Wireless Newbie

Ben75 · 29th December 2005

Hello from stateside. I'm terribly new to wifi and trying to set up my home network. I have a laptop. Bought a Linksys Notebook Adapter with Speedbooster and a Wireless-G Broadband Router and installed both. Here's where I expose my cluelessness: I only have one pc - a laptop - and my aim was to be able to set up a router that's connected to the cable modem and then disconnect the laptop for use elsewhere (home, garden, etc). Have I missed the boat? Must the router be connected to both the cable modem and one "unmoveable" pc (such as a desktop), in order to act as a grounder for a separate laptop to wirelessly connect to? I.E., now that I've got the modem connected to the router and the router connected to the laptop, what do I unplug in order to take the laptop into another room and still remain connected to the internet? Thanks much for your help and understanding

Rebuke · 30th December 2005

If I'm understanding what you have so far, all you should need to do, is set up the wireless options on your router, then disconnect your laptop from the router (I assume it is currently connected via a cable), and connect to the wireless network - your laptop is then useable anywhere the wireless signal reaches to.

The last time I used a Linksys router, it had a little card inside the box that gave step by step instructions on how to get something talking wirelessly to it, which would probably be useful...

philb · 30th December 2005

If you'll excuse the terrible text diagram:

Code:

[modem]----"WAN"[wireless router]"LAN"------[wired pc/laptop/etc (OPTIONAL)]
                      \ /
                      \ /
                  (wireless)
                      \ /
                      \ /
                   [laptop]

Note that you should by no means have to have any wired devices (eg pc / laptop / whatever) in order to use the wireless successfully.

If you tell us what specific model you have, I can provide a little more diagrammatic assistance.

Ben75 · 30th December 2005

Thanks so much to both. The model of my LinkSys Wireless-G Broadband Router is WRT54GS. Wondering how I would connect to the wireless network (i.e., by what method: access a specific IP?) after disconnecting my laptop from the router? Thanks again.

philb · 30th December 2005

There should be a quickstart guide with your wireless card on how to install it and connect to a wireless network. Give that a whirl.

Once you get the basic wireless connection working, you should strongly consider enabling WPA encryption and configuring your laptop appropriately.