advice please for wireless connection

clancy

i have recieved a PC for my kids from a family member, which is about 4 yrs old, the pc i have already is approx 2 yrs old, i am changing my provider for phone and internet to BT and they will send me a wireless rerouter, now i have been advised by the lady at BT today that i will need to purchase a usb wireless adapter for each of my pc's if they are not wireless compatable ( i dont think they are) so i looked it up in argos and i can buy the BT ones in there for £25 quid each, i decided to go to curry's today to see if i could purchase one a bit cheaper, well when i explained what i wanted to the sales person he informed me that i would have to buy a certain wireless adapter that cost £40, i told him i had seen the usb one in agros and it was much cheaper, he then said yeah but you need a stronger one to give me more power to reach the pc that will be upstairs, i live in a basic masionette and am not very clued up to things like this so please could someone help me!!!!! also can i run the pc my pc thats downstairs next to my phone socket through a ethernet lead instead of purchasing 2 usb wireless adapters ?????

espresso

Ignore the muppet in Curry's! You can buy USB adaptors from many places for £10. Aldi have them for sale this Thursday for £10.99. You can connect using Ethernet cable if you want.

clancy

espresso wrote: »

Ignore the muppet in Curry's! You can buy USB adaptors from many places for £10. Aldi have them for sale this Thursday for £10.99. You can connect using Ethernet cable if you want.

thanks i did think the guy in curry was taking the pea, i will defo go to aldi, but can any usb work with my BT router, and will i be able to connect it to the one upstairs, will range be strong enough cause i dont want cable running all over my home, i will add the one downstairs next to the router through ethernet lead, thanks again

kltpzyxm

clancy wrote: »

thanks i did think the guy in curry was taking the pea, i will defo go to aldi, but can any usb work with my BT router, and will i be able to connect it to the one upstairs, will range be strong enough cause i dont want cable running all over my home, i will add the one downstairs next to the router through ethernet lead, thanks again

Hi
generally, any USB wireless network device will be OK with your router. If it isn't, its more likely to be an issue with the router than the usb device.

HTH

espresso

They are all made to the same 802.11b/g specification unless you go for a proprietary speed/range booster type but both the wireless router and any adaptors would need to be the same make to get the benefit of this. I have never found range to be a problem in any of the wifi networks that I have installed.

clancy

espresso wrote: »

They are all made to the same 802.11b/g specification unless you go for a proprietary speed/range booster type but both the wireless router and any adaptors would need to be the same make to get the benefit of this. I have never found range to be a problem in any of the wifi networks that I have installed.

even though i dont know if my pc is wireless will a usb still work

espresso

Yes although it would obviously be best to find out first.

clancy

espresso wrote: »

Yes although it would obviously be best to find out first.

do you know if i can find out by looking on my pc if its wireless???

kltpzyxm

clancy wrote: »

do you know if i can find out by looking on my pc if its wireless???

Hi clancy,
assuming you have windows (as opposed to another O/S installed)
go to Control Panel, then System, then Hardware, then Device Manager. You should be able to see alll the devices on your pc.
Look under Network Adapters...

HTH

clancy

kltpzyxm wrote: »

Hi clancy,
assuming you have windows (as opposed to another O/S installed)
go to Control Panel, then System, then Hardware, then Device Manager. You should be able to see alll the devices on your pc.
Look under Network Adapters...

HTH

in network and internet connections i have set up a wireless connection set up wizard - does that mean its wireless???

espresso

clancy wrote: »

in network and internet connections i have set up a wireless connection set up wizard - does that mean its wireless???

No you need to look in device manager, as previously stated. Everyone has that wizard, wireless or not. Note that Aldi have three different types of wireless adaptor, PCI, PCMIA & USB to choose from for £10.99.