Anyone got wireless internet?

[Soppy]

Please tell me all about it - costs, pros and cons, etc. Thanks!

yes we do. dont know about cost at all (ill ask dh if you like) but its great cos we now have a laptop (we are v short of space) and basically we can use it anywhere. im a complete nonce when it comes to this tho. we have a small box with an aerial in the phone socket and thats abou it

Glad you started this thread. We've been looking at Broadband and the Wannadoo wireless option. ds needs internet for homework now and has how own PC but it's not Internet linked. Dh is too precious about his PC to let ds use it.

How secure is it?

Do you use a password?

was going to get it with free 2 serve

all details would be great?

make sure you encrypt it - otherwise it is not very secure at all!

We have it because DH and I both work at home a lot and only one office! He has a laptop so can go and sit elsewhere - that's the main reason we got it. I think the box cost £100 and the modem card that goes in the laptop cost about £50. We are on BT broadband and get excellent signal.

Downsides - the box does sometimes get quite hot and can then cut out - but only if it's been on all day. We unplug it for a few minutes to cool down and then it's fine. We also sometimes connect to a neighbours wireless which is not broadband and v slow. Rebooting lets laptop pick up our signal again. In theory, someone could connect via our system so need to make it secure. HTH

Most of the packages come with firewall and encryption protection don't they?

Yes cost would be great nailpolish. Our office room isnt child-friendly and sometimes I need to be able to work while DS plays so if I could move around with a laptop it would be fab. Do you have to buy a special laptop?

Hadnt thought abt security - good point

its very secure or dh wouldnt use it.

theres a password, yes

dh is an IT systems developer or something (yawn) consultant so this is his field so it must be ok

ill ask him but someone here is bound to know anyway

top perk of wireless - you can chat on mn in the bath!

so you can't stay on 24/7?

How do you stop anyone using it while logged on?

lol nailpolish

obviously you have to recharge battery on laptop - mine usually runs out mid juicy mn chat

As it stands wireless is not secure - you have to enable WEP - this is no more complicated than setting a password - BUT can still be hacked if someone wants to be ar*ed - don't know that they would be after your latest additions to MN threads thou'

wireless router and adaptor for pc about £100

dh says if yoy buy a laptop made after 2003 they should have wireless built in unless it shit

his words not mine

Re: security. We had a local computer shop send round their whizz kid to set it up. He said that while nothing is 100% secure, the system we had was as safe as a bank!

hi soppy - we have it and I love it! Used to have all sorts of problems with dial-in but (touch wood) have never had a problem with wi-fi. As well as being reliable also find the connection very fast.

You don't need a special laptop you just get a card which plugs into the side of your machine.

I'm another one who's not sure of the cost cus DH bought it - he's a techy geek so I always leave these things to him but have a feeling that it was around the £100 mark. We have 2 cards as we both have a laptop.

We bought ours online at www.dabs.com which I'm informed is a good site for this kind of thing but sure PC World would also be a good place.

Personally can't think of any downsides - though apparently if you live in a terrace / semi detached your neighbours could use it but please don't ask me the technical details of that one!

Also - lots of places now have 'hotspots' (eg Starbucks, some airports) which means you can access the internet there with your laptop and card - should you desire, of course.

HTH

agree and disagree rudy

dabs is great but pc world is shite

np - bath?! isn't that a little dangerous??? Or am I confusing batteries with electricity...

maybe

dont tell dh

he uses it on loo just for a bit of peace and quiet!

nice

never used pc world np - in what way are they shite? I always presumed they would be pretty reliable.

PMSL np - not telling my DH that one - he spends long enough in there already

We got a local computing company to set ours up. It came to a couple of hundred including the boxes (we needed a booster for the top floor). They set up all the security for us too. For us it was very useful to have someone do it as we have PCs and a mac, which would have been completely beyond me.

dh hates it cos they are 'full of spotty teens with no clue' 'just a computing o grade'

his words not mine

hes very precious about his computes

ikwym np - DH is the same about Dixons and the like...oh, the joys of living with a geek

(shouldn't tease - at least he knows how to set all this stuff up so I just have to press the on switch!)

dixons is a swear word in our house!

for an adsl router