help with broadband

st

I am looking for broadband and have a desktop and also laptop both on dial up.
I use my laptop for travel plugging into hotel phones etc or at my parents phone to dial up.

Excuse my ignorance,however for broadband I require a new modem for my desktop,ok but how will my laptop connect either at home or when I travel ?
I have read that if you have more than 1 pc you need an ethenet wireless connection?
I am totally confused.
I have probably decided for the ISP NDO but any suggestions appreciated,I do not have such large downloads and need web mail and to use away from home.
Many thanks.

Joe_Bloggs

You can use an ASDL modem/router to hook up more than one device. These can be wireless and wired at the same time. As for in hotels I have no idea what wired / wireless internet services they provide.
J_B.

alpha112

You can only use broadband when you are at home.

You can get a wireless router which you connect to the phoneline and to the network port on your computer. If it doesnt have a network card (NIC) then buy one for about £5 on ebay. Then get a wireless PCMCIA card for your laptop.

Then you can use your laptop to surf the internet all over your house.

A router is more expensive than a standard ADSL modem but it means if you get another computer at a later date it will be easier to connect it to the existing setup.

As for an ISP, go for tiscali or BTs cheapest service, provided you wont use it for a lot of downloads.

Rex_Mundi

If you stay in larger hotels, then a wireless card in your laptop may be of more use for you. My OH works in a fairly large hotel and they have a wireless hotspot covering the whole hotel. You buy a voucher at reception to connect to the network. A lot of hotels are doing this now.

st

thanks for the help,however still not sure re these cards,how do they work?

still nor sure how you would connect up to your isp when travelling in uk? if you can only use the broadband connection-account at home??
Help please!
Thanks

Toxteth_OGrady

ManyISPs also have a dial-up connection, at no extra cost other than what you pay for the phone call, in case ADSL goes down. You should be able to use this with youe same username and password.

:cool:

TOG

Browntoa

you can still use either your dial up modem or broadband modem when it is installed, if the laptop and the desktop have netwoek cards you can always set up a home network, set one as the master and one as the slave PC and they can both use the same broadband

st

Ok thank you all,so I sign up for broadband and at home for both desktop and laptop use this connection and have a network card for the laptop.

When travelling I simply use my laptop as before but using the isp,s back up dial up number?
Sorry for my silly questions.

Also at present I have 2 telephone lines inot my "home office,1 for fax and modem and the other for phone and answer machine.
As faxes are now rare,I want to cancel this line and just use the 1 phone line for broadband and calls,would I able to connect my fax also in the same box?

Thanks help moneysavers.

Toxteth_OGrady

st wrote:

Ok thank you all,so I sign up for broadband and at home for both desktop and laptop use this connection and have a network card for the laptop.

Yes.

When travelling I simply use my laptop as before but using the isp,s back up dial up number?

Yes. Of course, you'll need a dial-up modem for your laptop.

Sorry for my silly questions.

No such thing on here (only silly answers!).

Also at present I have 2 telephone lines inot my "home office,1 for fax and modem and the other for phone and answer machine.
As faxes are now rare,I want to cancel this line and just use the 1 phone line for broadband and calls,would I able to connect my fax also in the same box?

Yes. First plug the ADSL microfilter into the phone line. One m-filter socket will be used to connect to your ADSL. The other can be used for voice/fax as normal. If your phone and fax machine are different devices (or you use your pc to fax) you'll need to put a 2-way splitter in the latter m-filter socket to run one lead for the phone and one for the fax (again if using pc this will be connected to the pc's fax modem).

Thanks help moneysavers.

:cool:

TOG

Rex_Mundi

still nor sure how you would connect up to your isp when travelling in uk? if you can only use the broadband connection-account at home??

You could still use the same method as you do at present if you wanted to use your ISP.

Alternatively. With a wireless card in your laptop, if the hotel has a hotspot (quite common nowadays). You can detect their network. You buy a voucher from the hotel, this gives you a number to tap in which will let you connect. Then you can use the hotels broadband to connect to the internet. This is obviously better than using dialup if you have a lot to do online while you're away. Plus it's prepaid as the cost involved is paid for via the voucher.