setting up laptop?

sunshine124

hello all,

I have just ordered a laptop from dell, and it's my first one. It's gonna be a replacement for my desktop but would like to move it around the house. I am with talk talk and have a wired modem to my pc. Now forgive me for being thick, but I'm confused on how I would go about setting up the internet with the modem, what with all this talk about routers, adapters and dongles etc.

Could someone please shed some light on this? Is it fairly simple?
Also, when my laptop arrives, is it a case of just swithcing it on or do I have to make copies of recovery disks etc.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Basil1234

well you will need to get a wireless modem router before anything else.
i personally dont know you modem router model no. ill give you any example i have a sky router which is netgear but the important bit is on the bottom there is a sticker with a username and password called a 'key' and this would be the information you would need if you router is wireless otherwise you need a new one.

sunshine124

Thanks, so does the router connect to my home phone line? and then i can use my laptop anywhere in the house?

Basil1234

yes the router is connected to the phone line. the router must be a wireless version you must have username and key from router then put it in the laptop also must be wirelss card in the laptop if not you can get belkin wireless dongle from argos.
and with windows 7 is a lot simpler to connect up

hope this helps

sunshine124

Thanks for that and now I have just phoned talk talk and asked them and they say that because I have windows 7 on my laptop then the modem that I currently have for my pc won't work on it as it doesn't have the correct drivers for it as it is windows xp. therefore I was told that I would have to buy a new router and modem, is this right?

sunshine54

regardless of compatibility, you need a new router anyway to go wireless.
you current router needs to be hardwired to the pc.
dells laptop will be wireless ready.
you don't need a modem.

GunJack

sunshine54 wrote: »

you don't need a modem.

not true...you need a router with a modem built-in to it...although most people refer to a "router" as meaning a modem/router combined unit, there are routers out there with no built-in modem - these are the ones the OP needs to avoid for their application...i.e. get a modem/router, like most netgears or D-Links..

Basil1234

GunJack wrote: »

not true...you need a router with a modem built-in to it...although most people refer to a "router" as meaning a modem/router combined unit, there are routers out there with no built-in modem - these are the ones the OP needs to avoid for their application...i.e. get a modem/router, like most netgears or D-Links..

correct sorry i should have stated a modem/router my bad for not being clear. im so use to calling then routers.
talk talk should offer you a free wireless modem/router and if there not willing to i would threaten to walk away to another bb supplier nice trick would be say 'you where thinking of moving to sky they offer free wireless modem router' if they get funny on you but that should sort them out.
let us know how you get on.

GunJack

TBH, you're better off NOT getting a "free" router from your ISP...often (like sky, talktalk, etc.) they take a perfectly good router (netgear-sky and D-Link-tt) and insist the manufacturers mess about with the firmware so you can't get any of the line tweaking and monitoring tools to work with them. Better getting a "pure" one that works with DMT and/or Routerstats for such purposes.

Plenty around for reasonable money on ebay

Look for a D-Link 2640B, 2740B (note:- NOT the R models) or an unlocked netgear DG834GT (if ex-sky, check it's been unlocked first, unless you're competent to DIY

sunshine124

Thanks guys for all your advice and I am still waiting for my laptop to be delivered, however, I have been searching the net and ther are so many different types of routers and as mentioned by Gunjack - I should get a unlocked one? Does this mean that the router is like a mobile phone? It should be unlocked to be able to use it on any network? I am with talk talk and was looking at the netgear routers and they seem expensive. I went into carphone warehouse and they told me that the netgear one was £80! and that the fastest is the n model. Anyway, I know in my laptop that there is the new n wireless card but I didn't know that I had to buy an unlocked router.
Anyway, any suggestions on which is the best to get, unlocked and cheapest (if possible)?

gaming_guy

I've had the netgear DG834g and it was a pretty good router. the only bad thing about it was when it blew up after getting hit by lightning.

I'd highly recommend netgear routers as they are very reliable kit.