2nd internet connection

kazmeister

Hi any help with this one would be appreciated.

We currently have a broadband connection and AOL which we dont have any problems with.

DS has been given a laptop for his birthday by his dad and wants to be able to use it in his room. This is mainly because OH isnt happy with him downloading stuff on the main computer (plus friction between them anyway causes probs!).

DS has a phone line in his bedroom and he has an aol icon on his laptop. He has also been given a modem (I think its a broadband one, by his dad).

What we need to know is how or if we can set up his laptop to the internet without incurring any additional broadband costs either via aol or on the phone bill. He is obviously aware that we cant have both PC and laptop connected at the same time.

Cheers in advance for any help offered

theallpowerful

Can I suggest you buy a router?

They're not TOO expensive (30 - 50 quid for a decent one) and will allow up to 4 computers (on most routers) to connect to the same internet connection simultaneously.

I use one for my 4 computers, and it does a wonderful job!

Mine's a linksys, and I can highly recommend it.

kazmeister

Hi thanks for that,

Can they be used in different rooms - ones upstairs others down

superscaper

kazmeister wrote: »

Hi thanks for that,

Can they be used in different rooms - ones upstairs others down

Either with a very long cable or get a wireless router.

theallpowerful

Yes, my router is upstairs connected to the upstairs phone line by my main desktop computer (it's sat next to me right now flashing away like a Christmas decoration!)

I use it wirelessly (although I could run hundreds of metres of cable around the house if I really wanted to) and can access my internet connection from anywhere in the house with the laptop. I can even access the internet from my back garden on nice sunny days! Sitting in the garden with a beer and the laptop messing round on the internet is great fun!

If you do decide to purchase or otherwise acquire one, be careful with how you set up security on it. Remember that if you can access it wirelessly, so can other people. It's fairly easy to stop other people accessing it, but requires you to do a couple of things... the manual should tell you how, or I'm more than happy to help you if you tell me what type of router it is when you buy it... My router is in what I call "paranoid mode" :rotfl:

rmg1

Sorry to "borrow" this thread, but a quick security question.
My router (a Dynamode) only has WEP security and cannot be upgraded. The wireless bit is currently turned off. If I turn it on and enable security, will I be OK or should I invest in a new router?

theallpowerful

WEP should be fine, as long as you're not under constant attack by competent hackers, especially if you can use 128bit mode (26 ascii characters) Just get yourself a random ascii pass here: http://www.warewolflabs.com/portfolio/programming/wlanskg/wlanskg.html save it as a text file, and then copy 'n' paste it wherever you need it...

Basically, although WEP is nothing like as secure as WPA, it'll still stop your neighbours hijacking your internet connection for peer 2 peer and stuff (unless you live next door to master hackers that is, in which case you might as well just leave your connection open, 'cos they'll still find a way to break the code!)

If in doubt, set MAC level security to deny access to all MAC addresses, and then allow access to specified MAC addresses (those of the computers in your house that you'd like to be able to access the network) as well, which cranks up your security a notch!

rmg1

I think I'll set the WEP encryption as high as it will go (I think there's an option to have a pass-phrase as well which I believe helps to generate the code.)

I'll also set it up so that only the computers I know about can use the router (I can find the MAC addresses easily enough)

Thanks.

kazmeister

Thanks for the replies.

Is there any way to do it without a router as not sure OH will be too happy about it (he seems to be trying to prevent DS usage) which is why I have to sort it out.

techexpert

yes, just buy a wireless network card for the main pc [the laptop should already have one] and network the 2 computers together, very easy to do

the main pc has to be on for the other pc to get internet

scheming_gypsy

kazmeister wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Is there any way to do it without a router as not sure OH will be too happy about it (he seems to be trying to prevent DS usage) which is why I have to sort it out.

still use a router! set up MAC address filtering** and when your husband doesn't want your son on the net he just blocks your sons MAC address.


** on my Belkin its a case of getting the MAC address from the DHCP client list (simple menu option), clicking the MAC filtering link, clicking enable and typing the MAC addresses into the filter that you want to allow through. When you don't want your son on the net you just go to the MAC address filtering and disable his access.


Plus if you want him to plug it into his phone line in his bedroom you've less control over him using the net. He'll just plug a microfilter in, connect a broadband modem and off he goes.