With impending new PC, ds#1 is taking over this heap of junk for general school work and mindless surfing of the internet.

How difficult is it to do the wireless thing so he can get bb in his room? Bear in mind I have no technical expertise at all and it takes forever for me to programme the video. :D

its not too difficult but i'd be reluctant to recommend it if you have zero technical knowledge. the problem with setting up wireless (or doing anything with your broadband connection) is that if you break it, you have no internet to turn to for help...

if you do go ahead with it, my suggestion would be to start off with zero security (bear with me here...) and get it working correctly. this isn't too difficult and should work basically out-of-the-box. then start ramping up your security step-by-step (eg, changing default SSID, turning off SSID broadcast, MAC filtering, WEP, port forwarding, etc). do each stage and make sure its working before trying the next stage.

just dont leave it connected for longer than necessary without some form of protection :)

Erm... I think I'll phone a friend :P

Do you really need wireless, lots of people have it because it is trendy.

I prefer hard wired, more reliable and safer.

Do you really need wireless, lots of people have it because it is trendy.

I prefer hard wired, more reliable and safer.

Well savvy I just assumed (maybe wrongly) that it was the easiest would I be better off with a router and drilling a hole in the ceiling?

of course its not just trendy. i scrapped wired when i got a new carpet cos i didnt want to have to bury the wire under the floorboards or nail it round the skirting boards. its a no-brainer decision. and in my experience, its perfectly safe and reliable.

it also allows me to hook up my wireless mp3 hifi (yeah, so thats a bit geeky and trendy...) and use my laptop in the garden.

of course its not just trendy. i scrapped wired when i got a new carpet cos i didnt want to have to bury the wire under the floorboards or nail it round the skirting boards. its a no-brainer decision. and in my experience, its perfectly safe and reliable.

it also allows me to hook up my wireless mp3 hifi (yeah, so thats a bit geeky and trendy...) and use my laptop in the garden.


I agree it's not just trendy, it is very practical if you will use the freedom that wireless connections offer.

If the second PC is, and always will remain in the same place then I would personally hard wire, just me, I prefer it.

Like you say perfectly safe and reliable, but only if you take the time and effort to set up correctly (Has you will have done)

I found and use 18 unsecured connections last week....Students eh love em.:)

If you go with one of the bigger companies like BT, the wireless is pretty staright-forward to set up. It is only when you try to mix and match that there are complications. I am using a 3rd party adaptor with a Wanadoo Livebox and believe me - I was really frustrated setting it up initially!

Well I have been with BY broad band since they started the service so switching isnt an option.

we're talking cable here. its not the same as adsl.

we're talking cable here. its not the same as adsl.

LL you obviously know what you are on about, unfortunately I don't. whats best cable or adsl (whatever that means) :P

cable is without doubt better in terms of speed and reliability (but not necessarily cost). adsl is delivered over your normal telephone lines and suffers from a severe reduction in speed the further you get away from the exchange. this doesnt apply to cable.

if you can get cable where you live (and the slightly higher cost is acceptable) then you really shouldn't even be thinking about adsl :)

apologies the_mandarin and fox20thc -- i was under the impression that you currently have blueyonder (which is the broadband service from telewest). having re-read the thread, i'm now not sure why i thought that...

who is currently providing your internet connection?

edit: now i've re-re-read the thread and have found the blueyonder reference. its getting late and i'm concentrating too much on the monty python story on bbc2...

its not too difficult but i'd be reluctant to recommend it if you have zero technical knowledge. the problem with setting up wireless (or doing anything with your broadband connection) is that if you break it, you have no internet to turn to for help...

Not strictly true as you'll still have your internal modem and can use that for dial up. From experience, I'd recommend keeping a back up dial up facility.

Not strictly true as you'll still have your internal modem and can use that for dial up. From experience, I'd recommend keeping a back up dial up facility.
I'll second that max too from experience. Got a pay as you go dial up account too and have had to use it once or twice.

I'll second that max too from experience. Got a pay as you go dial up account too and have had to use it once or twice.



Or if you don't have a dial up account use Firefly, there are of course many other ISP's that do registration free dial up access.
Firefly
Access Number :
0845 604 1528

Username : surf
Password : surf

Or if you don't have a dial up account use Firefly, there are of course many other ISP's that do registration free dial up access.
Firefly
Access Number :
0845 604 1528

Username : surf
Password : surf
Thanks for that savvy :thumbsup: I can also dial up using my mobile but its about £20 a minute I think :hihi: Have had to use that a few times when bt have killed the connection box on our local telegraph pole :rant:

If you want to go down the wired route and don't want cables all over the house then look at some of the Homeplug devices coming on to the market. They use the mains wiring in your house much like ADSL uses your phone line - transfer rates are up to 85mbit but I would expect real life rates to be a fair bit lower. It's not the cheapest kit but easy to use and there aren't the security issues you get with wireless.

A review of one Netgears latest Homeplug switches is at http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/hardware/2161989/netgear-xe104