Basic wireless help please!

[BOAC]

Looking to set-up a ??simple?? 802.11b home network to work with a desktop and IPAQ PDA with CF wifi card. Using W2000 Pro and broadband (currently AOL).

I have received an emailshot offering a 4port broadband wireless router at a good price but a friend last night said there could be problems connecting this to the AOL modem (BT Voyager) due to lack of a USB port on the router?

Are there any web-sites anyone can recommend for those starting out to guide us through yet another jungle?

[Timothy]

Many (most?) WiFi routers have their own ADSL modem embedded. Some work with AOL some don't. The one I recommend (http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/vigor2600g.html) definitely boasts (you can read for yourself) that it supports AOL.

Timothy

[Land After]

Dump AOL.

Buy your own ADSL, wireless, router.

Find easier & cheaper ISP.

Easy.

[BEagle]

I bought a BT Voyager 2000 ADSL wireless modem/router. Simple to set up and use - 802.11b connectivity to my laptop anywhere in BEagle Towers (OK - I know that's hardly a challenge...). It also has an ethernet socket for connection to a normal desk PC.

But I don't think it works with AOL........ No problem for me as I use another ISP; AOL junk disks go straight into the bin!

[BOAC]

All suggestions to 'dump AOL' are noted but not awfully helpful!
Can anyone explain in VERY SIMPLE TERMS why broadband AOL is THAT different to broadband 'anybody' in terms of a router?

My 'Voyager' modem has only a USB and a phoneline input, so I cannot use ethernet there.

[Timothy]

BOAC

I am not one to be insulted or nuffink, but I bothered to give you a full answer to your question, including exactly which bit of kit you should buy, and without saying that you should junk AOL, your preferred ISP*, and instead of a cheery "thanks" you just restate the problem as if I had been p1ssing in the wind.

Not very encouraging for people to help really. :(

Timothy

*(you should junk it, mind you, because it's cr@p, but that's not what you want to hear)

[BEagle]

BOAC - it's something to do with AOL's software incompatability.

$hit can it - you'll be better off without it. Or follow Timothy's advice if yoy must stick with AOL.

[BOAC]

Timothy - I am sorry if you feel I did not value your post - I did, and have looked closely at the item you mentioned. It still leaves me with a question as to why AOL is so different in broadband terms, and the price of that item is more than I am prepared to spend. The link you gave me does not unfortunately actually explain why some routers are no good with AOL and this one is.

I know it is cr*p, I don't mind hearing it, and a genuine thanks for your input, and since you did not mention 'dump it' (at first, anyway:D ), the post was not directed at you.

[Land After]

AOL eats into your machine, with lots of extraneous software and non-standard settings you don’t need. The easiest way forward, IMHO, is to start again from scratch using a simple ISP (eg Pipex) and a simple, standard, wireless router, such as the Netgear DG834g. It’s not hard to setup and if you don’t use any of the content or cosseting provided by AOL, you can live without them, their software and premium pricing.

The router can be had for around less than £100, with no hard work and a quick check on pricerunner. You can take you pick of ISPs, but Pipex gets a good rep on PPRUNE and does provide a reliable service for about £24/month. There are cheaper ISPs about, www.adslguide.org.uk is a good place to start hunting, it also has some equipment reviews.

Jumping ship now from AOL will let you skip ISPs in the future for better service/price. For complete portability buy yourself a domain name for your email for around £10/year and you can hop ISP as much as you want.

(I’m assuming that your PC has an Ethernet card installed, if not, you’ll need to buy and install a card, about £20. Sharing your connection through the main PC USB modem and then installing a wireless access point would be just too much hard work for the price of an ADSL wireless router)

[Timothy]

BOAC

Sorry, mate, something else was making me grumpy at the time!

Pipex does have a good write up, but in fact ADSLGuide always places Eclipse ahead of it, and everyone I have pushed towards them has always been happy.

Regarding not wanting to spend the money, the Draytek is a very good bit of kit, and what you get for, what, £150? is pretty amazing.

If someone had asked us 5 years ago what a combined 100Mb Ethernet router, Hardware Firewall, VPN, ADSL modem and WiFi access point would cost in 5 years' time, we would have guessed £5000 or more.

Anyway, you pays yer money and takes yer choice. £100 for a non AOL WiFi router or £150 for one that allows AOL.

[BOAC]

Thanks all - and, Timothy, regarding 'grumpy' - no probs - I've got one of those :D

I am really only tinkering at the edges on wifi, and hence the reluctance to spend more. AOL came about because it gives w/wide access at reasonable cost, so it was 'logical' to step to AOL b/band at the time when b/b became available in my part of the world, which gives me a 12 month 'lock-in'. Next part of jigsaw - I am now close to going to GPRS phone/bluetooth to PDA for the times I need travelling access, and 'old father time' beckons with a reduced travelling accesss requirement. For the stress relief of all, I am fully aware of most of the inherent problems with AOL, I have had a huge ding-dong with them over 2 years regarding my accusation that they are 'selling' email addresses ( I have actually reported them to the authorities). I WILL be dropping AOL and have ALWAYS planned to. The added carrot here was the thought of a cheap wifi set-up at home regardless, the wifi router on offer was under £30, so hopefully the attraction is obvious.

I do not have an ethernet card. I visited my web-engineer son in Cambridge yesterday and was chided by him for the same! I have a cheapo AOL provided BT Voyager USB modem, and I am really looking for the original 'idiot's guide' to wifi if anyone can recommend a link?

[Keef]

I did all that a few months ago. Not AOL - I was thoroughly warned off that many years ago.

I bought a second-hand ADSL router off Ebay for £35. That replaced an Alcatel Frog USB modem. All I needed was an Ethernet card (£5 off Ebay) and a short RJ45 cable (£3 ditto).

That was so easy to set up it was silly. The router has a firewall, so Zone Alarm became belt-and-braces. More important, if BT or Pipex drop the line the router immediately tries to reconnect and keeps on till it does. I've not noticed any "lost line" since I've had it It hasn't been switched off this year.

Then I bought a laptop, with built-in Ethernet, and it "just worked". I had a little more fun getting the laptop and the desktop to share files and folders across the network - all down to the settings in Win XP. Folks on here were most helpful and got me sorted.

Then I wanted to link the laptop by wireless. One PCMCIA 802.11b card for £11 (Ebay, you guessed) and a Netgear ME102 Wireless Access Point - plugs straight into one of the 4 ports on the router (£35 Ebay). Again, plugged it in, switched on, and off we went. I wanted the ME102 because it's a duplex transmitter/receiver and that improves signal path reliability no end.

I also bought a Bluetooth dongle for the laptop, and that can talk to the cellphone and access the Internet via GPRS - again, a doddle.

The iPaq can talk to the laptop and to the cellphone via Bluetooth.

And the joke - I turned on the Bluetooth headset to check it still worked with the cellphone after all that, and the laptop asked me if it should play sound through that rather than through its speakers.

So, under £100 for the lot. If I were starting again, I'd get an ADSL modem router with built-in WiFi - might save a few quid.

802.11g is about £30 dearer than 802.11b, is 4 times faster, and makes no difference whatever to me cos I can't type or read that fast anyway.

[PretoriaSillyperson]

Keef - what a top post! Would that it were always so simple. Still, you've convinced me that there's hope for me yet!

Yours aye,

PSP

[fobotcso]

PSP, remember that Keef has access to on-line help that most of the rest of don't have. :)