Wireless - Look here! File & Printer Sharing too

mrsv05

hello and sorry if this is the wrong place for this. my old laptop died last week and have bought a new one which is vista home. we thought we'd treat ourselves to a router so not to be tied to a corner of the living room. i bought a belkin g+ but i couldnt get it connected as all the ports have different fittings, i now have read that it is not compatible with usb connections (i have an orange speedtouch modem attached by usb). I also have a thomson st585 v6 modem router given to me by someone also on orange. now in this there is a yellow cable (patch cable??), a grey cable with little square plastic bits on each end - they fit into my current adsl filter and rear of modem. i have no idea where the yellow cable would fit in as i have nothing it fits where the telephone is, it only fits the laptop and the thomson modem. i have all my details from orange, isp codes, authorisation codes etc (?????). the thomson modem never had a disc when it was sent out from orange.

so my question is: are either of the routers -belkin or thomson - able to be used or do i have to go and but another one?

any help will be great as im still wading through my old laptop problems with help from alienrik and we cannot afford to really spend alot of money on a router as its a luxury really but being wireless will mean i can keep it safe from my 2 year old. thanks in advance

old_codger1

mrsv05 wrote: »

... we cannot afford to really spend alot of money on a router...

The thomson st585 v6 is a router and you've already said you've bought a belkin router, (although you haven't said what sort).

Does the Thomson router look similar to this?



regarding the Belkin... are you sure you haven't bought a Belkin USB wireless network connector, like this?



If you let us know what you've got we can probably help.

mrsv05

hi, the belkin is a little square thing like the above picture but having got it home and out i went online and it says that is is not compatible with usb modems as its just a router and not a modem router.

yes the thomson is identical to what i have here

old_codger1

mrsv05 wrote: »

hi, the belkin is a little square thing like the above picture but having got it home and out i went online and it says that is is not compatible with usb modems as its just a router and not a modem router.

yes the thomson is identical to what i have here

To make any headway we need to know what you've got.

Tell us the make and models of a) The Belkin device, and, b) The laptop computer.

I think what you've got is a laptop which will have network card already in and we can use the network cable to plug into the Thomson router and set it up... once we know what you've actually got

Once we've done that we can use the Belkin wireless network card, (which I THINK is what you have), to connect up to the Thomson router.

mrsv05

i have a toshiba satellite L300D laptop. i bought a belkin wireless g+ router version 3000uk f5d7231uk4, and was given an un used (and the bonus of being free) thomson wireless modem router, sorry if i seem silly but its very confusing for me

old_codger1

mrsv05 wrote: »

i have a toshiba satellite L300D laptop. i bought a belkin wireless g+ router version 3000uk f5d7231uk4, and was given an un used (and the bonus of being free) thomson wireless modem router, sorry if i seem silly but its very confusing for me

Just to confirm, is this your laptop?

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Satellite-L300D-13S/1059357/toshibaShop/false/

If so it already has wireless and wired networking built-in.

Does the Belkin router look like the one on this page?

http://www.belkin.com/support/product/?lid=en&pid=F5D7231-4&scid=221

If so, as you say, it assumes you've already got a broadband, (ADSL, whatever you want to call it), connected and working. Essentially, you connect this device to a broadband modem and it enables you to share your internet connection by wireless over a distance and among a number of devices.

However, with the Thomson ST585 you've already GOT a broaband, (ADSL), modem with a built-in router. You don't need the Belkin at all.

As the yanks say... check it out!

http://www.thomsonbroadbandpartner.com/dsl-modems-gateways/products/previous-product-detail.php?id=86

Specifically have a look at the user guide and setup guide, (in English, if possible ),

As you can see by studying those documents, if you have the little yellow cable that came with the Thomson ST585 plug it into your laptop and the Thomson St585, (the connections should look like this... except yellow, of course).



and fire the router up. Reset it back to factory defaults by pressing the little reset button on the back, leave it a minute or two and then start your laptop. Start your browser, (Internet Explorer or whatever), and type in 192.168.1.254, this is the default address for the setup page in the router as given in the Thomson user guide, (Page 15 which is section 1.2.1). As per the user guide, 'The default user is ‘Administrator’ and the default password is blank.'

Of course, you'll have to put the phone cable into the Thomson if you want to connect to the internet

Basically, just follow setup and user guides, connecting the cables as shown, and you'll be well away.

Once you've got it working with the wired connection you can set it up with wireless. The thing is it's usually easier to set these things up with a wired connection first before trying to get too clever.

mrsv05

i am looking forward to giving it a go. assuming i dont mess it up and lose all internet, i will let you know! thank you very much

mrsv05

no, i have this pc http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Satellite-L300D-202/1062839/toshibaShop/false/

so i take it it doesnt matter that i do not have a disc with the thomson as i can sort it out myself. it was my dads that orange sent to him but he never used as he had already bought a wireless with his pc deal

old_codger1

mrsv05 wrote: »

no, i have this pc http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Satellite-L300D-202/1062839/toshibaShop/false/

That's fine. It also includes wirele.s and wired networking on the list.
Wireless communication Compliancy : Wi-Fi®
Network Support : 802.11b/g
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN
Wired communication topology : international V.92 modem
speed : 56 Kbps data and 14.4 Kbps fax
topology : Fast Ethernet LAN
speed : 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX

mrsv05 wrote: »

so i take it it doesnt matter that i do not have a disc with the thomson as i can sort it out myself. it was my dads that orange sent to him but he never used as he had already bought a wireless with his pc deal

You don't need the disk at all if you use the RJ45 ethernet wired, (there's lots of names for it:D), networking cable. and plug it into your laptop and router. You only need the disk if you use the USB connection.

Basically, you configure the router using a web-interface as per the setup and user guide by connecting everything, restarting them and pointing your browser at 192.168.1.254 which is the routers default IP address.

mrsv05

can i have a really easy idiots guide from you, just briefy with what wires where and what i should do step by step, please !!