Basic Wireless Internet access queries?

I posted the following to another group but think I may be in the right
place here for my queries?

I had a Wanadoo 512k broadband connection with no problems and I took the
option of upgrading to 1Mb, paying a £20 re-grade charge. Since the
regrade, I have had a very 'erratic' connection in terms of speed and
connectivity.

BT have checked in the house and it was determind that I should change my
master box to have a filter front plate and run an ADSL extension (CAT5)
from that to try as the extensions failed BT's tests.

The good news is that my connection is now stable.

The bad news is that it is not practical for me to have the cable running
across the room and there is no easy way to route it round to the location
of my computer and I cannot move the computer to the master socket.

So, I'm looking at options.

Is this a case for a wireless connection? Can I put a router / whatever at
the master socket and attach a wireless modem / whatever to my computer at
the far side of the room? As you can see, my knowledge in this area is
limited.

What kit would I need to buy? Are there any security or performance
drawbacks (I run Norton Security on my computer already, will this still be
suffiecient for a wireless connection?)?

Hopefully, someone will be able to steer me in he right direction....thank
you in advance.

On 05/12/2004 NewsGroupQuestion wrote:

> I posted the following to another group but think I may be in the
> right place here for my queries?
>
> I had a Wanadoo 512k broadband connection with no problems and I took
> the option of upgrading to 1Mb, paying a £20 re-grade charge. Since
> the regrade, I have had a very 'erratic' connection in terms of speed
> and connectivity.
>
> BT have checked in the house and it was determind that I should
> change my master box to have a filter front plate and run an ADSL
> extension (CAT5) from that to try as the extensions failed BT's tests.
>
> The good news is that my connection is now stable.
>
> The bad news is that it is not practical for me to have the cable
> running across the room and there is no easy way to route it round to
> the location of my computer and I cannot move the computer to the
> master socket.
>
> So, I'm looking at options.
>
> Is this a case for a wireless connection? Can I put a router /
> whatever at the master socket and attach a wireless modem / whatever
> to my computer at the far side of the room? As you can see, my
> knowledge in this area is limited.
>
> What kit would I need to buy? Are there any security or performance
> drawbacks (I run Norton Security on my computer already, will this
> still be suffiecient for a wireless connection?)?
>
> Hopefully, someone will be able to steer me in he right
> direction....thank you in advance.


Linksys are doing a bundle of a Linksys WAG54G (a combined ADSL
Modem/Router/WAP) that would plug into you BT point and a WUSB54G
wireless connector (that can't be the technical name) that connects to
your PC via the USB port, you can see it here:

http://www.linksyssales.co.uk/linksy...em.asp?idProdu
ct=162

All manufacturers do something similar but I have just ordered one of
these bundles so it's fresh in my mind :-)

There is security built in the form of WEP 128 and something else but
again I can't remember its name. You should continue to run Norton as
well though.

It's not the only solution but would do what you want.

--
Jeff Gaines Damerham Hampshire UK
Posted with XanaNews 1.16.5.2 http://www.wilsonc.demon.co.uk/delphi.htm

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
NewsGroupQuestion <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
> Is this a case for a wireless connection? Can I put a router /
> whatever at the master socket and attach a wireless modem / whatever
> to my computer at the far side of the room? As you can see, my
> knowledge in this area is limited.
>
> What kit would I need to buy? Are there any security or performance
> drawbacks (I run Norton Security on my computer already, will this
> still be suffiecient for a wireless connection?)?
>
> Hopefully, someone will be able to steer me in he right
> direction....thank you in advance.

I'm sure that others will disagree with me, but I *wouldn't* use wireless in
your case. There is *always* a way of getting a cable across the room - even
if you have to go up through the ceiling and down the other side.

If you *really* want to go wireless, the easiest way is to get a wireless
modem/router (which plugs into your master socket) and a wireless network
card in your computer. There are several things you need to do to secure a
wireless network, in addition to any hardware or software firewalls which
you may have. Firewalls protect you from things which might happen over your
internet connection - but if anyone hacks into your wireless network they
might have direct access to your computer - and your firewalls won't help.
There is a good article about wireless network security in the current issue
(Issue 224 - Christmas 2004) of PC Plus magazine.

Another thing to be aware of is that it is *highly desirable* to have at
least one PC with a *wired* connection into a wireless router, for ease of
configuration. It is all too easy - particularly when setting up security -
to make a mistake which stops your PC from accessing the router wirelessly
until you have corrected it. If you only have a wireless connection, you're
stuffed!
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

"Tiscali Tim" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> NewsGroupQuestion <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>
>> Is this a case for a wireless connection? Can I put a router /
>> whatever at the master socket and attach a wireless modem / whatever
>> to my computer at the far side of the room? As you can see, my
>> knowledge in this area is limited.
>>
>> What kit would I need to buy? Are there any security or performance
>> drawbacks (I run Norton Security on my computer already, will this
>> still be suffiecient for a wireless connection?)?
>>
>> Hopefully, someone will be able to steer me in he right
>> direction....thank you in advance.
>
> I'm sure that others will disagree with me, but I *wouldn't* use wireless
> in
> your case. There is *always* a way of getting a cable across the room -
> even
> if you have to go up through the ceiling and down the other side.
>
> If you *really* want to go wireless, the easiest way is to get a wireless
> modem/router (which plugs into your master socket) and a wireless network
> card in your computer. There are several things you need to do to secure a
> wireless network, in addition to any hardware or software firewalls which
> you may have. Firewalls protect you from things which might happen over
> your
> internet connection - but if anyone hacks into your wireless network they
> might have direct access to your computer - and your firewalls won't help.
> There is a good article about wireless network security in the current
> issue
> (Issue 224 - Christmas 2004) of PC Plus magazine.
>
> Another thing to be aware of is that it is *highly desirable* to have at
> least one PC with a *wired* connection into a wireless router, for ease of
> configuration. It is all too easy - particularly when setting up
> security -
> to make a mistake which stops your PC from accessing the router wirelessly
> until you have corrected it. If you only have a wireless connection,
> you're
> stuffed!
> --
> Cheers,
> Tim
> ______
> Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.
>
>

Another question then - is it always preferable to have the ADSL router /
modem connected to the master socket in the house? I curently have my
wireless router connected to the extension socket in the office upstairs,
would I get a better connection if I plugged it in the master socket
downstairs?

Jez

On 5 Dec 2004, in uk.telecom.broadband, "A" wrote:

>I curently have my wireless router connected to the extension socket
>in the office upstairs, would I get a better connection if I plugged
>it in the master socket downstairs?

Better than what ? If you are having lots of disconnections, it's an
idea to check the quality of the extension cabling, however, I've used a
cheap extension cable from one floor to the other when I need to test some
kit, and have had no problems (then again, that line has a good connection
to the exchange, and www.samknows.com puts the distance at 1.5 kilometers,
so perhaps any extension cabling would work OK!) Peter M.

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 19:09:16 +0000, NewsGroupQuestion wrote:

>
> The bad news is that it is not practical for me to have the cable running
> across the room and there is no easy way to route it round to the location
> of my computer and I cannot move the computer to the master socket.
>
> So, I'm looking at options.
>
> Is this a case for a wireless connection? Can I put a router / whatever at
> the master socket and attach a wireless modem / whatever to my computer at
> the far side of the room? As you can see, my knowledge in this area is
> limited.

Yes you could use a wireless modem/router. See reviews on
www.adslguide.org.uk.


> What kit would I need to buy?

One wireless modem/router and one wireless adapter for your PC (typically
PCI). You may want to consider having an ethernet adapter as well in case
you have problems with the wireless security/setup. Some computers come
with these as standard anyway.

You may be able to buy these parts as a package. If not you must make sure
that the two are fully compatible.

> Are there any security

Yes you should enable the security. If you don't someone outside you house
can read all the packets you are sending/receiving, as well as sending
themselves.

or performance
> drawbacks

No that I am aware of.

(I run Norton Security on my computer already, will this still be
> suffiecient for a wireless connection?)?

No it will not stop someone reading your packets, but a router running
NAT is more secure than using a USB/PCI modem directly connected to a
PC.


Michael Chare.

Thank you all for the answers. Wanadoo now offer a wireless option so I now
have a list of questions to put to them - anyone know anything about this?

I have a RJ-11 / cat5 cable option now running across the room so assuming
the router I get has an ethernet port I should be okay as I also have a NIC
in the computer.

I've gone from being very happy with 512k and not wanting to pay out
anything for an 'upgrade' to paying £20 for the regrade and not being happy
and looking as if I'm going to have to pay another £80 - £100 for the
wireless option.

Ah well, that's computers!

Thanks again - all advice and pointers appreciated.

On 6 Dec 2004 in uk.telecom.broadband,
"NewsGroupQuestion" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Thank you all for the answers. Wanadoo now offer a wireless option so I now
>have a list of questions to put to them - anyone know anything about this?

>if I'm going to have to pay another £80 - £100 for the wireless option.

One thing to ask them is given they charge about the same for their
wireless option as you can pay online to anyone else, why do they
have an "unlock fee" you have to pay if you ever want *your* wireless
kit to work with another ISP... Cable is under 20p a metre and it's
surely possible to have 30 metres of it to go anywhere you want around
that room, with a drop of paint afterwards, perhaps, to not spend that
much on wireless... but you know best... Peter M.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
A <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
> Another question then - is it always preferable to have the ADSL
> router / modem connected to the master socket in the house? I
> curently have my wireless router connected to the extension socket in
> the office upstairs, would I get a better connection if I plugged it
> in the master socket downstairs?
>

Not necessarily, if your current setup works ok. It depends on a lot of
factors including the length and quality of the line from the exchange to
your house, the quality of your extension wiring and the quality of your
plug-in filters.

There are occasions when ADSL can *only* be made to work - particularly at
higher speeds - by using a filtered faceplate in the master socket and by
connecting the ADSL kit to the master socket - either directly or via a
*digital* extension.
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

"Peter M" <us-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 6 Dec 2004 in uk.telecom.broadband,
> "NewsGroupQuestion" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >Thank you all for the answers. Wanadoo now offer a wireless option so I
now
> >have a list of questions to put to them - anyone know anything about
this?
>
> >if I'm going to have to pay another £80 - £100 for the wireless option.
>
> One thing to ask them is given they charge about the same for their
> wireless option as you can pay online to anyone else, why do they
> have an "unlock fee" you have to pay if you ever want *your* wireless
> kit to work with another ISP... Cable is under 20p a metre and it's
> surely possible to have 30 metres of it to go anywhere you want around
> that room, with a drop of paint afterwards, perhaps, to not spend that
> much on wireless... but you know best... Peter M.
>
>

If only I did know best! It's the wide that knows that she does not want an
unsightly cable acround the edges of the carpet or even 'hidden' behind the
curtains. I appreciate the pointer about the Wanadoo kit only working with
Wanadoo, I hadn't spotted that!

I'm assuming that if I get my own kit, I would have no 'set-up' problems
that I'd need to ask Wanadoo for help with - given that as far as they are
concerned I am 'system down since last Wednesday and their 'CAT' has yet to
contact me, I wouldn't hold my breath for a response.