Hi there I am hoping shortly to purchase a new laptop, probably a Tiny Power Mediabook. I would like to connect this wirelessly to the Internet via my Wanadoo broadband internet account but am not sure what I would need to do/buy to achieve this. Will I need some sort of wireless ADSL router and a card to slot into the laptop? Also someoe said to me today that I would also need another host PC to be wired up to the router before it would work - is this right? I was rather hoping that I could accomplish this with just one pc - my new laptop and no wires! I'd be very grateful for any guidance anyone could give me please.
If your currently have no router, then I would get a wireless cable/dsl router such as for example a linksys wrt54g or a similar dlink, netgear etc etc. You would plug the broadbands modem connection into the routers WAN port. If you have other wired pcs, attach them to the LAN ports on the router. If your mediabook doesnt have built in wireless than you will need a wireless adapter. I think it is a good idea but not absolutley necessary to purchase the same brands for both.
There are other hardware ways to do it but this method seems to be the easiest and gives you more functionallity, i.e. Firewall, DHCP etc.
You'll need a wireless router or access point into which you can plug your existing broadband modem, or else a wireless router which has a builtin modem.
No, thats rubbish. If you have your modem attached to the router, you don't need any other PCs.
"David Gartrell" wrote in news:cobncm$3pt$ snipped-for-privacy@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk:
This model (and indeeed most current laptops) comes with a mini-PCI wireless card ready fitted, so no - you don't need to buy an additional wireless card.
Most UK ISPs provide a USB ADSL modem. If you have broadband already, then you likely have this. The problem is that almost all other networking kit uses Ethernet for its connections, rather than USB.
To provide a wireless network you will need an ADSL modem and a wireless access point. To share the connection between more than one computer, the most flexible way to achieve this is to buy a router.
For home use, I suggest that you buy a combined all-in-one ADSL modem / router / switch / wireless device. Have a look at the reviews on the ADSLguide site for suggested models:
Disconnect the USB modem, connect and configure the new device, and you should be up and away within a few minutes. When you're happy, you can sell the USB modem on eBay to offset the cost of the new device, or keep it for emergency use...
Perhaps they were referring to setting up the router? It is always best to set up the router using a wired connection, and *essential* to use a wired connection when upgrading the router's firmware.
With a wired connection, you can check that your connection to the ISP is working OK, then move on to set up the wireless side of things. However, all current laptops will come with an Ethernet port, so this is no problem either - you would only need your new laptop. Once configured and working, you don't need any wires.
It could be argued that buying a router is overkill for a single PC, or that an all-in-one device is not such a good solution as a separate modem and access point. But the cost of current kit is such that it's often cheaper to buy an all-in-one box, and a router will allow you to add more PCs as you wish. Strange how they seem to multiply :)
The advice you received about wiring a computer to the router was probably misunderstood. I do recommend that when configuring the router for the first time, that you hard wire your laptop to the router. Get it all set up that way, including setting up security etc. and then go wireless, once it's all operational. Do not do router firmware upgrades while connected wirelessly. You don't need any computer connected permanently by wire.
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