wireless & internet safety - I have no idea!

[Rosieglow]

Geeks, please help me! My understanding of pcs stalled about Windows 98 and I'm now way behind understanding anything techy.

We have an old laptop on a cable modem and are planning to buy something newer. I was thinking of keeping the old laptop for the kids to use, while we get the new one. It would be useful to get a wireless modem so the kids can use the laptop downstairs (so I can see what they are doing!)..

OK - so what I don't understand is...can we have two laptops running simultaneously off one modem? And, if they are running simultaneously, do their internet security softwares still run indepedantly? i.e. if the kids download something dodgy on to their pc while I'm doing my internet banking can the virus also attack my pc because I'm on the same wireless network?

As you see I don't understand this much at all - thanks for any advice or tips of what I need to think about.

Usually (depending on your service provider) you have a modem from the outside world and then this goes into a router (sometimes they are combined in one).

The router can take many wireless connections at once (and usually a few wired ones).

If your laptop doesnt have wireless you will need to buy a wireless adapter for it (several types available) or you can plug the network cable into the router if it is nearby.

You should run your internet security software on each computer.

I think our router / modem must be one thing as we only have one black box (a Virgin one). But I guess we will have to change this for a wireless one.

The security software I have is licenced for 3 pcs so no problem installing it on another computer. I just don't understand if two separate pcs with their own security software using the same wireless / broadband is safer than just all using one computer.

My thinking in setting the kids up on their own pc was that all their dodgy downloading mistakes would be kept safely separate from my own pc (used for work & banking). But I wasn't sure if I'm being ignorant & that by sharing a wireless connection any attacking viruses could access any pc on that system - not just the pc that allowed it in?

If that's the case then there's not so much benefit in keeping the old pc going for the kids - we might as well just all use the new one.

Any ideas?

bump

"I think our router / modem must be one thing as we only have one black box (a Virgin one). But I guess we will have to change this for a wireless one."

Not necessarily...

If your modem supports an ethernet connection and not just USB then you can plug it into a wireless router and then that wireless router can share the connection with other computers.

I'm not sure if there are any routers that are compatible with USB only modems...

"But I wasn't sure if I'm being ignorant & that by sharing a wireless connection any attacking viruses could access any pc on that system - not just the pc that allowed it in?"

You will have to install and keep up to date the security software on all of the computers in your house, so yes in a way having two computers will double your workload.

However depending on how your current modem works being behind a router can actually be a lot safer. Some modems "put" the computer it's plugged into straight onto the internet, which can be a bit risky as anything can "dial" it. However routers put themselves on the internet and are the only thing that can be directly "dialled". They then decide to allow certain "calls" through to the computers that are connected to it. And that does make things better.

So with a new wireless router you may be a bit safer in exchange for that extra work.

Thanks for the reply, BadgersPaws.

The modem only seems to have an ethernet socket (currently connected to pc by ethernet cable), no USB socket.

Can a wireless router go on this?

And is getting the router something we source ourselves, or do we have to get something via Virgin so its compatible?

We have a virgin cable package. The cable ends at the modem. Connected to the modem by Ethernet cable is a netgear router. Into the router goes an Ethernet cable out to the xbox leaving 3 other out ports available. Wirelessly connected to the router are several PCs ( with various net safety software) a mac some iPads phones and other consoles. Never notice any net lag even when more than one games console is playing online games and the mac is showing catchuptv.com

Make sure your router is for cable modems not isdn type. It will say on the box

"The modem only seems to have an ethernet socket (currently connected to pc by ethernet cable), no USB socket.

Can a wireless router go on this?"

Yes, routers can do this. All you want is a wireless router, not anything that also claims to be a modem.

So the wiring would go....

Cable from wall into black Virgin box.

Ethernet cable from Black virgin box into router.

Ethernet cable or wireless from router to computer(s).

Or you can get a combined router and modem and replace the black virgin box, this is what JBellingham is describing.

There's really not a lot of difference between keeping your virgin black box and buying a router or unplugging the box and buying a "modem router". The "modem router" will take a bit more setting up as you will need to enter into it all the details that you need to access your Virgin broadband that your little black Virgin box is already aware of.

It's probably worth a trip down to your local computer store and seeing what prices they have for both "routers" and "modem routers" and making sure that you can return it if you have any problems.

"Make sure your router is for cable modems not isdn type. It will say on the box"

That's only applicable if you buy a "modem router", if all you do is a buy a "router" and you're keeping the virgin black box then you don't need to worry about that.

Thanks for all your help, I think I'm getting to grips with it all now!

I think I'll go down the the router only option as that sounds a bit easier.

Thats not right BP.

The box supplied by Virgin stays attached to the cable, there are no retail 'cable modem/router' products available: the only one available is the 'Virgin Media Hub' which is now supplied by Virgin to new cable broadband customers.

So the first thing to do is call Virgin and see if you are entitled to an upgrade which will give you that free. Threaten to cancel your contract and go to Sky if they won't give you anything.

If you can't/don't want to use the Virgin Media Hub then buy a router. This plugs in to the box Virgin supply (which isn't actually a modem but everybody including Virgin call it one).

I have used Netgear (expensive, good perfomance, many facilities for the techy) and Buffalo (cheap, good performance, fewer facilities for the techy) routers successfully with Virgin broadband, I would not recommend Belkin. Some people like D-Link or Linksys but I have not used them myself. For a specific recommendation I see John Lewis currently have the Netgear N150 for £30 - no reason to look for anything else really, that is an excellent piece of kit.

HTH

"Thats not right BP."

Sorry, I somehow read JBellingham's reply as saying that they had replaced their Virgin box with a generic box.

So ignore the bit about buying yourself a combined "modem router" off the shelf, though as mranchovy said you could get one off of Virgin direct. The option that you could buy yourself from a shop would just be a wireless router.

Thanks for the advice. Does a Virgin media hub give me anything extra that I might want / need?

We've been with Virgin for a few years & the prices seem to be creeping up so I was thinking of shopping around for a new phone/TV/broadband package but maybe this could be my opportunity to do some negotiation with them if I go for the media hub.

we had virgin modem which used to have Ethernet to pc. I replaced the pc with a wireless router. The cable comes into the house, into black virgin modem. The ethernet cable comes out of the port on the modem and into the input port on the router. The router has stuff connected to it wirelessly and an xbox360 connected to it via one of the Ethernet ports.

The virgin box fir tv is separate. Hope this helps.

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