Adding a second computer

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

a friend loaned me an IBM Thinkpad for the summer as she figured my son and I would be at each others throats once he got out of school.

It has been completely re-furbished and she said it has a wireless card. It runs Windows XP Pro ( if that makes a difference )

I am running DSL into the house thru a ZyXel modem and also have VOIP with a Centillium link.

I'm hoping installing a wireless router to support the 2nd computer is going to be relatively painless....

Are there any routers that anyone can recommend? How much should the cost? Should I check which wireless modem this thing has? and how would I do that?

Any pitfalls I should avoid or helpful suggestions are welcome.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Lawren,

We have "Linksys" the wireless G router....I don't remember what it cost. but, my husband installed it rather easily, and it works great. My daughter's computer is upstairs, and there is no problem. We have had this for over a year now, and are very satisfied with it's performance.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

There are a lot of them on the market today, available thru Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City, etc. Most of the ones that I have seen seem to work pretty well, but, I would personally recommend one of the Linksys models because they work well and more importantly they are so popular that there is a ton of info available all over the net about them in general, installing them and about any problems that you might encounter.
The set up is pretty easy and if you do run in to any trouble drop a note here and I'm sure one of us will be able to help you.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

We bought a Linksys' router and PC card and adapter many years ago for two PCs and one Mac. All I can say is that their technical help is very good and still free after all these years! This to me is amazing. I would buy this make again.

However, I heard that the routers from Belkin are easier to install and set up. We also used Netgear but only one time and returned it immediately. I vote for Linksys.

[Timesharetalk Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Timesharetalk]

Lawren,

It would be cheaper to get a wireless access point for your computer and then set up ICS (Internet Connection Sharing).

I would reccomend the Linksys WAP 54G. Click the link below for an abundance of them -

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=linksys+wap54g

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

What ever you decide to do make sure you have any security tuned on. If you create a wireless network neighbors will most likely will be able see it and be able to use it if they choose to.

Mike

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Help!!!!

OK I have the Linksys router connected to the desktop, DSL and VOIP connector.

I can access the internet, the phone still works but HOW exactly do I connect the laptop?

Am I supposed to connect it to one of the ports somehow? I don't have anything but the laptop and the power cord. I can't seem to "find" the router with the laptop at all....

I'm usually not so dumb but I am definately missing something here.

[mshatty Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close mshatty]

Lawren

Does your laptop have a built in wireless card? If not, you will need to purchase one. I think Linksys sells them also. If you have Windows XP it should locate the network and connect up.

I used Belkin for my wireless network in my home.

Make sure that once you get connected that you apply security to your wireless network. Otherwise, your neighbors may be able to use your network to get on the internet.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

DH suggests you call tech support at Linksys, there is a procedure they should be able to talk you through, he is familiar with it for Apple, but for IBM it will be different.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Make sure that once you get connected that you apply security to your wireless network. Otherwise, your neighbors may be able to use your network to get on the internet.

Wardriving!

I confess that, on occasion, when I'm traveling and want to check my e-mail but don't have access to the internet, I'll wardrive. I just turn on my laptop and put it in the passenger seat, then drive around slowly till I find an unsecured network that's in range.

Usually doesn't take any more than about five minutes to find an unsecured network I can jump on.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I think it is the laptop.....I'm going to try and wire connect it minus the router. I had it connected ( hard wired) in the same manner as the desktop. Network connections showed active but I couldn't access any websites.

BRB. I hope.

OK It is NOT the laptop as I am typing this from there. So. I'll insert the router in the loop and try the Netset assistant that Cisco suggested. They said that once I could get it read via hard-wire that I should be able to "find" it wirelessly too.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Wardriving!

I confess that, on occasion, when I'm traveling and want to check my e-mail but don't have access to the internet, I'll wardrive. I just turn on my laptop and put it in the passenger seat, then drive around slowly till I find an unsecured network that's in range.

Usually doesn't take any more than about five minutes to find an unsecured network I can jump on.

Steve, when you do this is your computer then secure?

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Steve, when you do this is your computer then secure?

You treat it just like any other wireless HotSpot:

• You keep your firewall up.
• You don't send any confidential information.

The second point above means that there are certain sites you should not visit from a wireless HotSpot unless you are sure of the security on the systes. for those sites you might want to access from a HotSpot, y ou need to set those up with different login names and passwords from those you use for your extremely sensitive sites. Needless to say, you should also be careful about visiting sites such as eBay or Paypal.

When I wardrive, I'm not too concerned about someone stealing my TUG or Yahoo login and password. But I would never visit eBay or Paypal when wardriving.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

I think it is the laptop.....I'm going to try and wire connect it minus the router. I had it connected ( hard wired) in the same manner as the desktop. Network connections showed active but I couldn't access any websites.

BRB. I hope.

OK It is NOT the laptop as I am typing this from there. So. I'll insert the router in the loop and try the Netset assistant that Cisco suggested. They said that once I could get it read via hard-wire that I should be able to "find" it wirelessly too.

I never had much luck with the Linksys Netset Assistant.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

I think it is the laptop.....I'm going to try and wire connect it minus the router. I had it connected ( hard wired) in the same manner as the desktop. Network connections showed active but I couldn't access any websites.

BRB. I hope.

OK It is NOT the laptop as I am typing this from there. So. I'll insert the router in the loop and try the Netset assistant that Cisco suggested. They said that once I could get it read via hard-wire that I should be able to "find" it wirelessly too.

I never had much luck with the Linksys Netset Assistant.
Are you sure that your laptop has an onboard wireless card??
If so it should detect it pretty easily.