Going Wireless...

[cyclones9]

Helloo.. I am looking at buying a dell laptop. I was wonderring if there is anyway to have wireless internet like while traveling. Lets say We are going on vacation. I want to take the laptop with and surf the web while in the car. Is is possible? Or if i wanted to take the laptop to a family members house but they didnt have a router or internet. What special things would i need to buy for wireless internet like that?

Thanks!

 

[holyjunk]

You would have to be in a "hotspot". This is where an internet connection is available. This requires built in w-fi or a service to verison. Sometimes you can get a hotel that has a wireless internet connection but this also requires you to have built in w-fi.

 

[kobaj]

Wifi only works max 300 feet from a router. I heard there is some kinda satellite internet that allows you to go anywhere and still have a connection. But I imagine it requires tons of equipment and is expensive. Your best bet is to just find hotspots in the area you are traveling to.

 

[Trizoy]

If you have a cell phone, you can purchase a usb to cell phone connector. Its called a data cable. You can plug that into your pc as a modem, and connect via dial-up.

slow, but it works.

 

[TonyBAMF]

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread160248.html

 

[Trizoy]

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread160248.html

How low... Quote yourself on another forum.

 

[cyclones9]

Re:

Ok.. Thanks for the info! If i bought a linksys wireless router and got a notebook card with it, How far can i go b4 the internet disconnects? We have this computer in our basement and around with walls and im afraid if i buy the router, i wont have any signal because we are in the basement. Is there anyway we can move the router to a better remote location without having to move the computer???? Thanks!

 

[ckfordy]

Ok.. Thanks for the info! If i bought a linksys wireless router and got a notebook card with it, How far can i go b4 the internet disconnects? We have this computer in our basement and around with walls and im afraid if i buy the router, i wont have any signal because we are in the basement. Is there anyway we can move the router to a better remote location without having to move the computer???? Thanks!

They can usually go about 300 FT then they disconnect but thats when nothing is in the way of the signal. You should be able to get the signal in your basement. if you cant get the signal then move the router to a location where you think the computer in the basement will give better a better signal.

 

[Trizoy]

Well True Wireless Internet Is Not With 802.11B,A,G or even N.

Cell phone Companies are know Offering ALways On Nation Wide EVDO 3G Wireless internet.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...t&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=1821

http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/pcsVisionPlan_tabA.html

http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/ce...ter=PC_Card&source=INC230059&_requestid=34823

Great post...

I had heard about this, but never seen anything actually to hook it up. It shows speeds 400-700kbps for either .25/ min or 80.00$ a month. Not a bad idea if you are on the move.

 

[cyclones9]

Re:

So lets say that I have the wireless router downhere and i have this desktop connected to it and then i have my wireless laptop connected to it. If i start to have wireless problems like range. Could i unplug this computer from the router and just move the router with like a long ethernet cable attacted to it?

 

[Trizoy]

Yep... Put the router where ever is best for signal. BUT the cable from your modem to your router is not a regular ethernet cable, it is a cross over cable.

Also remember if you have DSL, the telephone cord coming from the wall is not supposed to exceed 5 feet...

 

[cyclones9]

Re:

Ok.. Just Wondering... But in our basement.. We have like sheetrock on the walls and wood inside of them.. and we have like a concrete block around the basement.. Would that affect the signal?

 

[Trizoy]

yes... Concrete is bad for the signal.

 

[cyclones9]

Re:

Ok.. Well we got digital tv and they took out the old westell modem box thingy we had and now we have the black motorola gateway upstairs. I talked to my friend and he said that i should plug the router into the gateway upstairs and then just run and ethernet cable down here so i can connect the desktop to the router.
----
I just think that ill leave the router on the first floor so i can get better connections. Um.. Lets say that i Unplugged the cable going down to the desktop, Would the laptop still have internet? Or would i loose the connection? I also ran a connection speed on the internet and it told me that my speed was"345 kbps". If the two computers are surfing the net at the same time, How slow would my connection on the laptop be?

 

[Geoff]

I just think that ill leave the router on the first floor so i can get better connections. Um.. Lets say that i Unplugged the cable going down to the desktop, Would the laptop still have internet? Or would i loose the connection? I also ran a connection speed on the internet and it told me that my speed was"345 kbps". If the two computers are surfing the net at the same time, How slow would my connection on the laptop be?

If you unplugged an ethernet cable from your desktop to the router (not the modem to the router), then no other computers will be effected.

With a connection of 345Kbps, you can have multiple users browsing the web and you wont notice much (if any) of a slow down. However if one or more users are downloading files, or streaming audio/video, then your going to notice it.

 

[johnb35]

Yep... Put the router where ever is best for signal. BUT the cable from your modem to your router is not a regular ethernet cable, it is a cross over cable.

Also remember if you have DSL, the telephone cord coming from the wall is not supposed to exceed 5 feet...

Thats odd.....i have a regular ethernet cable going from my modem to router and it works. The only time you need a crossover cable is going from pc to pc.

 

[cyclones9]

Re:

Ok Thanks for all the great info! My friend made me a custom cable for running the cable from the back of the gateway upstairs to the desktop that im on now. But which spot does the cable go into? We have one where our internet is plugged in right now, and there's another port like a network port but there's nothing inside? I tried plugging the custom cable into teh one where our internet is now.. The cable fits, but does not lock into position. Is this the right spot?

 

[johnb35]

First, make sure the cable he gave you has the 8-pin clip on each end and the cable has markings that say cat 5e on it. this cable goes from your modem to router. the port on the router should say internet or something else and usually is offset from all the other ports.

 

[drumking1088]

Wifi only works max 300 feet from a router. I heard there is some kinda satellite internet that allows you to go anywhere and still have a connection. But I imagine it requires tons of equipment and is expensive. Your best bet is to just find hotspots in the area you are traveling to.

That would basically be a slightly more advanced version of mobile WAP. Its pretty useful in emergency situations like last summer when i went camping with a friend and we got lost. we used the wap on the mobile phone to connect the laptop to the internet.
slow...but worth it

 

[cyclones9]

Re:

Yes.. The Cable is a 8-pin clip on each end and the cable has markings that say cat 5e on it. Are you referring to the modem thats sepearte from the computer or the one in the back of my computer?