Using work broadband at home

jesster_2

Hi, sorry if someone else has posted something similar elsewhere but I couldn't find it, or find the answer on google. Guessing because this might be quite an unusual situ.

Work have set me up with a laptop and wireless broadband at home, which is fab. Now I want to run my personal PC off the same broadband account as it seems daft to pay for the internet when they already are.

Tried connecting it to the router via a wire, but my PC's a bit old so has only built in hard-wired old dial up wire coming out the back, and USB ports. The router needs ethernet connections.

Two questions: what's the best way for me to get it running off the wireless? Is it to get a wireless adaptor that I can plug into the PC's USB port? Or is it possible to get a wire that's one end USB one end ethernet, and wire it into the router directly?

The other question is: the wireless connection shows up on my laptop as 'security enabled'. Does this mean I wouldn't be able to piggyback onto it from my own PC anyway?

Any guidance greatfully received! Thank you!

ckerrd

IMHO - if you want to connect to the router it is ethernet to ethernet.
The cards cost very little and just drop into a vacant slot in your pc.

You could of course just buy a USB wireless dongle and plug that in.

Security enabled is just to stop anyone logging on and usig your wireless account. You would need to make sure your PC was enabled with the same security info to let you use the router.

jesster_2

thanks for your help. so if i get something like this

http://www.cables2u.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/235?gclid=CLqks5nJ6okCFSS_EAodDRl4FA

...I can plug the PC straight into the router with an ethernet cable... ?

Wombat

That link doesn't show a product when I click on it, but this is a PCI Ethernet card:

http://www.europc.co.uk/pages/ProductDetail.aspx?PID=70546&refId=kelkoo

and the instructions to instal it

http://housing.uoregon.edu/RESNET/pc/hardware.html

HTH

albertross_2

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Network-Adapter-10-100-PCI-NIC-BN-REALTEK_W0QQitemZ130068367447QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=1790

jesster_2

Thanks, that's really helpful. The link i'd pasted WAS to the wrong kind of thing!

Last hair-brained question, I promise: the instalation instructions that wombat kindly posted talk about choosing a free ISA or PCI slot on the PC. What's that? I have free USB slots, is that the same thing?

albertross_2

It goes inside the PC.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=pci+slot&btnG=Search+Images

amcluesent

>The other question is: the wireless connection shows up on my laptop as 'security enabled'. Does this mean I wouldn't be able to piggyback onto it from my own PC anyway?<

The router and the work laptop will share a key to secure the wireless. I fyou connect your own PC via wireless, you'd need to ask the work IT dept. what key they were using. Maybe no a good idea to alert them to what you are up to...

albertross_2

but it will work wired without a key.

jesster_2

thanks for all the help. Work IT department are cool about me using the broadband for personal use, but I guess it's fair enough that it would have been taking the mick to expect them to help me with it! I'll get an Ethernet card and use it wired: it's right next to the router and phone socket anyway so there's no need not to.

Thank you :-)

donny-gal

Come on jesster, if you dont ask IT you will probably be the only one, they will be used to getting their brains picked.