Connecting desktop pc to internet

[watchingwaves]

I would like to move my home office into another room in the house but my desktop pc is currently connected to the internet via a cable to a telephone point (via a wireless router but I think thats probably irrelevant for the pc setup). The room I want to move into doesn't have a phone point. What are the options for connecting my pc to the internet apart from getting a phone point put in?

Is this a trick question?

You need to connect your PC to the wireless router wirelessly, then you can use it from any room in the house.

Am i being dense then?

I know when I use my tablet it searches for a wi-fi signal automatically so are you saying that if I remove the physical cable my pc will automatically search for a wi-fi signal? Or do I need to change some settings?

You need one of these,it plugs into a usb port on your PC and then you will be able to connect to the router wirelessly.

Wireless is not a good choice for a desktop. Get yourself a homeplug starter kit like this one.

Yep, wifi dongle will sort it.

Thanks for the answers, I like the look of the homeplug starter kit and think I understand how it works with one plug for the modem and one for the pc, does that mean you need additional plugs for any additional items you want to plug in?

possibly, but only if they're in other rooms.

I have 3 of the homeplug type adaptors in differen rooms. The 2 rooms away from the router each have ethernet hubs (5 or 8 port 10/100 Mbps hubs or switches can be found online fairly cheaply [probably under 15 quid]).

A 5 port hub would have one socket used for the homeplug adaptor and the other 4 could be used for other devices such as a games box, Sky box and so on. I have a Freeview box with iPlayer built in so use that away from the router.

If you are just plugging in laptops, desktops and so on (rather than a TV-related box) then a tenner for a wireless adaptor is most likely what I'd buy.

Personally, I prefer cable to wi-fi but do have some desktop machines with wi-fi card built in as standard, and if your signal strength is OK, see no problem with that. Adding wi-fi adaptors to lots of machines in a room makes less sense (and adds to cost).

PS You can get some homeplug adaptors with 3 ethernet sockets on them (so no hub or switch needed for a few machines in one place), but it may work out a touch more expensive (5 and 8 port hubs are common as muck and therefore prices are always getting lower, unless you stumble upon a 10/100/1000 Mbps device, which will cost more than 20 quid).

Alternatively, get a Mac and it will search for wifi just as easily as the iPad

Why are people telling OP to get a plug-in wifi adapter? I thought all PCs bought in the last 5 years would have built-in wifi capabilities.

I don't remember exactly how it worked with PCs (big time Mac convert ) but it would be something like finding Network Settings or some such, and click on "find wifi network". Slightly more complicated than a Mac/iPad but not by much, I wouldn't think.

Laptops usually come with built-in wifi. Desktops often do not. I imagine that's why people are telling her to get an adapter :) I certainly would never assume a desktop has a built in wireless card; so many don't. Mine certainly doesn't (it was one of those places where I cut corners on the build because it's a gaming machine and was thus always going to be cabled into the router, despite that requiring a 40m ethernet cable and some interesting ways of getting it up the stairs without being a trip hazard....).

Probably 95-99% of desktops (it's in the thread title) don't have a wi-fi card as standard (you can get PCI cards, but a 10 quid [or less] USB adaptor will do just as good [if not better - add a 1 metre USB extension cable if you want to find best place for the wi-fi stick]).

Wi-Fi can represent a bottleneck, however, because unlike cables it is a connection where only a single item can tranmit at any time, so while a network might support dozens of wi-fi devices, it might be logical to only expect half a dozen to work reasonably well together [and some wi-fi routers specify a limit on the number of concurrent devices].

If you are lucky enough to have a very high speed internet connection [fibre or cable] then the older 14 Mbps Homeplugs can be used to limit the traffic from one PC or group of PCs [eg a teen's bedroom, if s/he has been using peer-to-peer to share music / video]. By limiting that/ those connections, you can guarantee spare bandwidth in case you want to download a file / use Netflix / LoveFilm, etc.

Ethernet cable is always a reliable method, and you can see an LED come on when the connection is established, unlike these "magic" methods

Yeah.. what ^^ they said.

Maybe that's a UK thing. My last PC definitely had built-in wifi capability, and the Mac I'm using now is an old model but has wifi, too.

Have I mentioned that everyone should just buy Macs?

CoteDAzur

Maybe that's a UK thing. My last PC definitely had built-in wifi capability, and the Mac I'm using now is an old model but has wifi, too.

It's still uncommon for a desktop PC to have wifi in it. But with wireless cards just £15, what's the big deal? You just buy it, plug it in, and connect.

Have I mentioned that everyone should just buy Macs? smile

Yes. And 'everyone' will still buy PCs, because they're (at least) half the price.

And they don't have such a smug userbase.

Stuff the attitude This might be news to you but some of us are not keen to take apart our computers and stick new parts in them. For many, it actually is preferable to have a computer that has all required parts from the start.

Maybe PC users would be smug happy about using them, too, if they dealt less with crashes and bugs on a daily basis. I was one. At least an hour of every day was spent on fixing network problems, crashes, etc. There is a reason why Mac users are so keen to spread the word (if not Word), and it's not the elevated price of Macs.

not keen to take apart our computers and stick new parts in them.

USB gets around having to open up a machine. There have been USB ADSL modems in the past, and web cams, and so forth, and it was brought in to assist people with not having to open a machine up. Whether there are drivers for your OS (Win 7 / XP / etc) depends on the device and age.

Opening a PC has been an increasing rarity over the past 10 years, but I would state it as a fact, that here in the UK (where many MN users live) the odds of getting a desktop PC with a Wi-Fi card (PCI card) are pretty low to infinitessimally low.

You'd have to spend days researching web sites to buy one "off the shelf" at any major or medium retail chain, and doubt many shop staff could point you to one, though PC World just might if it was a Philips (only brand I've seen with it and even then, only on a few models !).

Not even Medion (a German firm) put Wi-Fi in as standard, as far as I know. Maybe Apple do, in case those wanting a budget wi-fi adaptor (off Ebay, for example) will find there's no suitable software, and get narked. Doubt Apple would show just 10 quid for it, if they ever did a breakdown of how they justify the cost of the units some people buy.

Then again, perhaps there's more take up in N America, where thinner internal walls (or larger open plan areas in mid/ higher end homes) make it more likely that wi-fi is used.

However, whatever the case is made for / against wi-fi, the fact is that it is uncommon in the main, in the UK, for any desktop to have it by default, as it has not previously been needed (it was common to have a single PC in a home and that had the modem plugged into it). I can find you a few dozen Ebay listings which may include it but they will be exceptional compared with retail sales.

Laptops are a different matter, the (previous) assumption being they would be used with wi-fi at work and in hotels or conference centres. The growth in domestic use of laptops (and popularity with teens as they can use them for FaceBook, Twitter porn etc in their bedrooms) has increased the demand for wireless routers at home (probably most growth in last 5-7 years) while earlier ADSL routers, and some still around today, had no wireless interface at all.

Are you always this arsey Cote? OP was only asking about how to connect her pc - hardly a controversial subject! :)

At least an hour of every day was spent on fixing network problems, crashes, etc.

How long ago was that?

Only asking because I run (mostly) Windows XP and doubt I spend an hour a year fixing "network problems or crashes" and have well over a dozen PCs, many of them in daily use if not 24x7.

I will be the first to admit to turning Windows Update off automatically updating my systems, but also use Linux (and for what it's worth, have a couple of old Macs gathering dust, but available if I want to test a website with versions of Safari and Firefox).

Problems, what problems? Whether it is an Android phone or tablet, linux notebook or desktop, or Windows notebook, laptop or desktop, biggest problem for me would be if my routers / internet connections were all down for a significant amount of time (weeks not days).

CoteDAzur I'm your mirror image. I went from a mac to a pc and never looked back. Hated the mac, found the interface counterintuitive, and when it broke down I had to send it away to be fixed - if it had a been pc I could have bought the replacement part and fitted it my self the same day. Also, not only do I not spend and hour a day dealing with problems, I doubt I have spent an hour in the last year.

It may be that the pc/pcs you used were just not very good. There are many different brands out there, plus many self-built machines, logically some will be better than others.

Indeed - the flexibility to use different graphics cards, plus the variety of motherboards, is one of the reasons why the Windows PC "system" can sometimes have "issues" over compatibility, but it is also why there have been such strides in lowering the cost of desktops and more recently, of laptops and notebooks.

My suspicion is that CoteDAzur switched over 10 years ago, when the BSOD (blue screen of death) on Windows 98 was not that uncommon, or perhaps before it, when Windows 95 with its many shortcomings was in use. Back then USB was far less reliable and probably experimental for many manufacturers. Can understand switching to Mac if that was the case and the budget allowed it easily.

Apple allows no clones and therefore has its market by the short and curlies, so can demand whatever price it wishes (and boy have they made massive amounts of money).

They could afford to give us 50-60% discounts when I was in higher education in the 80s, because they knew that architects and printers would buy their product when working after being students and year after year those in certain fields would choose Apple.

But they left home users out in the cold. Now it is more affluent households, driven by a few nice flashy gadgets, iPod and iPhone in particular, sucked in to buying more from Apple.

Yes, nice products if you can justify the price, but their higher end laptops and desktops are unaffordable for the masses.

Jareth - My comments re Mac vs PC were tongue-in-cheek, obviously, as you can tell from the smileys that followed them.

"Arsey" would be the replies calling me smug, incompetent, and rude. All for daring to make a few light-hearted comments.

NetworkGuy - My last desktop PC was a Compaq running Windows XP (work) 7 years ago. My last laptop PC was a Sony Vaio running Windows XP (home) 3 years ago.

You are right, actually, the worst was about 10 years ago when our HP desktops at work were constantly crashing or having some network problem or other, losing our files etc. We had an IT department and those poor guys spent all day going from one PC to another and solving solving software problems.

More recently, it was the clunkiness, the constant virus checks & problems, frequent updates, one window after another asking "Did you really want to do that?", "This program wants to run, do you want it to?" etc. None of that with a Mac, it all just works.

Working with different OSs including Linux (and with a nickname like "NetworkGuy"), I suppose you know much more than us laymen so all of the above are easy to solve for you. Not so for most of us.

Saskia - My problem was never with the hardware, but with the OS. Especially at work, we had top of the line desktop PCs. And I do understand that some PCs will be better than others.

The problem ime is the Windows operating system, which I'm told is a patchwork of add-ons rather than a comprehensively designed whole meant to work together. Not sure if that is all or part of the problem, but ime it is definitely an inferior OS to Apple's.

None of it is relevant to OP, but I just wanted to clarify what I meant.

Network Guy Oh yes, the dreaded BSOD, and it's cousin the black screen of doom. Windows 95 and 98 definitely made home computing more accessible for the average compared to DOS, but by God they had some ishoos.

CoteDAzur I know you're happy with your Mac (and I'm happy for you, I'm not a computer nazi, people can use whatever they find best for them), but you might find modern pcs are more stable and usable than the ones you remember. There has been a huge improvement in standard of branded machines over the last 4 or 5 years, before that it really was better to buy the parts and assemble it yourself, or in my case get DH to assemble it for you :)

Also, I have a theory that this whole mac/pc thing really comes down to how individuals interact with their computers. It's a bit like tea v coffee, dogs v cats - there are no rights or wrongs, just different ways of looking at things.