laptop newbie help

urbanlegend11

i have a home pc but with a wife and 3 kids who are getting more and more into computers im thinking of getting a laptop to give us all abit more access to the internet.although im quite competent on a normal pc im afraid i know nothing about laptops so hopefully you can help.Im on ntl broadband at the momment so do i need to pay more for 2 connections or do i just tap into the connection ive got?would we be able to use it all over the house as it would be good if the kids could get some peace individually.how does the wireless connection work and what sort of price for good spec laptop?ok too many questions can anybody help?oh and also more importantly can you use the home pc and the laptop to surf the net at the same time?

Ditto

Most modern laptops come with wireless conectivity - look for wi-fi in the description.

Dell sell good cheap laptops - look here for some ideas...

http://www.hotukdeals.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=28&topic=

If you want more than one pc to connect to the internet at one time you will need a router, which are fairly cheap (£30 upwards) they are fairly easy to setup. Remember more computers connected to the internet slows down the internet speed as you will all be sharing the bandwidth.

zappahey

You don't need to pay any extra to NTL but you will need to buy a wireless router if you don't have one. That will let you use the laptop around the house and possibly in the garden if that's what floats your boat.

As for the price for a decent laptop, it all depends what you want to do with it. Anything from £300 upwards.

sco0ter

1.You can use your existing connection but you will need a wireless router.

2. Depending on the size of your house and wall thickness and stuff there shouldnt be any problem using it all over the house.

3.wireless connection works by connecting to the router that is connected to the net and any other computers you want to access the net... It is extremely easy to set up but security can be a pain depending on the type of router you have.

4. both computers will be able to surf the net at the same time no bother

5.I have this laptop... Its great and has the new celeron M that gives me up to 7 hours on the battery.

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/572_287024.html

urbanlegend11

thanks all sounds like a good option im going to look into this now then.next for some top moneysaving laptop deals!does it matter which router yoo buy or are they all qiute standard and also what is the security issue?

Ditto

You do not need to buy a wireless MODEM/router just buy a wireless router as you already have a modem

sco0ter

Most all do the same thing. There is no diference for what you want.. The security issue is that some are easy to set up wep/wpa encryption and others are a bit harder... Someone on here will keep you right though. I have a netgear DG834gt and have never had a problem with it for internet connection or wireless connection. Setting up wep was also extremely easy.

amcluesent

I also have ntl broadband and a wireless router connected to the set-top-box.

The only thing to watch is that when you first set-up the broadband connection, the ntl system will take note of the MAC address of internet card in the PC. When I shifted the connection to the router, I 'cloned' the MAC address into the router so that as far as ntl knew the PC was still connected

Once that's done, you can go ahead & link the original PC, wireless laptops, Xboxs etc. to the router to share the broadband. The router will sort out (using DHCP) allocating addresses to the devices.

BTW, if you are wanting the wireless laptop to have the maximum range of connection, you might want to look at router that offer 'MIMO' capability, but you'll need a matching PCMCIA card in the laptop.

urbanlegend11

amcluesent wrote:

I also have ntl broadband and a wireless router connected to the set-top-box.

The only thing to watch is that when you first set-up the broadband connection, the ntl system will take note of the MAC address of internet card in the PC. When I shifted the connection to the router, I 'cloned' the MAC address into the router so that as far as ntl knew the PC was still connected

Once that's done, you can go ahead & link the original PC, wireless laptops, Xboxs etc. to the router to share the broadband. The router will sort out (using DHCP) allocating addresses to the devices.

BTW, if you are wanting the wireless laptop to have the maximum range of connection, you might want to look at router that offer 'MIMO' capability, but you'll need a matching PCMCIA card in the laptop.

thank again guys.amcluesent why do i have to watch that the ntl system will take note of the laptop mac address?is this not allowed by ntl to share a connection?if so is it easy to clone the MAC address even for a simpleton like myself ?