, however like admin says, I would strongly advise you to use ethernet (LAN) connection.
Good Luck and I am certain if things go well you can probably connect up wireless for less that twenty quid (and a bottle of wine)
Admin I have plenty of spare (mostly BT) routers, some can be unlocked, also network cards PCMCIA and USB adapters if you need to borrow them for testing his?
You could not get a better offer then his (checking to see a router will work on yours).
If money is a problem look on ebay under computing>networking. Type in AOL.................you will see some WIRELESS routers there for a lot less that £40 Also look for Linkys; Netgear, Belkin just to name a few.
Just be a little careful though when buying, some ISPs lock the routers so they only work on their own networks, thats why I suggested doing a search for AOL. Most routers can connect using USB, however like admin says, I would strongly advise you to use ethernet (LAN) connection.
Good Luck and I am certain if things go well you can probably connect up wireless for less that twenty quid (and a bottle of wine)
Admin I have plenty of spare (mostly BT) routers, some can be unlocked, also network cards PCMCIA and USB adapters if you need to borrow them for testing his?
Hi BingBong - with Eagle's generous offer it looks like you have an opportunity to organise a wonderful WiFi party - just bring your own router
I do use eBay but I'm wary of buying this sort of kit there. There is a reason people are selling used kit. This is a fast developing area and old (and some new kit) just can't keep up.
Stuff that was perfectly stable a year ago just can't hack it with the increased MaxADSL speeds and won't work with the new ADSL2 services. On eBay you really need to know what you are buying and contingence having to download new firmware to upgrade it - the easiest way to 'brick' a router even if you know what you are doing.
Which is why looking at the user reviews is so important. Some will reveal the heroic surgery required to make some stuff the world's greatest bargain - others reveal that people who had not got a clue could get other products working out of the box flawlessly in 10 minutes. There is that much difference. And a very stable modem/router is what you need. It should just work silently with no attention for years.
Admin
I do use eBay but I'm wary of buying this sort of kit there. There is a reason people are selling used kit. This is a fast developing area and old (and some new kit) just can't keep up.
Stuff that was perfectly stable a year ago just can't hack it with the increased MaxADSL speeds and won't work with the new ADSL2 services. On eBay you really need to know what you are buying and contingence having to download new firmware to upgrade it - the easiest way to 'brick' a router even if you know what you are doing.
Which is why looking at the user reviews is so important. Some will reveal the heroic surgery required to make some stuff the world's greatest bargain - others reveal that people who had not got a clue could get other products working out of the box flawlessly in 10 minutes. There is that much difference. And a very stable modem/router is what you need. It should just work silently with no attention for years.
Admin