wireless boradband

wellsie82

hi all

probably a daft question but my dad is currently on the "normal" broadband with virgin and wants to go wireless to save all the cables going all over the place whenever he gets his laptop out

ive looked online and have found the following link which says any new customers can get wireless routers for free http://www.virginmedia.com/help/wireless/faqs.php but he tells me that a friend of his has given him a brand new BT wireless router for nothing and im wondering whether this will work with his virgin connection

can anyone advise on this please. also, if this BT one won't work, can he buy any wirless router off the shelf/net or does it have to be one sold byvirgin?

many thanks in advance :beer:

thescouselander

What sort of broadband does your dad have - is it cable or ADSL? Usually Virgin is cable but depending on the area he may be on ADSL.

wellsie82

thescouselander wrote: »

What sort of broadband does your dad have - is it cable or ADSL? Usually Virgin is cable but depending on the area he may be on ADSL.

He's on the ADSL

penrhyn

Assuming that he can log into his current Virgin ADSL modem and find his username and password (not his email), then its just a matter of connecting up the new router and putting the info into that one.
I'm not sure about BT (someone will be) but certain ISPs lock their routers to their network (Sky for one) so you can't use them on other networks.
I'd just give it a go you have nothing to lose.
PS Any off the shelf wireless modem router will work, however why not give Richard B a call and see if he will give you a shiny new wireless router, if not ask for your MAC, you might have to renew for another 12 months.

wellsie82

penrhyn wrote: »

Assuming that he can log into his current Virgin ADSL modem and find his username and password (not his email), then its just a matter of connecting up the new router and putting the info into that one.
I'm not sure about BT (someone will be) but certain ISPs lock their routers to their network (Sky for one) so you can't use them on other networks.
I'd just give it a go you have nothing to lose.
PS Any off the shelf wireless modem router will work, however why not give Richard B a call and see if he will give you a shiny new wireless router, if not ask for your MAC, you might have to renew for another 12 months.

im not actually sure whether he's tried to use it yet, i'll make sure he does that first just incase - i guess it depends on whether BT have locked it as you mentioned

he's paying £15 a month for his net but he also gets inclusive calls on his landline, even so i reckon that if the BT doesn't work, and assuming he can't get a free router from virgin (i'll get him to try this and threaten to leave) then he might be better off changing ISP's is to seems the prices per month have come right down, plus many ISP's seem to provide free routers to new customers

thanks for all that though - very helpful

BexTech

You can get wireless ADSL Modem/Routers for less than £20. Places like eBuyer, Broadbandbuyer, broadbandstuff etc.

The link provided in the OP was for cable customers.

GunJack

If he's going to buy a router himself, make sure it's compatable with the DMT tool for line monitoring and SNRM/speed tweaking