Computer set up wireless question......

alison74

I have a PC at home, which is connected to cable broadband and that's the extent of my connection knowledge ! No lap tops, no wireless routers in my house.

I have just purchased a computer for my brother today, it's sitting in my house and he joined aol and got this modem / free wireless router

http://info.aol.co.uk/broadband/broadband-silver.adp


to enjoy broadband 'without wires' and the pack is sitting in his house, waiting for me to set up !:eek:


Will his new PC have to be connected to the wall near the phone socket ?
Or can his PC be anywhere ? I haven't ordered anything extra for the PC - it's just a basic PC set up by my local computer shop.

Simple question for someone who knows the answer ! But I haven't a clue.

Any help would be great thanks

albertross_2

if you don't have a wireless card or dongle, yes and no

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2471408&postcount=37

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2471410&postcount=38

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=121274

alison74

albertross wrote:

if you don't have a wireless card or dongle, no

I appreciate your help, but I don't the the function of a wireless card or what a dongle is, so I don't know what you are saying 'no' to.

If you could let me know in layman's terms, it would be appreciated

KPR_2

You get a free wireless router so that plugs into your phone socket. For the PC top cennect to that you need to buy a wireless USB connector for it. You can pick these up for around £15-£20 locally. You can see example of one here hxxp://www.blueunplugged.com/p.aspx?p=115010&gclid=CJ_L8YbUs4oCFQ9TZwod7H9AnA

After that just follow instructions you got from AOL.

albertross_2

read the links and look for the pictures

For a pc or laptop to talk wirelessly to a router, it needs a wireless card, or wireless usb dongle, or wireless built-in (laptops).

Chippy_Minton

Repeating some of the info already posted...

For connecting wirelessly the PC can be almost anywhere (within about 30 metres of the router). To communicate wirelessly with the router the PC needs either a wireless card fitted inside the machine or a USB wireless adapter.

When initially setting up the router with the AOL connection details and enabling wireless security (encryption) it's easier to do this using a wired connection, i.e. PC connected to router with an Ethernet cable (supplied with the router) which means the PC needs to be next to the router.

You'll also need an ADSL microfilter on each BT socket in use.

alison74

Thanks for the advice guys - I'll stick with wired just now and get one of those USB connectors in the future.

I get 3 microfilters with the pack and have set up my mum's computer that way (also AOL) and sticking them on her phonepoints, so it should be similar.

crox

If the router can be wired and it's convenient then go with that, it'll be faster (mind you won't notice as wireless to the router is faster than the adsl connection), more secure (if you turn the wireless off in the router) and more reliable. I couldn't see any details on the router you'll probably need and ethernet (network cable) in order to connect to it