Wireless router advice please

Kestrel · 25 February 2010 at 11:03AM

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would be good enough to offer me their advice please as I am feeling a little overwhelmed and baffled at all the techie information relating to wireless routers, I posted this thread on the wrong board yesterday, hopefully I am now in the right place

I am with Virgin broadband (via adsl BT phone line as no cable in my rural area)
I run a small business from home so the router will get a lot of use
I would love to have a faster connection but I am a long way from the exchange
I am in a rural area with poor TV signal, poor mobile signal, quite slow broadband so not sure how well a wireless router will work??
I am in an old house (not sure how signal strength will work through thick stone walls?)
My daughter uses the computer to watch TV/iplayer
I am on a budget (approximately £45)
My current modem is hanging by a thread so I could do with one that has an in-built modem
Through the wireless router I intend to use my current old PC with wires still (as I have heard this will still give me the best performance?) I have recently purchased a netbook which is wifi enabled and I desperately need a new PC (that's another thread lol) but in short I intend to have all three devices using the router. Also my daughter has a wii and a DS can these be connected also using the router (though not an essential)

If anyone could suggest a brand/model that might fit the bill I would be ever so grateful, but I am not techie minded in any way so please be gentle with me, thanks

JasX · 25 February 2010 at 11:25AM

The best router's are ones you get free by phoning your ISP and asking for one or you might consider switching... most bundle them in free these days and if you've gotten a very old one your ISP should oblige

Kestrel · 25 February 2010 at 11:29AM

Thanks for such a fast reply, I did contact Virgin to ask but they wanted to charge me around £40 and I got the impression they were selling me a very basic router with a high price tag (maybe I'm too skeptical!) but yes I think I should perhaps consider changing providers though the thought of doing so terrifies me

BillScarab · 25 February 2010 at 11:47AM

Phone Virgin back and tell them you're planning to leave. They may change their tune then!

Alternatively you could just change providers.

You cna connect a Wii and a DS via wireless but the DS does not support the latest security standards ( it uses WEP not WPA) so persoanlly I wouldn't connect that. The Wii will be fine though and it is good to have it on the internet.

JasX · 25 February 2010 at 11:54AM

BillScarab wrote: »

Phone Virgin back and tell them you're planning to leave. They may change their tune then!
.

yup, if not phone back again (to speak to someone else) and ask for a migration code as you're planning to leave -then drop in you've been very happy with their service and the only reason you're switching is neediing a new modem as you're old one is giving up the ghost and you've no way of getting a replacement without switching other than stumping up more cash than you can afford at the moment.

See here:

http://www.broadband.co.uk/guides/change-provider/

1. Contact your current provider and request a MAC code to transfer they may haggle with you to keep your business.
2. Remember, dont cancel the old service.
3. Search for the best deal on [Edit -pick a good comparison/cashback site yourself ]
4. Sign up with a new provider and give them the MAC code during sign up.

Thats it! Your service should be transferred smoothly in a about a week or so.

Kestrel · 25 February 2010 at 12:30PM

Thanks for the tip, I will give it my best shot!

Regarding the DS...will it not "automatically" pick up the wireless connection? I don't want my daughter being able to access the internet without my knowledge/supervision etc?

busenbust · 25 February 2010 at 12:46PM

Nice thread here too

BillScarab · 25 February 2010 at 2:24PM

Kestrel wrote: »

Thanks for the tip, I will give it my best shot!

Regarding the DS...will it not "automatically" pick up the wireless connection? I don't want my daughter being able to access the internet without my knowledge/supervision etc?

when you get a wireless router you need to set up encryption on it. There are basically two sorts WEP and WPA. WEP is not as secure as WPA so you set your router up with WPA. You then set up all of your wireless devices to use WPA with the passkey you set up on the router. Without that they cannot access it. The DS does not support WPA, only WEP, so it will never be able to connect to the router and so will not be able to get on the net.

When you get your router if you're not sure what to do you can always ask on here although I would expect Virgin to provide the info you need.

Kestrel · 25 February 2010 at 5:16PM

RESULT! I DID IT! I got a free wireless router from Virgin on the agreement that I stay with them for another 12 months which I am happy to do so I'm really pleased...thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

No doubt I will be back in a week to ask for help setting it up

Kestrel · 27 February 2010 at 8:57PM

Evening everyone, well my router arrived today. I have a Netgear wireless-G DG834G (v5)
So far I have got the router out of the box and I have attached all the cables/filter in the correct places (I think!) in the back of the router but have not connected any of these to phone line, pc or socket.

I presume I insert the disc and follow instructions? BillScarab, there is no mention of WPA or WEP on the box, it only mentions WPS?? Will inserting this disc change anything on my pc? Do I need to know anything else before I start? Feeling baffled and not sure I'm brave enough to do this...

23n1th · 27 February 2010 at 9:33PM

The only problem with that is the router you'll be getting is going to be rubbish with custom firmware with very limited options.

Wireless router advice please

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