Should have bought a simpler laptop ??

Jake'sGran

My new SONY laptop arrived a week ago and I have not got online with it yet.
I am currently with the dreaded AOL. I asked them for the name and PW to put in the laptop and they sent a BB name as I did not tell them it was wireless I had. It's taken me an hour to find AOLs information about setting up a network. They make everything so difficult. My desktop has no ethernet port so I need to buy a USB
ethernet port adapter - is that right? The laptop has Vista and this PC has XP.
Don't know what I will do if AOL don't come up with the precise information required i.e. a new Network Security Key and PW for the laptop which seems very sophisticated to me. I'm sure I will never use half the programs etc that it contains.
Just using you all as a sound-board really so that you can tell me if I have got anything wrong and also it helps me to remember when I write things down.

DatabaseError

You're spending a lot of money, Jake's gran, are you sure you don't want to adopt me?

Where to start...??
".. desktop has no ethernet port so I need to buy a USB ethernet port adapter - is that right?"
if you are planning on a wired connection to your modem/router, and you already have a long enough wire...then yes. If you are planning wireless then you will need a wireless adapter, not ethernet.
How are you online now if this PC has no ethernet port?

penrhyn

Could you identify the make and model of your router.
When you enable wireless on your laptop does it find your router, and if so what security is it reporting if any?
I may be wrong but i would not have thought that AOL would know the log in and password for your wireless channel , that information should all be in the router's handbook.
Do you know how to log onto your router?
Also if your desktop is working happily via and ethernet port why do you want it to be wireless as this would downgrade the speed of your connection.

custardy

Jake'sGran wrote: »

My new SONY laptop arrived a week ago and I have not got online with it yet.
I am currently with the dreaded AOL. I asked them for the name and PW to put in the laptop and they sent a BB name as I did not tell them it was wireless I had. It's taken me an hour to find AOLs information about setting up a network. They make everything so difficult. My desktop has no ethernet port so I need to buy a USB
ethernet port adapter - is that right? The laptop has Vista and this PC has XP.
Don't know what I will do if AOL don't come up with the precise information required i.e. a new Network Security Key and PW for the laptop which seems very sophisticated to me. I'm sure I will never use half the programs etc that it contains.
Just using you all as a sound-board really so that you can tell me if I have got anything wrong and also it helps me to remember when I write things down.

dont worry, i run a VAIO ,nothing technical on them over other laptops really

espresso

Jake'sGran wrote: »

My new SONY laptop arrived a week ago and I have not got online with it yet.
I am currently with the dreaded AOL. I asked them for the name and PW to put in the laptop and they sent a BB name as I did not tell them it was wireless I had................

It does not matter that your new laptop is wireless unless you have a wireless router to connect to.

Do you now have a wireless router? If so what make/model?

Jake'sGran

DatabaseError wrote: »

You're spending a lot of money, Jake's gran, are you sure you don't want to adopt me?

Where to start...??
".. desktop has no ethernet port so I need to buy a USB ethernet port adapter - is that right?"
if you are planning on a wired connection to your modem/router, and you already have a long enough wire...then yes. If you are planning wireless then you will need a wireless adapter, not ethernet.
How are you online now if this PC has no ethernet port?

I cannot answer the last question except to say that I have a modem if that is relevant and I was not aware that having or not having an ethernet port
came into it when all this was set up originally. It's not that I am "planning on" a wired connection. The laptop is wireless enabled but this destop is not.
The family have convinced me not to send back the laptop but It's taking a lot of time for me to be sorted. Just been to Tesco and got the CDs to copy Vista onto but that can wait a while. The smashing young man there was convinced I did not need to purchase the adaptor AOL said I needed when I read their on line instructions last night in reference to this router. The router is a Thomson ST585v6 listed by them as being suitable for a wireless connection. SinL is going to come here sometime this w/end and this time I
will make him explain things properly as he left my PC in a mess last time.

DE - I'd love to adopt you just for your computer know-how. The money needs spending but maybe I shouldn't have bought the laptop!

Jake'sGran

espresso wrote: »

It does not matter that your new laptop is wireless unless you have a wireless router to connect to.

Do you now have a wireless router? If so what make/model?

Thank you, you always respond to me which I think is wonderful. Yes, I managed to find out last night that it is a wireless router. It took a long time to find the AOL pages detailing all of the info I needed. It's a Thomson ST585v6.

Is it possible to use the laptop without making use of the wireless capability?
Is that what your first sentence refers to?

Jake'sGran

Leopard wrote: »

With no disrespect whatsoever to DatabaseError, the most important thing for you to do first is install anti-malware on it.

And, when graduating to wireless, to put WPA (preferably WPA2) encryption on it.

As for all the programs on it, you'll probably find that most of them are free trial versions that will expire after a month or two (after which you can remove them and free up some disc space )

It has the full version of McAfee but only for 60 days and I have made sure it is up and running. As you say there is a lot of other stuff that I can pay for or get rid of in 60 days also.

I do try to get my head round all this technology but must admit that I am struggling now since the laptop became part of the issue. I think it would have been simpler if I'd bought one which had XP and was not wireless.

Jake'sGran

penrhyn wrote: »

Could you identify the make and model of your router.
When you enable wireless on your laptop does it find your router, and if so what security is it reporting if any?
I may be wrong but i would not have thought that AOL would know the log in and password for your wireless channel , that information should all be in the router's handbook.
Do you know how to log onto your router?
Also if your desktop is working happily via and ethernet port why do you want it to be wireless as this would downgrade the speed of your connection.

See other replies for make and model. AOL have sent a long email with full instructions, just a small extract below:

Enter a word or group of printable characters in the box that says
WPA-PSK Encryption Key.
It must be 8 to 63 characters in length. You can type password as
"jurassic88

Your last sentence confuses me. I just want my wireless enabled laptop to
link to the desktop so that both access the Internet.

jem16

Jake'sGran wrote: »

See other replies for make and model. AOL have sent a long email with full instructions, just a small extract below:

Enter a word or group of printable characters in the box that says
WPA-PSK Encryption Key.
It must be 8 to 63 characters in length. You can type password as
"jurassic88

That's the wireless security they are wanting you to set up.

Your last sentence confuses me. I just want my wireless enabled laptop to
link to the desktop so that both access the Internet.

Can you confirm how your desktop pc accesses the internet at present? Is it connected to the Thompson router that you mention? If so how does it connect to it?

fwor

Jake'sGran wrote: »

I just want my wireless enabled laptop to
link to the desktop so that both access the Internet.

This may be the reason you're having trouble understanding what's going on.

Your mental picture sees the laptop connecting to the desktop and then to the internet. Although it can be done that way, nobody would choose to do that.

The laptop should connect wirelessly to the Thomson modem/router and from there directly to the internet. You don't need to change anything on the desktop to make that work, and the laptop can access the internet even when the desktop PC is turned off.