Basic Laptop Info

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Like I said, that was the end, it said it couldn't carry out that request and asked if I wanted to start Wireless Configuration Service, with no explanation of what that is.
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Now that I think about, I remember 10 years ago when Ole POC arrived. There were detailed fold-outs explaining everything about everything and you just followed the steps to set things up. For this Dell LT, here is, literally, what the Setting Up Your Computer form says:

1. Connect the AC Adapter
2. Connect the Modem
3. Connect to the Network
4. Press the Power Button

Except for those things being repeated in 5 more languages, that's it.

That certainly is assuming a lot on our part, don't you think?

It's sorta like selling a car assuming the buyer knows how to drive.

Oh yeah, most people who buy a car know how to drive!

OK, try this. Sorta like selling a ceiling fan with a light kit, with no instructions. Sure, we've all seen ceiling fans, and can work them, but do we know how to set them up, assemble them, wire them, install them?

When you click on view available net works what do you see? If you see your home network click on connect.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

When we lived in the city we had high-speed internet through our cable provider, Comcast.

When we moved to the sticks al lthat was available was AOL.

Now we have DSL through our telephone provider, CenturyTel.

Here is our gameplan:

Get DSL.

Connect the new LT to it through a wireless home network and connect Ole PC to it with an ethernet cable. We are finishing a guest suite downstairs, and Ole PC has a corner reserved for it.

We will not install a dial-up (Net-zero, which is now available here) to the LT at this time. If we find we need it, we can do that later. We plan on using the LT through wireless networks at home and away.

AOL will continue to be available through Ole PC, if we ever need it.

Any thoughts?

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

Sounds like a plan.

Dump the AOL thing after the DSL setup is working though.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I keep hearing that, but Ole PC has done just fine. As far as speed, it's probably nice that I pace myself, cuz some of this could come at me way too fast.

I am planning on keeping the shred I have left of AOL, the we-don't-update-your-AOL-start-page-any-more version. Only Ole POC will have it. It's already in there, doing whatever it's doing, taking over my life or whatever, so what's the big deal?

(He said knocking on the simulated woodgrain of his pressed-board computer cabinet. And it's a fine piece of furniture. )

Dump the AOL thing after the DSL setup is working though.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I just ordered DSL, so by this time next week I should be strapped into that racing machine and navigating at break-neck speed.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Well, it's a week later and I'm sitting in my recliner, on the new laptop, on our new wireless home network.

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

Well, it's a week later and I'm sitting in my recliner, on the new laptop, on our new wireless home network.

Welcome to the 21st century.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

After all the nagging, er, suggesting, that it is time for this, she is not as pleased as I thought she would be.

This morning I am on Ole POC.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I'm asking questions as they come up.

We've finished our remodel and I am ready to move Ole POC to it's new home, where the DSL connection is located.

It occurs to me that Ole POC is pre-DSL, so it does not have ethernet connections. (I don't think.) If it turns out that it only has phone jack connections, for dialup, am I stuck with that on it?

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

I'm asking questions as they come up.

We've finished our remodel and I am ready to move Ole POC to it's new home, where the DSL connection is located.

It occurs to me that Ole POC is pre-DSL, so it does not have ethernet connections. (I don't think.) If it turns out that it only has phone jack connections, for dialup, am I stuck with that on it?

Don't know what kind of guts POC has but if it has enough technology acumen you can add an ethernet 10/100 card to it to connect to the DSL.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Jim, they should sell a compatible USB plug in wireless connector(or some tech term). That's how I get online with my second and old desktop on the other side of the house. Of course you could just run an ethernet cable- but I have enough cables and wires right now.

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

I'm asking questions as they come up.

We've finished our remodel and I am ready to move Ole POC to it's new home, where the DSL connection is located.

It occurs to me that Ole POC is pre-DSL, so it does not have ethernet connections. (I don't think.) If it turns out that it only has phone jack connections, for dialup, am I stuck with that on it?

Even a really old computer (pre 2000) should have a built in ethernet connection. But some really, really old ones might not. If that is the case, you can buy one for <$15 at any computer store and drop it into the Ole POC. (If you go to a store which sells "resale" computers they will likely have the card you need for <$5. )

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

We have a '97 Mid Tower Gateway, top of the line for then. It cost 6 times what our new LT cost. And that was in dollars from the last century, when a dollar was worth 75 cents.

The DSL router came with a USB cable (and an ethernet cable), but I believe I have stuff plugged into the two USB ports on Ole POC. Maybe one's the scanner, which we can do without, maybe.

The DSL box also has 4 ethernet jacks.

I don't spose there's a cable with an ethernet plug on one end and a telephone plug on the other, is there? Or a telephone to ethernet adapter/converter?

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

You need an ethernet card in the POC and a cat 5 cable. Plug one end into the POC card and the other end into the DSL ethernet hole. Forget the telephone line.

However, your POC may not be young enough to do this.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Shortly after I went with DSL I shopped around for a wireless router. What I ended up buying was a D-Link network start-up kit. It included a router and a wireless G adapter(which is attached via USB to my old computer with no wireless card). So I now can access the internet when I go wireless from 3 computers at the same time. That should keep the two of us pretty busy.