A Virgin with routers etc, Advice needed

Soldato
Joined
11 Oct 2005
Posts
5,699
Location
Derbyshire
Unsure about wireless & Router's

Hi, posted a couple of threads today about some other things, but kind of related.
Now i have my computer in the bedroom where the BT master socket is and i take my broadband connection from there. So have never needed a wireless router etc, not do i know anything at all about them. Can build PC's all day long, but wireless, no idea!

Right, im going to be buying some form of wireless media player to plug into my Hi Fi seperates downstairs in the lounge, which is in no way connected to my pc at all.

Now i believe i will need a router ? for this, so it can communicate with my computer, fine

Which one ? are they all different, they seem to range quite abit in price, and i presume that i also need then a PCI network card for each computer then that is connected to the router ?

Am i correct in this thinking and also, will i lose any connection speed to the internet, presently with Wanadoo on 1.1mbs speed broadband.

many thanks, like i said, i am completly uneducated in the field.

Educate me please
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,381
Location
Behind you... Naked!
I doubt a Router is what you need for this?

My father was given a wireless media player a few weeks back, and he asked me about gettign to work, and I gave him a WAP ( Wireless Access Point ) to try out, I told him to just plonk it into wherever it would go into his PC and a few seconds later he was able to access the thing.

A Router, while it might actually get the job done for you, is more of a "Sharing the internet" kind of thing, while a W.A.P, is more of an "Add wireless to an already working setup, but leave the internet alone" kind of devicey thingy.

While these Wireless players are getting more and more popular, in my fathers particular case, a WAP was the way to go luckily, but I dare say that each and everyone is different.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
11 Oct 2005
Posts
5,699
Location
Derbyshire
But routers and the access point items seem pretty much the same in price, so wouldnt i be better of going for a router or does it not also do what a access point does, do i need to buy one of both ?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,381
Location
Behind you... Naked!
Well, to be honest, if you are going to go for the router, then yes, it would be a better option than a wireless point, but if you already have a setup using the modem and you just want to add one wireless thingy, the Access point would be a lot easier.

Having a router, would also give you an internet access that does not work ( because you are only using the access point side of things ) and it may cause more hassles, or at least it has seemed to do for a fair few people I know.

Dont get me wrong here... I think a router would be the better option, and simply get rid of your current internet hardware, and go fully with the router, and use that for your PC and your LapTop.
 
Associate
Joined
24 Feb 2003
Posts
2,236
Location
Brighton, UK
There are numerous advantages to a router. Especially the fact that it keeps your PC from having to connect directly to the Internet. So anyone trying to hack you gets to hack a dumb router instead of a vulnerable XP PC.

It will also allow you to connect more devices both by ethernet cable and WiFi conenction. (i.e laptops, etc)

There are plenty of people here who can help get a router setup. (just post in this thread and I'll help ya). It's quite easy really once someone explains the terms.


If you want to keep your current setup, then you could buy a router, and then "turn off" the Internet/WAN side of it. Just use it as an Access Point. And true, the cost difference isn't that big.


In my house setup I use a Linux distro for my router (Freesco on a AMD 586). This doesn't support WiFi, so I bought an Access Point. That was nice and easy to plug into my network switch and my laptops connect to that.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,381
Location
Behind you... Naked!
Not all routers have a modem built-in, and not all routers can enable / disable certain parts / functions of it, such as the internet etc.

A typical WAP simply adds more Ethernet ports and as the name suggests, Wireless ability to your network.

Was originally thinking that adding a WAP would be a straight forward idea, and as simple as it can get,as it would not require anyone to actually change any settings at all, it just plugs in, and away you go ( Providing other PCs have compatible adapters that will talk to it )

Going the router way, while it may be easy as pie, I have to say, that I also have a few issues now and then, especially when I try to get a Laptop to talk to it and set it up, and have no ethernet, so it may be a little confusing to someone who has never done it before???

Hey, here is one for you...

My setup

BT Voyager 205 Modem + Netgear MR814v2 Router.

Last week I changed over from BT to XLN on my Broadband.

Now, yesterday I got a Linksys Router/Gateway/ blah de blah... Not sure which model, its not here its at home.

Anyway, I was setting up a mates Laptop, to the very same Router as I had, and I switched my lot off, so the 2 wireless routers would nto conflict, but could I get his to get onto the internet???? - I used my own details from BT by the way.

Now, I connected mine back up, and that too would not connect either?

I then realised that I have changed over and must now use my login for XLN instead of BT... It was too late, and I didnt know it.

So, thats been a bugger for me, that had me up till 4am last night, thinking it was me... I was gutted this morning when I phoned them up only for them to confirm that I had indeed swapped over.

So, back to the original plan, I still say that a WAP is by far the easiest way to do things for adding his Laptop to his already setup... er.. Setup, but a router will require a tiny bit of work, and will be the superior option, not only giving everythign needed for internet / routing / WAP etc, but also in one device rather than having several different devices.
 
Associate
Joined
24 Feb 2003
Posts
2,236
Location
Brighton, UK
FatRakoon - I was not arguing with you. I was supplying a different option. :) If you noticed my answer said that I also use an Access Point, but I pointed to the advantages of Routers which I setup for my customers.

As to your problem you have half described - how can you blame the hardware when the problem was caused by the wrong username and password? A purely coincidental error which was mainly unlucky timing because the accounts were being changed. You can't really blame the router for that. :)
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,381
Location
Behind you... Naked!
Nah mate... No arguements here either.

We both know the router is the better option in one way, the WAP in another... Both our opinions are important to help Chef decide whats best for him... No arguements mate.

Erm, the router thingy, sorry, I didnt make it clear...

The Voyager & Netgear were replaced a few days ago due to lots of issues, such as slowdowns, inability to actually get anywhere near 2MB speeds, falling over when I try to get more than 2 PCs online at any one time, and so on... It was replaced with the Linksys which has connected just fine for the last few days, using the BT Log-in info, but obviously sometime since swapping the Voyager & Netgear with the Linksys, I had also changed ISP, but I had not been disconnected... I was still connected with BT it seems.

So, when I needed to play with the LapTop, and was unable to do it, naturally , it caught me out, and I didnt click until I was also failing on my own Router, and of course, by this time, it was well past 4 in the morning and I was not 100% in the mental dept!

Even more annoying, is that the Voyager & Netgear combo I took to the shop, set it up in like 10 seconds ( Router home page brought up my login & Password and one button was connect ) and it was done, and all day I have had 2 work PCs and 2 customers PCs doing updates withotu a hitch!!! - Hells bells.


No, now, with just the router at home, the internet is no better with the linksys than with the Voyager / Netgear and if it wasnt that I am going to be going fully Linux on this PC, I would go back to the USB Modem in an instant.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
11 Oct 2005
Posts
5,699
Location
Derbyshire
Cheers guys, i appreciate your advice here. I think I shall buy a router, more than likely a netgear one as they seem one of the better options out there ( i think)

Then i have to decide on the wirelss music player to go in my lounge. The i want to buy a Mp3 player.

if only those damn 6 lottery numbers would come in!!

So much i want, all delayed because of that silly little thing called money.
 
Back
Top Bottom