Wireless Internet

[Darwinian]

While I'm pretty clued up with pc's etc. like anything, there's a blind spot.

With me it's wireless internet connections. When people start talking about routers etc. to me it's just white noise...

However, I've just bought a new pc. Now, my daughter uses the old one and it's full of her stuff, so what I would like to do is have both up and running using the same internet connection.

I have Tiscali 8meg and at the moment just have the standard modem and telephone cable.

What I need to know is exactly what I need to buy in order to have both pc's online and how to put it all together.

An idiot's step by step guide would be much appreciated

Also, does anyone know a simply way to convert the DVI signal from the back of the PC into a video signal (scart)?

[leo-rcc]

A couple of questions:

a: this modem you have, how is it currently connected to your pc? With a network cable or usb?
b: what distance does the wireless connection have to cover, and are there thick concrete walls in its path?

As for your question into converting the DVI signal to video, I have an HauPpage adapter for that, DVI in, video out.

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/d...iamvp.html

[Eilonnwy]

I have a netgear router, and they aren't expensive at all. Essentially, in order to get a wireless signal going you need a modem and a router. You basically set up the modem to have some internets and then instead of hooking it up to the PC you hook it up to the router. The router will then have a wirless signal and then my netgear model also lets you hook up multiple ethernet cables so you can have up to 4 computers connected to the internet by ethernet and also boosts wireless signal as well.

In order to protect the wireless you need to log into the router through a computer connected to the router and then you type in your ip address to the web browser and it goes to the router control panel. From there you can set an admin password and mess with the wireless settings to add security to the signal.

If you don't know your IP, and I can never remember mine, just go to the start button on your computer and select run>cmd and type in ipconfig. Pick the IP that ends in .1 and type it into the browser.

If you have a desktop that you want to have connect wirelessly and don't don't have wireless capabilities already you can purchase a cheap wireless card that connects via USB port.

That's how I connect via wirelessly and it works for me.

[Tiberius]

If you don't know your IP, and I can never remember mine, just go to the start button on your computer and select run>cmd and type in ipconfig. Pick the IP that ends in .1 and type it into the browser.

I won't always end with a .1

In fact if you have more than one computer (which Darwinian does) it will probably end with .2, but it's always in the format:

192.168.X.Y

My laptop is currently 192.168.105.5 and my PC is currently 192.168.5.127

Here is a step my step guide by Microsoft though: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone...setup.mspx
It probably has all the info you need for Windows computers.

[Rob]

but it's always in the format:

192.168.X.Y

*ahem* <.<

Code:

Milkyway ~ # ifconfig eth0
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1E:68:9F:AE:1B  
          inet addr:10.1.1.1  Bcast:10.1.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:9444976 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Interrupt:223 Base address:0x6000

[Tiberius]

Ok, unless you use crazy non-home networks. If you are on a massive network then it won't be. Jeez.

[leo-rcc]

<Off topic>
Ahem.

Code:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:c0:9f:d0:aa:63  
          inet addr:172.16.25.101  Bcast:172.16.25.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::2c0:9fff:fed0:aa63/64 Scope:Link

Basically you are correct, most private networks in peoples homes use a ip subnet that is in the 192.168.x.x range, with a subnet of 255.255.255.0 which means there is a maximum of 254 devices in that subnet. Routers are usually on 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254 and they are quite often also the DNS name server.

However, since I make connection to various different networks I don't like to use that subnet so I took another reserved private subnet in the 172.16.x.x range, which is less common. That way I can much easier differentiate which network I am on.
</Off topic>

Darwinian, a lot of internet providers will happily replace your current modem with an integrated wireless one, is that not the simplest option for you?

[Kyuuketsuki]

Also, does anyone know a simply way to convert the DVI signal from the back of the PC into a video signal (scart)?

Simple? no ... you can convert DVI to VGA and VGA to SCART but I'd money on it not working if you tried to do both together. Has your SCRT device got HDMI?

Kyu

[Darwinian]

Thanks for all that. I feel a bit better about it now.

My scart device is just an old VCR that I use to convert the av signals from various things such as my (old) pc, hard disk recorder etc. into a UHF signal that I can then send all over the house This way I can download a film for my Son, play it on the PC and he can watch it in his room. The new PC however, hasn't got a video out from its graphics card. I've looked for a Graphics card with both video and hdmi out but with no luck. Unless I can find a device like a Hard Disk Recorder that has an hdmi input and a scart output or even better a UHF output then I'm going to be mucking about with cables

I'm also wondering if it is possible to run two pc's from the same modem as then I wouldn't need to bother going wireless.

[leo-rcc]

A modem is what does the conversioin from phone line to signal the pc can use. To have more than 1 pc connected is why you need a router. A router keeps track of who sent and requested what and figures out the proper route for the data to take (hence the name). Whatever media is used to do that routing, through cable or wireless is irrelevant. The main thing is, you need a router.

You never did answer my questions though. I'd like to help but I do need some info to do so.