wireless networkin/broadband sharing for a newbie

[bobby-jo]

i have 3 computers, all connected through a wired network. one has a usb broadband modem and connects directly to the internet through it, another connects to the internet through the first, and the 3rd is connected to the network but not the internet (i couldnt get it to work) if i install a wireless network my mums laptop will be connected sometimes.

im thinking about "going wireless" but know nothing about wireless networks and wanted some advice from u guys before i made any final decisions.

1)what would i need to do this, and how would i go about it?

2)how much (roughly) would it cost, wot is the minimum? ( GBP prefferably)

3)ive seen with wired networks you can get 'kits,' "everything you need to network 2 computers in one box" type things, do tou know of anything like this for wireless? would it be cheaper?

[glc]

I assume you are in the UK - the broadband providers there are notorious for sticking their customers with USB hardware to discourage networking and sharing. You can't connect your existing USB modem to a router, which is what you would need to do.

There are combo ADSL modem/wired/wireless routers available that are compatible with BT. Below is a link to an example:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=59951

[bobby-jo]

ive just found the following router/modem:3Com Office Connect ADSL Wireless 11G (54Mbps) Firewall Router with 4 port switch
http://www.3com.com/prod/en_UK_EMEA/...=3CRWDR100A-72
I wonderered if you think it would be suitable for what i want it for, in my oppinion it would, bt im no expert and u guys are, cheers for all your help!!

[Ob1]

Originally Posted by bobby-jo ive just found the following router/modem:3Com Office Connect ADSL Wireless 11G (54Mbps) Firewall Router with 4 port switch http://www.3com.com/prod/en_UK_EMEA/...=3CRWDR100A-72 I wonderered if you think it would be suitable for what i want it for, in my oppinion it would, bt im no expert and u guys are, cheers for all your help!!

that adsl wireless 11g router will work fine.
now you just need to get a wireless network card for each pc that you want wireless, otherwise just use a cat 6 cable and plug your pcs' and gaming consoles into one of the 4 ports on the back of the router.

you will want to setup encryption for your wireless to prevent/or at least make it a little harder to tap into your network and use your internet connection.

log into the router and change the SSID, disable the SSID broadcast, change the default username and password, and i always change the routers ip address. next if you only run wireless G devices then i switch to G mode only, for encryption i recommend that you set it up with WPA-PSK (make sure that your wireless cards support it as well), then set your algothrim to AES and type at least 8 alpha numeric password. you can also enable mac filtering if you want but i would hold off on that until you have your wireless devices connected to the net. now whatever your chose for your SSID, encyprtion type/algothrim/passphrase you need to take that info and enter it into your wireless network connection adapter which is located in the network connections icon in the control panel if you are using a 3rd party wireless connection utility then enter that info into it.

[bobby-jo]

i read somewhere that you should keep atleast one pc wired to the router with a normal network cable, do u think this is a good idea?
thanks again for all your help, u guys are a great help every time

[Ob1]

you will want to use a wired pc when setting up the wireless, but its totally up to you if you want all your pcs to be wireless or a combo of both. personally i like a combo of both. if you plan on doing any gaming, then use a wired connection. wireless can be flakly sometimes and the last thing you want to happen when you r running around on a board fraggin people is lag, or a dropped connection all together.

if you have any 2.4ghz phones in your house then get rid of them cause they will cause interference with your wireless signal and go with either a 900mhz phone or a 5ghz phone.

[bobby-jo]

right then, as per usual my plans have kind of worked bt were not completely successful. i have bought the following router/modem:

'3Com Office Connect ADSL Wireless 11G (54Mbps) Firewall Router with 4 port switch '

i have set it up and on the routers config screen it is connected to the internet.

i hav 2 computers wired to it, one wireless and one laptop which should be wireless but is wired at the moment.
but i can only get on the internet on one computer, (one of the wired ones) can anybody help?
i know you will probs need some settings but im not sure what ones so jus say wot u need and ill find it

thanks again

[Ob1]

how do you have the new wireless 3com router setup on your network?
does it go directly from the modem to the wireless router. then to all 3 pc's or do you still have the usb modem plugged into one pc and then from there plug in your wireless router?

i reread your original post. and if you have it set up with modem>pc>wireless router. i would recoomend that you return the 3com wireless router and purchase the Linksys Gateway that GLC recommended.

[bobby-jo]

the wireless router has a built in modem so the USB modem is not used anymore.
since i wrote the last post ive managed to get all the wired pcs working.

i do have one pc with a '3Com office connect wireless compact USB adapter' this will not connect to the network. i have been through windows help and support documents and tried to 'ping' this computer and all attempts have failed, i have tried the 'netsh diag' comand in GUI mode and the only part the computer failed on was the IP address. i have set this computer up as i did the rest.

any ideas on how to solve this?

ps,not sure if this will help but, DHCP is not enabled on that computer, i have assigned it an IP address etc manually, and this has worked on all of the other computers.

[glc]

What OS is on that computer? Is the card management utility installed, will it associate with the access point?

[bobby-jo]

the OS is XP (service pack1) on all the systems.
yes the utilities are installed for the wireless adapter.
and it sees and says it is connected to the network, but i cannot access the internet, access any shared files/printers on other computers on the network and access any files on this computer from others.

[glc]

Try this:

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html

[bobby-jo]

ive tried that program and it does not help. i have also tried enabling DCHP on the computer, but this does not work either. after doing this, i opened the command promt and ran the 'ipconfig/all' command this told me that the DCHP server was '255.255.255.255' this is not the ip address of my router. on working connections with DCHP enbled the server address is that of my router.

i have also updated the driver of the wireless USB adapter to the latest version.

is there anything else that you guys know of that could solve this, any help is more than welcome, thanks!!!

[Ob1]

check for the lastest driver for your USB wireless network adapter and then reinstall your wireless usb drivers.

install service pack 2 onto the pc.

is this pc able to get online if you use a wire?
turn off any firewalls until you can fix this problem.

[foolishone]

One question...

What do get exactly when you do ipconfig (no parameters) in a cmd prompt?

[Ob1]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

Z:\>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Helpdesk.office
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.16.15
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.16.2

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected


you can also type in:
Z:\>ipconfig /?

this will give you more syntax options to use to display other information and current network settings.