Wireless Router USB Problem

philflak

Hi there,

I am a student and got a good deal with NTL last year for their broadband - we bought a router (Belkin - 59.99 at the time) and had a wireless network set up in our house. Everything was fine until NTL started overcharging us and generally screwing us around so when it came to my new rented house this uni year i decided to go for a BT Line and Eclipse Internet as that worked out pretty well price wise and wasnt NTL.

Unfortunately the modem that Eclipse supplied is a USB modem and there is no USB port on the Belkin Router, only 4 ethernet cable ports. I have called technical support and customer services and they say the only way to get around this is to buy a new adsl usb router which will cost £59.99.

I have been looking for an Ethernet cable modem but it seems you cant buy them anywhere other than ebay where they are around £30.00.

Is there any way I can set up a Wireless connection in my house with my current router? £60 is just too much to fork out when I have already paid that for my current one which has only had a years use!

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

Phil

/edit

ps If I purchased this: http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=3826

Would that solve my problem?

stevemcol

I've never done it but have you tried connecting your PC to the broadband via the USB modem, then connect the PC to the router via ethernet and sharing the internet connection that way?
Should work I would have thought

espresso

Better to ditch the USB modem and find one which has an Ethernet port. Some of the BT Voyager models (210) have one USB and one Ethernet port. May find one cheap if someone is upgrading to wireless etc.

itgirlinuk

stevemcol wrote:

I've never done it but have you tried connecting your PC to the broadband via the USB modem, then connect the PC to the router via ethernet and sharing the internet connection that way?
Should work I would have thought

This is what I would suggest too. If you had Windows XP on your machines, this should be a breeze. Share the internet connection through one PC. But it means that the main PC has to be switched on for others to work.

Or the other option is to have one USB modem per computer you have and decide on who is going to use the internet when. Old fashioned way of sharing the phone line. I am sure there are loads of people willing to give away their USB modems, as its comes free with almost every broadband connection.

albertross_2

sell the cable router, and put the money towards a new adsl router.

philflak

cheers for your advice guys. In the end we got a second hand router for £30. It works great! Gonna sell my cable router when i get round to it. Cheers again!