I’m on Hughes.net. Satellite internet. After 1 hour of chat (I refuse using the phone because I can’t understand a word that the tech support people say) it appears that it can be done. Apparently it’s simple if I call their home networking department for $59.99 for tech support. I won’t call them because I can’t understand them. It’s that bad. Most ‘conversations’ are a letter at a time. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot. It’s pointless.
And the home networking dept does not have chat.
It took an hour of chat to find out if my Hughes net hn7000s satellite modem would support a home wireless network.
It does.
So. Now I need a wireless router. Lan from the modem through the router and to the desktop (something seems wrong me here). I don’t intend or want the desktop be wireless. I’m just trying to figure out how to get wireless for the rest of the house.
Any recommendations on routers would be appreciated.
My parents, before they got a modem that’s broadcasting a signal itself, used a Linksys Wireless-G set. The router and the receivers came separately, but IIRC were pretty cheap; maybe $100 for router + 2 receivers. Of course I had to install and set things up, but it was really simple and honestly my tech-illiterate parents probably could’ve done it.
ETA: It was co-ax cable -> modem -> router -> computer. The receivers were just USB plug-in and came with their own USB cables.
My old laptop didn’t have an internal receiver, but then again it was old. I got in in '02 or '03. My current one (purchased in '08) does have one, and while its not quite as good as an antenna, its more than adequate. Both laptops were/are Toshiba Satellites and I’ve had very few problems with them. Reasonably cheap, but it runs games (the only intensive thing I do with it) just fine. My only complaint is that the current one came with HD-DVD and I got it right before Blueray became the standard. :smack:
You have to work really hard to find a lap top or net book made in the last 5 years does does not have wi-fi built in. If you want wi-fi in your house in all likely hood you do not need any usb thing for your laptop. You need the router that connect to your satellite modem. For the most part any wi-fi G router will work fine. The main thing you have to find out is how your modem connects to your current computer. Is is via a network cable or USB?
I have the dell mini 9 and it works fine for browsing the web.
I knew I should have just come to the SDMB first. My modem connects to my desktop via usb. So… If I stick a wireless router in-between, it should broadcast the signal to a net book?
I’m sure there are set up configurations and other virgin sacrifices and such, but is that it? I just need to get a wireless router, put it in line from my modem to my PC and I should be ‘mostly’ good to go?
I spent at least a hour trying to get this information from Hughes.net.
For 59.99 they would be glad to hook me up with ‘network speciailists’
The USB connection from your desktop to the modem complicates things. I personally don’t know a router that would connect directly to your modem. Did Hughes have any suggestions?
You shouldn’t need anything for your laptop. Just buy a wireless router. We have a Belkin, and the boys just plugged in a D-link one too, apparently helps with the Playstation or something.
Anyway, the phone line for my DSL goes into the DSL box/modem, the Ethernet cable goes from modem to the wireless router, and on the back of the router are multiple Ethernet cable ports that say either ‘to wired computers’ or LAN (local area network). Plug your desktop in one of those.
Buy router, open box, plug in cables, throw instructions away. It’s about that hard. The computers should find the new connections when you turn them back on.
If the linked document is the correct one for your setup then the modem is not connected to the desktop via USB. enipla are you sure the modem is connected to your desktop via USB not ethernet? If it is connected via ethernet things are as easy as gharester says.
Many cable modems will offer both a USB or ethernet connection option. If yours has both ports simply disconnect the USB cable and use a standard short cat5 ethernet cable instead which will allow connection to the router then to the desktop ethernet port. Wireless B-G routers can be had for as little as $20 - 30 if you shop around. If you are further than 50 feet away or are punching through a lot of walls etc mid to upper tier multiplexing "B-G-N" spec models can go 80- $180.
That’s something that completely slipped my mind. I use the parent’s wireless for Wii and the DS. If video games are something you’re into, this is really easy too. Generally the system detects a wireless signal and you just tell it which one (if multiple signals are available) and the password and you’re connected.
Hardware-wise yes. You will have to go into the setup page for the router and set your wireless security settings and then enter the password code (once) on the netbook.
Re software setup. Make sure you write down the IP address for your router, your admin credentials, and your wireless password, as astro said. Bookmark the admin setup page (which is usually web-based). I lost the IP and thus the setup access to mine once. Now I have all the info taped to the bottom of the hardware.
My setup is a little different, in that the satellite plugs into a network switch which plugs into a Wireless Access Point. I can’t remember why, but it works fine.
I also just got a netbook and it’s an Asus eeePC. So far, it’s been great. I upgraded from 1G to 2G of RAM, mostly b/c it was only $25. It took all of 2 minutes to find the panel and switch out the cards. We mostly use it as a music server, and it’s the place where the two backup external hard drives plug in.
I just went through this same scenario; computer literate but total noob to networks.
I bought an Asus netbook and a Linksys WRT160N wireless router (N band is the fast one, G is slower). Hooked up and playing with the netbook in the back yard in 10 minutes.
The Linksys software made the setup very easy but it left a bunch of unnecessary processes running so I removed it after the install.