Do I have to have a router?

mumoftwins

Hi,

When I move house I would prefer to get rid of the router (we have 2 pc's) as it causes so many problems (see Internet connection slow thread). However, I also wondered how good wireless actually is? Would it be possible to have each computer with its own modem or am I talking complete tosh?

MercilessKiller

1) you can't have wireless without a router
2) a slow internet connection is to do with your ISP and phone line rather than a router.
3) For each computer to have its own modem you'd need a DSL and a Cable line. In other words you're talking tosh
4) Most (if not all) modems provided by ISP's these days are indeed wireless routers.

May not be what you wanted to hear but hey! They're here to make life easier

isofa

No you can only have one ADSL "termination", i.e. either a "modem" or a router. Routers are infinitely more secure than a "modem" connected direct to one PC.

Wireless is hit and miss, in some houses you can get a good connection, in others it can be useless and frustrating.

Have a look at PowerLine Networking, which runs network connections over the mains in your house, so as long as there is a socket you can network two or more PCs together.

Chippy_Minton

No, you don't, but it's better and easier to use a wired/wireless router to share an internet connection independently between several PCs. The alternative is to have just PC1 directly connected to the internet via a modem, and then PC2 can access the internet via PC1, however PC1 has to be switched on to do this.

Silent_Bob_3

You can in fact have two ADSL modems installed (one per PC) BUT you need a second telephone line installed.

As said above slow net connection is down to your Internet Service Provider.

krysus

Actually, you don't need a router... you can set-up what's known as an Ad-Hoc (or Computer-to-Computer) wireless network.

Example :

PC 1 is connected to internet (however, ADSL, cable, dial-up).
PC 1 also has wireless adapter.

PC 2 has wireless adapter.

But, i tried it, and it's a pain in the backside to setup, doesn't have any encryption capabilities, and is prone to crashing (well, mine at least) your PC.

Get a decent internet provider and a decent router - far easier and reliable in the long run...

MercilessKiller

krysus, you missed out the main thing.

With ad-hoc wireless networking using something like ICS, the computer attached to the net MUST be on for the other computer to access the internet thus the router being the only solution.

mumoftwins

Thanks all. My internet connection has been awful this last week - broadband cable modem (VirginMedia) and we had a router for the other PC to connect, now that I have plugged my PC directly into the modem it seems to be working fine. So could the router just kn**ker*d?

MercilessKiller

Depends. What was the problem when you were using the router? Did you get an internet connection at all? It may be that Virgin Media is registered to the MAC Address of your PC and you need to register the modem to recognise the router

mumoftwins

Well, with both pc's connected to the router for the last 12 months we have had the odd blip where we've lost internet - but this last week on my PC which is the main one I could access a website or emails then after 5 mins or when I tried to 'turn the page' it would say that internet connection had been lost. When I checked on Network Connections and clicked on repair I got a message saying 'Can't clear DNS Cache - please contact your ISP provider' which I did and am down to one PC with internet connection cos router not in use.

Does that make any sense to you??

MercilessKiller

Hmm I assume you tried restarting the router? Maybe resetting it (hard reset by pushing a pin into the little button on thebottom) may have sorted it out! Either way you're problem isn't too common

Do you know anyway who's familiar with networking? I would recommend any students doing computer/networking degrees. Funnily enough a lot more reliable than post people in the yellow pages these days!