Anyone got wireless internet?

[Soppy]

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

OK, havent fully got my head round it yet but that's a really good start, thanks

Here is my situation
I have a desktop DELL with TISCALI Broadband which I want to cancel and

go to FREE 2 SERVE

DH is about to buy a TOSHIBA SATELITE PRO LAPTOP

1. can we both be on wireless at same time?
2. next door is wireless with FREEDOM 2 SERVE as well will it interfere?
3. If we are online with wireless can it be hacked into for bank stuff etc.

thanks

well sometimes kangamummy im on laptop downstairs and dh is on pc in bedroom so i suppose yes you can both be on at same time

dont know about being hacked into but its prob same as any other compute. as i said, it must be safe (or you must be able to make it safe) or dh would never use it. never ever!

dont think it will interfere - dh is not on msn just now so cant ask him. il ask him later tho if you like

Kanga, I am on Tiscali broadband too, why do you want to cancel?

basically 'out of the box' neighbours wireless will interfere, so changes req.
2 ways to secure

prevent it from advertising itself. out of the box it will advertise to other networks and they will say 'hey a wireless connection do you want me to join?'
and
restrict what devices can connect

each wireless device has a unique no (mac) you can tell the router to speak only to the devices you enter

they can both be got round but the key is to prevent anyone stumbling across your wireless network

I am really sorry Soupy I shouldn't have done that it was really rude of me to take over your thread

It is something that I was going to ask at weekend and so got over excited.sorry.

TISCALI doesn't stay connected

the router should have a web page you can get configuration from for security but its complicated so im told

need to lie down now

Pros - browsing the Net while in bed....

.... what? You need another reason?!!!

I have wireless provided by my work. Don't know the details but if there were major security issues then there is no way that they would be providing them for homeworking (although maybe it's their own firewalls that protect it).

Personally I think it's great - the box sits out of site on top of a cupboard and I can use the laptop anyhwere in the house. I couldn't go back to wires now.

We can 'see' four other networks here and I'm pretty sure that one of them can 'see' us (the base station can only see that one). Our is password protected and if people guessed that (and it's not guessable, iykwim) they could only steal a bit of our connection as all the computers have password protected accounts and only a couple of accounts will even let other computers log on.

Really glad I read this... will add a couple of layers of security, although I'm pretty confident ours wouldn't be breached (I can check who's using our network, also).

Anyway, it's easy to have multiple computers going at the same time, but it helps to have adsl as it'll go really slow otherwise.

nailpolish -- a fellow Mac fan? Just set up my son's eMac. Took me all of 15 minutes (that's including waiting 7 minutes for the software to download from the cd to the computer and attaching the swivel thingy) from box to connected to the internet! Am very proud of myself because I lugged the damn thing up 3 flights of stairs on my own.

We have wireless connection because dh wanted to advertise the pub as a 'hotspot' and it works very well. We can even sit out in the garden in the summer which is lovely.

We have a Belkin wireless system, which we use with our NTL broadband. No complaints. We got it when DD started to crawl and we suddenly realised we need to reduce the number of wires around the house.

That's OK Kanga. FWIW I have tiscali broadband and it stays connected 24/7

any views on wireless internet now?

haven't read whole thread but here's my take on it:

any broadband connection can be wireless if you have a wi-fi modem and the capability on your computer.

if you're computer isn't wi-fi enabled you can buy the necessary equipment in form of a pcmcia card. belkin are a reasonably priced brand for those.

most ISPs offer wi-fi modems for your connection. this can mean they charge a bit more on their monthly subscription but you are at liberty to buy your own wi-fi modem.

i have a thompson speedtouch 580 and it works fine. was recommended to me by a wi-fi geek friend!

the drawback is that your ISP will probably always try to blame any connection issues on the fact that you're not using their standard issue modem and try to fob you off.

with regard to security, yes you should secure your modem.

firstly, you secure it against anyone else connecting to it. you can then WEP or WPA enable the connection to ensure encryption.

WPA is more secure but not all devices are WPA compatible.

Your modem instructions should be quite straightforward in how to set up WEP/WPA.

This sort of security is not about virus protection or firewalls. It ensures a secure connection making it harder for people to hack your session.

If you are using internet banking or e-commerce type sites you should already be using SSL as provided by that site. Thus WEP/WPA enabling your wi-fi modem isn't strictly necessary but it's best practice.

As for ISPs, take your pick! Whenit comes right down to it they're all a bunch of shysters who over-charge and never offer the level of support you need when the technical bits go tits up!

BT are particularly crap. I've spent hours talking to their tech supp in India who once told me the problem was static in my modem FFS. As it turned out they hadn't provisioned the line!

HTH and good luck!

ps: can you tell I'm an IT Security geek? LOL

Only last week I had a row with a Telewest support bloke who said the reason the 'net wasn't working was because of my home network(that took me 2 full days and many conversations with people in India to install). Weirdly though whatever he did fixed the problem which would imply to me that it may well have had something to do with their end. Do they just have a policy of blaming all problems on home networks now??

erm, yes they do i think.

they assume the technology has exceeded their customers' knowledge base so think they can get away with saying any old guff to avoid admitting they are responsible.

unfortunately for anyone who has me as a customer they get a mouthful back as i am probably more technical than they are.

it's sooo frustrating tho as these people are clearly just call centre staff reading from a script with no technical training whatsoever.

the coup de grace from BT was that they couldn't contact the correct dept to check on my line order. Why was this? Because they had moved offices and their email system was down and had been for some time.

At which point I exploded along the lines of "You're allegedly one of the larges communications companies in the world and you can't communicate with yourselves!!!"

un-feckin-believable!

ok it is amazingly hard to find anything simple about this..all the forums, info etc seem to suggest that it is a pig to set up get the right equipment etc

I am with tiscali broadband so i have worked out i need to replace their modem which is only usb with another

so have after a great deal of angst picked a dynamode modem and combined router

so now when it comes tomorrow i hope i want to connect my dell dimension 9100 desktop to that, but I'm not sure whether i can because i don't think it has an ethernet port?

and i have just bough a dell latitude 620 laptop which is why I want wireless internet and for the kids who grizzle that they can't use the internet except on my desktop which i hate

so how easy is it going to be

and I also want to get the plug in system but I worked out rightly or wrongly that i had to get a modem/router first hence the above purchase of the dynamode

ps why is it that when you try to get ideas about what to buy you just about select something and then foind a rash of people who hate it

i have read so much about the hatred of either netgear, linksys or belkin in equal measure i just plumped for a different name!

Tiscali treated us badly.. we had Tiscali-Anytime and they cut us off because they said we used it too much. So not really 'any time' then eh?

BT were just a nightmare to communicate with

Been with Eclipse now for a year with (touch wood) not problems at all. We have wireless router and run 3 computers off it just fine.

that's interesting I use tiscali broadband practically 24 hours a day..

zippi... this was Tiscali on dial up.. not broadband. We lived in very rural area with no broadband.

zippi, your desktop and laptop should both have ethernet. your wi-fi modem should come with an RJE cable which goes into the ethernet port.

you must use the RJE cable to make the first connection to the modem so you can set it up.

i used to keep the wi-fi modem near the desktop and kept it on the RJE cable all the time - that way i always had a direct connection to the modem if it went down or I needed to do some maintenance.

I'm purely laptop now and all is working fine.

what's the plug in system you're wanting to get - not sure what you mean by that?

it'll be fine, you'll work it out no problem. just give yourself an hour or two without the kids around so you can concentrate LOL

Thanks.. I'm sure it will become clear when the unit arrives

I can't seem to see an ethernet port on my pc

but i did the same the other week when i got a new monitor and convinced myself beforehand it didn't have a dvi connection or something but in fact it did once i got my head around it

there seem to be so many dz and weps and waps etc and addresses it looks very comlpicated!

the plug thing is like this panasonic plug ins

I will have a router to flog soon if anyone wants it, a bt voyager, only a couple of weeks old.
Cost me 40 quid .

I'm leaving bt broadband and going with orange, because i can get unlimited wireless internet for a fiver a month, as part of my contract.I'm going to use the livebox they are sending me instead, so my voyager router will be redundant.

ooh, that looks shiny! what does it do?!?!

ethernet port will probably be next to your dial up modem port - it just looks like another phone jack but it's slightly different ie: wider.......

hth