Hullo

I'm after a nice simple explanation of how my imminent 1MB ADSL actually works when it comes to how the broadband gets in the house, how its translated to connectivity to my PC (bearing in mind its the opposite side of house and upstairs from phone point) And also how a router will help with security and whether its worth looking into wireless (and how that works)

How can my PC relate with it all? I have only 2 USBs and would prefer to use the ethernet card, yet wanadoo techie said they're modem's only used USBs, but would rather not, if ya know what I mean. How does broadband connect to the router, dat cable? then a dat cable for router to the PC?

Any nice easy guidelines would be cool. Thanks.

BTW - I went with wanadoo because of good service given to me over the last several years, without looking elsewhere (my freeserve email addy must have been around since Summer 1998) - Gone with their 22.99 a month 1MB ADSL, which does have an unfortunate 6Gb monthly cap, but I don't think I'll get to that very often. Have the option of upgrading to 27.99 for unlimited.(well 30Gb...) downloads.

So, please nothing too techie...

Also, as routers go, what's this like? Seems cheap at the moment... :confused:

5727622233 (put item number in ebay, sorry, fooked up the link)

Routers? Here goes.

This is how I explain them to non-technical teachers and children so apologies if I'm aiming to low.

A router is effectively a self dialling modem that connects to the ethernet port on the computer. They usually come with the instructions for setting up the IP address on your system.

The router has to be programmed with your username and password and anything else that is useful as some ISPs issue static IP addresses.

If you are interested I can get you a set up guide that has been written for LEAs and students, although they get the routers preconfigured, but it will show the putting it together part. PM me if you're interested.

The router connects to the telephone socket in the same way as the USB modem would via a microfilter/splitter.

Edited to add: Had a quick look at your ebay item and it's not one I've used. My experience is limited to a couple of Draytek Vigor models which seem to work well.

OK 1 point, sounds like you require a wireless router as you have mentioned the distance.

Basically I have a wirelles router that I pulg into my ADSL broadband and it then converts the signal into a wireless one which is picked up by any wireless card in range, eg. your computer, your neighbours computer.

To stop everyone hitching a free broad connection you use data encryption with scrambles the signal using a code that you setup on your adsl wireless modem and your wireless card in your PC thus making the information usless to anyone else except you could you have the same code as the adsl modem.

BTW I use a netgear wireless ADSL modem with a 4 port hub so I can plug in things like my xbox to the hub direct.

Ivan

I'm after a nice simple explanation of how my imminent 1MB ADSL actually works when it comes to how the broadband gets in the house, how its translated to connectivity to my PC (bearing in mind its the opposite side of house and upstairs from phone point) And also how a router will help with security and whether its worth looking into wireless (and how that works)

From the broadband modem inwards, it's basically like having a home network. You can connect the modem directly to your PC - how this works depends on the modem itself, but most of the ones I've seen allow for USB or ethernet (network cable stuff) connections, so you have the choice.

Ethernet is easier as you can get long networks cables easily, and it's quicker and generally more reliable to going over USB.

Most routers include a firewall - this essentially presents an external "face" to the big wide world, so any attempts to hack go to this and do no real damage, rather than a computer which is more vulnerable. So personally I'd recommend a decent router as a necessity.

A router will also split the incoming connection, so you can share the connection amongst several computers, and it will also allow you to have a home network.

Wireless has come down a lot in price - there isn't a whole lot between wireless and wired routers these days. It basically replaces the cable between the computer and the router, so does have advantages. The main disadvantage is speed, but if you buy the right equipment then this needn't be a problem...

The router will have a bunch of ethernet ports on it, so you're working with network cable and cards within the house. Unless you get wireless, in which case you're working with wireless network cards!

Rob.

ADSL modems almost exclusively use the USB connection. ADSL routers OTOH are much more likely to have an Ethernet connection.

A router is only really necessary if you want to share the connection with other machines (and strictly not even then), or you really don't like the idea of a modem connected via your USB port, taking up a precious USB slot (like me).

Routers may or may not include a firewall (most do nowadays), but you can run a software firewall on your PC instead if you don't want to buy a hardware one.

I'm sorry I can't explain how ADSL splits your phone signal into voice and data, but that's what happens. You need a filter on EVERY extension socket in your house to help this work. With most connection packs you will get 2 filters and you can buy more if you need them. Once you have the filter on, your phone socket effectively becomes a network socket. Your modem, or router if you have one, dials the ISP every time you start using the connection. This happens so fast you don't even notice it happening. You have to configure the device with the connection details the first time, and after that, it's transparent.

Also, as routers go, what's this like? Seems cheap at the moment... :confused:

That's not especially cheap - it's 11/22MBps (also known as 802.11B), which isn't particularly fast.

Look for 802.11G stuff - it's 54/108MBps, so considerably quicker, and really not all the much more expensive even for new equipment.

The two standards are compatible, but will always work at the lowest speed - I've got a B router and a G network card, and it's a PITA...

Rob.

Re the eBay item - well known brand, wireless (albeit only 11mpbs) includes the PC card (do you have a PCMCIA slot?) very cheap as it stands. Doesn't say if the router includes wired ports as well as wireless but it may well, a lot do.

Still looks reasonable to me, Rob.

Jason if you're not going to be using the wireless network within the house i.e. to communicate with other PCs, the 11Mbps standard will still be 10 times faster than your wide-area connection ...

Still looks reasonable to me' date=' Rob.

Jason if you're not going to be using the wireless network within the house i.e. to communicate with other PCs, the 11Mbps standard will still be 10 times faster than your wide-area connection ...[/quote']

Very doubtful anyone else will use the same connection, although the option would be cool. Its simply a matter of getting comms from down in the hall upstairs to the room... Takes a 20m extension cable for dialup phone line...

This was more about the security issues and what ports I can use. I'm sure I have a PCMCIA (or whatever) as thats what my 10/100 ethernet card plugs into (had that in there doing nothing for about 3 years... )

There's no "or whatever"

PCMCIA is the standard for the little credit card-sized plug in cards. If you've got one of those, it's PCMCIA.

Pretty sure thats what my ethernet card plugs into anyway. I just hope its still working after all these years being redundant.

the 11Mbps standard will still be 10 times faster than your wide-area connection ...

See, now that's what I thought too...however, when I d/l over good old CAT5 using my 300k broadband, I get transfer rates of approximately 30kb/sec, which I guess makes sense if the broadband speed is bits instead of bytes.

When I use my 11Mbps network card, it tops out at around the 10kb/sec mark... :rubchin:

Rob.

I'll try and remember to do a test sometime. They should both be bits. Are you using WEP? That slows it down a treat!

I'll try and remember to do a test sometime. They should both be bits. Are you using WEP? That slows it down a treat!

Yeah, I'm using WEP, though only at 64-bit.

Pretty sure the download speed in things like IE is bytes rather than bits...but then I'd have thought the quoted broadband speed and the quoted wireless speed would both be in bits... :rubchin:

Rob.

Yes - so divide by 10 i.e. 300kbps ~= 30kb/s

Oh yes, I get that one.

But then 11Mbps should equate to considerable more than the 100kbps/10kb/sec I get off my wireless card.

Might have to sign-up to some free OpenZone trial or other and see I get better results with a 802.11G router... :rubchin:

Rob.

Hmmmm - some bu99er sniped the auction and beat me by

I'm sorry I can't explain how ADSL splits your phone signal into voice and data' date=' but that's what happens. You need a filter on EVERY extension socket in your house to help this work. With most connection packs you will get 2 filters and you can buy more if you need them. Once you have the filter on, your phone socket effectively becomes a network socket. Your modem, or router if you have one, dials the ISP every time you start using the connection. This happens so fast you don't even notice it happening. You have to configure the device with the connection details the first time, and after that, it's transparent.[/quote']

Take the phone line. All speach and modem/fax data transmits and receives on a fairly low frequency. The DSL uses higher frequencies to utilise the unused bandwidth. The reason for the filters / spitters is that when an incoming phone call comes in / goes out, it seizes the phone line completely. But with the filters/splitter on the line, the phone call only seizes the lower frequencies and not the higher ones of the line. The filter/splitter also does the same for the DSL part of the connection.

Quick tip...

If you are unsure if your phone line works or not, plug the router/modem into the phone line without the splitter and watch out for the "Carrier Detect" or CD light on the box. You can then install the filter/splitter with the assurance that the DSL has been enabled on your line.

Also, don't forget about the PVC settings on your DSL router/modem....

For UK............... 0/38

For IRL...............8/35

Enjoy!

Howdy,

I found this link very useful when trying to diagnose my previous broadband problems when BT swore blind that there wasn't a problem.

http://www.adslguide.org/howitworks

The splitter servers 2 purposes - 1 is to stop clicks and pops ( interference ) on the line and the other is to terminate the line properly to prevent refection of the signal back up the line.

I personally have an old p233 pc running Slackware linux with a wireless card, an ethernet card and a USB ADSL modem in it that does the job of routing & firewall-ing just fine. Only cost me about