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Seeking some help for wireless connectivity
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| bigperf |
Hey guys just got a laptop and so its time to get wireless at my place.
Any specific wireless router brands to look at?
im under the impression thats all i need and then time warner will get me a username/password.
there are 4 networks available to me, but they are all password protected! Grrr
thanks in advance! |
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| able.h |
| quote: | Originally posted by bigperf
Hey guys just got a laptop and so its time to get wireless at my place.
Any specific wireless router brands to look at?
im under the impression thats all i need and then time warner will get me a username/password.
there are 4 networks available to me, but they are all password protected! Grrr
thanks in advance! |
you might need to get your own wireless router, that's the first thing to do.
time warner only provides you with the cable modem. Then you will have to connect that cable modem to wireless router.
follow the guideline on the user manual on the wireless router to get connected.
If you dont' have one already, I'd recommend to get NETGEAR wirless router brand. they're inexpensive and reliable. |
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| bigperf |
| thanks Able. Netgear sounds good. not trying to spend more than i have to on a reliable one, so thanks for the suggestion. |
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| DaveT |
I used to like netgear, but the last two I've bough have sucked -- one of our laptops and some friends laptops would randomly lose connection with it, and the other was a BIG issue which I will explain below. Think I have a Belkin now, but mainly got it because it was on sale.
Most decent ones have very easy basic setup. Hell, the Belin I have now asked what I used when setting it up. I think it just had a drop-down menu and "Road Runner" was a choice. It did the rest. Of course, got ports opened up, and other things setup on it now.
Also, if you plan on opening up ports (so you can use utorrent, games, P2P stuff, etc w/o restrictions), you need a router where you can either tell the DHCP address it gives you to never expire or be able to setup an internal static IP that attaches itself to your mac address. The last netgear router I got DID NOT do this, which was stupid because it basically made opening up ports pointless because my internal IP address could change anytime I re-concted to the router. There was a huge, huge load of users on the netgear boards all pissed off over it. Looks like Netgear started taking out the setting in their cheaper routers. That's why I had to return it, and then I got the Belkin (the netgear was on sale when I got it, but wasn't when i took it back adn the belkin was). |
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| ShweetuH |
| When you get your internet installed, just ask for the modem and thats it. the included wireless modems they have are useless. I've had a netgear wireless router for years and never had a problem within 150FT of the router. |
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| bigperf |
thanks guys.
well i have had road runner(time warner) for a while so thats wired and it is connected to my desktop. So i just want to get something so that i can use my laptop(wireless) and still be able to ALSO use the net on my desktop if i choose to.
I assume all i need is a wireless router, but perhaps since my desktop is NOT capable of wireless, i have to buy a card for it?
I dont mind keeping wires on my desktop, but i want to be able to have a wireless connection for the laptop.
thanks again.
im under the impression i need one of these:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...16#BVQAWidgetID |
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| MelBeat |
Do you currently have service with Time Warner?
If no, then you CAN get a free wireless router, just look at timewarnercablespecial.com
If you already have service, then you already have a modem.
If you now have 2 computers AND you absolutely must have maximum speed on both computers at the same time, then you will need to call Time Warner and ask for a second IP address. Your service will be slightly more expensive. You'll also need a hub / access point or wireless router (see more below).
Otherwise, just add a wireless router. Time Warner can rent you one for $5/month, and help you configure it but it's probably not worth it as the routers don't break that often and they're not that expensive to begin with. The single IP address given to you by Time Warner will be taken by the router and the router will serve internal (fake) IP addresses to your computers. Speed will be shared. The router will also serve as your firewall. |
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| MelBeat |
More posts were made while I was typing mine :)
I have a Linksys WRT320N and I am happy with it. It doesn't have external antennae which may have an effect on range but I haven't had any issue.
If your laptop has draft n-wireless, look for a router that can also do wireless n (up to 300Mbps) and not just g (54Mbps). It will have better range and speed up transfers between your computers. |
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| bigperf |
i think what melbeat stated makes most sense...the two computers will very rarely if at all both be surfing the net, so im not worried about a slowdown due to sharing.
guess a wireless router is all i need.
So basically this thing will take my wired modem and create a wireless signal for my laptop while maintaining my desktop wired connection working as it has, RIGHT?
if so, i think i understand this now :toocool: |
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| MelBeat |
| Yes, most wireless routers have an internal 4 port hub, so there are 5 ports in the pack, one labelled WAN or INTERNET to connect to the modem and 4 labelled LAN. Also, most are 100 base T. In my case I have 2 wired computers with gigabit LAN, so it was important to me to get a wireless router with gigabit LAN ports. |
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