What Provider & What Package? Help Needed!

Cycrow

why would you need to setup a new network when you are just changing the router ?

are all these device on wireless, or are some wired ?

for wireless, as long as the SSID and key are the same on the new router none of the wireless devices should even notice a difference.

anything wired should work without a problem as long as the router is on the same IP or they are using DHCP

macman

Digital_Dan wrote: »

As I said in an earlier post:
A change of router will mean I have to go through setting all this up again. If I have no alternative to doing this I may well have to bite the bullet; but I would much rather not if I can avoid it.



Thank you very much for that link.

On the page linked to it says:

I have just tried entering http://192.168.1.1 into my browser and I have gained access to my routers user interface. This is encouraging!

To be honest it’s all double dutch to me. The various settings - DNS, Sub-net masks etc. is an alien language that I simply do not understand.

I will however persevere with this and if it starts to make some sense; then I may well get enough confidence to switch providers..

Thank you

You don't need to understand it. Just get on and do your switch and resolve any problems if/when they arise. Otherwise remain with your existing provider.
You are making an enormous mountain out of a very small molehill. Worst case, you might have to pay someone to come in for half an hour to assist you with set-up if you can't follow the very simple instructions supplied. But I doubt it.

Digital_Dan

macman wrote: »

You don't need to understand it. Just get on and do your switch and resolve any problems if/when they arise. Otherwise remain with your existing provider.
You are making an enormous mountain out of a very small molehill. Worst case, you might have to pay someone to come in for half an hours to assist you with set up if you can't follow the very simple instructions supplied. But I doubt it.

I doubt you would say that if you knew the sheer amount of time I have wasted and frustration and anger I have felt caused by PC related problems in the past!

I have tried many times to sort problems out and either failed or ended up making things even worse.

And yes; I’ve usually ended up having to pay someone to sort it all out.

I appreciate you don’t need to understand things to make them work; but the problem is that computer terminology isn’t always clear to the lay person, Often when you go onto a forum to ask for help (as I have done before) you end up with advice from well meaning folk; who certainly know how to solve your problem but seem unable to explain that solution in a clear step by step way that assumes no prior knowledge.

Previously I was told to “point” a particular programme toward a particular drive. This meant nothing to me until it was explained in a step by step way. And the answer had assumed that I knew how to use windows explorer – which at the time did not.

In a similar vein if I get a network problem; and I use the ‘trouble shooter’ to try and resolve it; I usually end being told “Contact your network administrator” – who is me! I find all this both unclear and very frustrating!

I apologise for going off topic; but I just wanted to emphasise that I don’t believe that I am “making an enormous mountain out of a very small molehill” as I have been down this type of road many times before!

But thank you once again for your help and advice which is very much appreciated

closed

this site has a techie forum, which costs nothing

macman

A broadband switch these days is essentially a plug 'n play routine. You either get a router that is preset for your ISP, or you get a CD that runs the set-up script for you. All ISP's have tech support that will assist you if needed.
All home broadband is self-install and there are millions of subscribers are successfully switching every year. You just seem to lack confidence, so give it a go -you can't 'break' anything.

Digital_Dan

closed wrote: »

this site has a techie forum, which costs nothing

Thank you. I am sure I will be making use of the Techie Forum. Especially as I now seem to have more PC related problems to sort out!

My concern with regard to either configuring my existing router or changing it; is that won't have internet access to ask for help! Though as macman has pointed out I would get support from my new ISP.

macman wrote: »

A broadband switch these days is essentially a plug 'n play routine. You either get a router that is preset for your ISP, or you get a CD that runs the set-up script for you. All ISP's have tech support that will assist you if needed.
All home broadband is self-install and there are millions of subscribers are successfully switching every year. You just seem to lack confidence, so give it a go -you can't 'break' anything.

I appreciate your comments. I'm not sure that I lack confidence; otherwise I probably wouldn't have attempted some of things that have caused me much frustration in the first place!

It's good to know that installing a router is a 'plug and play' process.

I could bore you with a story of how the last 'plug and play' device I tried to install took many e-mails to tech support and several days of mucking about before I finally got it partially working - but I'll spare you that particular tale of woe!

I will now get my MAC code off BT whilst I continue to consider which ISP to move to and which package to choose.

Thank you for your advice and encouragement.

Xplozion

By the way if you were to choose Sky, you'd have to use their own router.