Help trying to connect wireless adsl router up to an old pc

Slinky

My desktop (HP Pavillion 6620) only had a phone jack point and usb connectors on it. We've got an adsl firewall router we want to connect in so we can use broadband for it and the much newer laptop (which we bought with all the wirelessy type bits in). The router has an ethernet cable with 2 male RG45 connectors on it. We can't plug the connector into the pc. Does anybody know of an adaptor to connect an RG45 to either the phone point or the USB port? PC world didn't seem to think this was possible.

jakemuk

Yeah you need a usb ethernet adaptor pick them up for a few quid of ebay, although alot or posted from HK so watch out for the postage,

or you could just get a pci network card £1.76 from dixons and put it inside the pc 2 minute job just slots into a slot on your motherboard comes with instructions, And you will be up and running

Curry_Queen

If it's an older PC you might want to check out the motherboard before buying a PCI card to make sure you get one with the right connections. I know modem's have two different types of connection slots, so I'm assuming PCI cards may well have changed too, but if not then any old ethernet 10/100 NIC should be ok to connect to.

scheming_gypsy

if it's 'old' old then look for an ISA network card to be safe.

arealhighlander

How old is the PC? According to the HP Website you should have one ISA slot and 2 free PCI slots.

In case you are not too technical ISA and PCI are different types of socket that you can plug extra cards into inside your PC.

What you need on your computer is a network connection. The network connector is bigger than a phone one. You currently have a modem, you cannot plug the router into this.

You can either buy a Network Card with a PCI interface (under a tenner) or if you are not confident in opening your PC to install it, you can also buy an adaptor which will plug into your USB and then connect your router to that (a USB to network interface)

Stabilo

arealhighlander wrote:

How old is the PC? According to the HP Website you should have one ISA slot and 2 free PCI slots.

In case you are not too technical ISA and PCI are different types of socket that you can plug extra cards into inside your PC.

What you need on your computer is a network connection. The network connector is bigger than a phone one. You currently have a modem, you cannot plug the router into this.

You can either buy a Network Card with a PCI interface (under a tenner) or if you are not confident in opening your PC to install it, you can also buy an adaptor which will plug into your USB and then connect your router to that (a USB to network interface)

Do the USB to ethernet adaptors actually work, I read that they weren't very good?

Fraserca

USB to Ethernet adapters work just fine. We use them all the time in my internet cafe for laptops etc without built in ethernet.. Usually with Win XP they just work ( may need a reset to establish network connection ) with ME / win 98 install the drivers first. Also work without drivers in late Macs.

Great devices

Stabilo

Fraserca wrote:

USB to Ethernet adapters work just fine. We use them all the time in my internet cafe for laptops etc without built in ethernet.. Usually with Win XP they just work ( may need a reset to establish network connection ) with ME / win 98 install the drivers first. Also work without drivers in late Macs.

Great devices

Thanks, just ordered 2 from UK ebay seller (under £13 for the pair incl delivery).

Slinky

Thanks for the help everyone. We went out and got an ethernet card with a RG45 jack and OH installed it in the pc. After a lot of mucking about, including a phone call to Netgear in the end, we're up and running! YIPPEEEE!!!

Next question though, I saw lots of RG45male-RG45male cables whilst in pc world. Can we insert another ethernet card with a RG45 and connect directly between the laptop and pc? There is a spare space in the pc to fit another one I think. I do a lot of shuffling of files between the two and it would be much easier if I could plug in a cable and save directly onto the other drive, rather than having to do a shuffle with a USB pen.

scheming_gypsy

why? you've just installed a router!! you don't need to shuffle with a USB pen, or another network card as the router networks the 2 pc's together.

Slinky

As you can probably gather from the fact I've asked the question, I'm not too hot on this subject?!!! Could you please enlighten me how I can access one from the other?

We just thought the router would give us access for two machines at the same time, apparently it's going to be much more useful than that from what you're suggesting.

Thanks