Wireless connection

[Doris_Pinks]

To keep it brief, well I will try!!

We have to move out of this house into my Mum's for who knows how long, a month, several months?

Sooooooooo  can't do without broadband for the computers, but do not want to be running cables here there and everywhere at my Mum's.

Do I understand it correctly that the wireless thingy (technical term that) plugs into the phone line (which I will have to have wanadoo  broadband put on) and then thats it, no wires etc? Which is the best one, bearing in mind price matters! (think the above company are offering to rent me one for £4 per month, but have no idea if their product is any good)

The kids computer is old so the way I look at it I will require a USB Wireless Dongle??? :o :o  How can I check if I need one on mine?  and does that just plug in, and where do i get one from?

Sorry lots of questions but I am leaping into the great unknown here! ;D

Yours, confused untechnical D_P

[Doris_Pinks]

[OliveOil]

Hi D P

I recently went wireless!

I got teh wireless terminal and had to buy a wireless adapter for the pc too... basically the adapter goes in teh pc and receives the message from the terminal downstairs.  It cost me £79 all up.

But do shop around, I think pc world have an offer on at the moment.

Anyone in a pc shop will beable to advise in the most non techy way!

[Doris_Pinks]

Thanks for that great simple explaination Olive, i guess I will have to delve into the world of the technical and look for a wireless Terminal! :o

[glow777]

Hi DP

I'm posting you this just before I disappear on hols for a week so wont be able to offer any further advice. But here's my say (by the way I work in IT if that makes any difference).

You can access a wifi router by cable or wirelessly so if you can place the router next to a pc (telephone line permitting) you only need to have a wireless adapter on the remote PC.

Beware of companies renting wifi routers - I have recently bought 2 of these and had no problems

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/104382/rb/19355199451

£35 each with a usb dongle - these are only 802.11b which is still faster than your bb connection - if you want 11g have a look at the links at the bottom of the page they sell for about £50 with adapter.

Bear in mind you have to sign up for a years contract so you will be renting at £48/year.

I would take a package with free usb modem buy a wifi router and sell the usb modem on ebay or keep safe just in case.

HTH glow

[Doris_Pinks]

Thank You very much for the link Glow, Great site!
Have ended up buying a slightly more expensive one from U.S Robotics, based on recommendations on the site, also ended up with a new scanner too! :-\ ;D
Thank You again, may be calling for help again when it arrives! ;)
DP

[glow777]

and you wll be most welcome - hope everythng goes well

[Doris_Pinks]

Well, it works!!! Now there is a surprise to me! ;D  Just one question, how secure is a wireless connection??? Can the next door neighbour see my banking details etc.?? ??? ::) :D  DP

[littlegem]

Doris P
the security of wireless depends on braodband company. we have wanadoo and the wireless bit is secure. dont worry though, if its not they wont be able to look at your computer. the only thing they can do is use up your megabites of broadband. in other words, if you've signed up for 1MB a month and someone else logs into it then your usage will be less and any MB of data transferred/received you will have to pay extra. if your just using broadband for surfing etc and not downloading loads of stuff, i wouldn't worry, the amount of MB they allow you is quite a lot. but if you are unsure contact your provider for security measures but i expect they will have already supplied you with the security. the only way others can get into your computer is with viruses etc, so make sure you have a spyware and firewall security package. avast and se-adaware is free. google them. just remember to do weekly/daily scans with these programs to remove any unwanted files, viruses, spyware etc

[glow777]

Sorry Little Gem youre a little wrong here.

Security is set by the wireless router. You can use encrypted codes to deny others permission to your router, internet connection and network. If you log onto your router there will be a security tab have a look.
There will probably be a firewall built into the router which you can configure to restrict use of outgoing and incoming traffic for varied applications.

Anyone gaining access to your router will be able to gain access to any shared folders and hardware, therefore if you are not going to secure wifi access to your router you should close all network shares. If you have an unsecure network connection chances are someone will connect to the internet via your router and download massive files, slowing your internet connection and taking all your available download allowance.

Glo