My wife got her wireless laptop the other day and after I turned it on and connected the wireless router to the cable modem, I tried to connect to the internet and even though the computer stated that I was connected. It would not work. After troubleshooting some, I ended up calling Dell support. Through them I discovered the my cable modem is set up to only except one computer source. I need to hook my desktop to the router to have both work at the same time. Now the problem, I have a 1999 desktop that does not have an ethernet outlet in the back of the tower. Is there an adapter that will allow me to convert USB to ethernet or do I have to make the desktop wireless also? Thanks for the help.

 

I've never heard of any cable modem settings denying a computer access to the 'net.

Check out this site to get your wireless LAN up and running... www.ezlan.net.

That site is pretty heavy on the technical terms, so ask if you have any questions.

Basically... reset everything. Make all your connections with everything off. Power on the cable modem, then the router, then the computer. Give everything a minute or two to get itself set up before you turn on the next thing. If that doesn't work, we'll try something else.

Oh yeah, you DO have cable, right? Not DSL?

 

I called the cable company, should have done that first, and they said that only one system can be run off of their modem so I either have to convert my desktop to wireless or get a USB to Ethernet converter. Thanks for replying Chris.

 

I had no idea cable companies were starting to do that. Which company are you with?

 

Time Warner Cable. Their hi-speed is called RoadRunner.

 

Paul H.. I think they are feeding you a Line of ****. I also have Time Warner RoadRunner and was told the same thing. I hooked up anyway and am presently running 4 desktops 3 laptops and a pda all off the same modem connected to an 8 port switch and 2 Apple Airports. The desktops are run through the switch with one exception going through an apple router. The laptops are all going through the airports via wireless (one airport is in the polebarn building). I've even had them all on at once with no problems. sounds more like a settings/setup problem, how are you connected? The specifics please example; (modem to wireless router to computer) does your router have a LAN and a WAN connection point?

 

Check the internet settings on the computer that works, settings such as Subnet, Gateway, DNS. stuff like that. I had to do that on our High Speed internet (t1, not sure if its the same, but its work a look).

 

Here is my setup. My desktop is connected to the cable modem via a USB cable. Then I have the D-Link router connected to the cable modem via an ethernet cable to the WAN port, this is for the wireless laptop. They told me that I have to run the desktop to the router and hook it into the LAN port in order to get both to receive the internet. My desktop does not have an ethernet port, so I have to install one. Does this sound right?

 

The setup you have should work fine once you install a network card you may even want to install a wireless network card in your desktop eliminating the need for a permant location. Both computers should work fine then, the router will allow the internet connection to both, where the modem is designed to only allow one. BTW both computers will share the same IP address by using the router/switch or hub.

 

Paul,

They are feeding you BS. If you have a wireless router, it will have a ethernet port from the cable and will have additional ethernet ports for other computers. I have Linksys Wireless route and it has one "IN" port from the cable and then 4 additional ethernet ports (if you choose to hard wire your computers). The router will serve as a high speed switch between your "ONE" IP address connected to the modem. You have to set your router (ADMIN Function of your router) to DHCP-Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. This means the router will get ONE IP address from your cable and then "dish" it out to up to 50-250 users. Your cable company will only see that only one computer is using the system. Now, keep in mind that cable is a shared media. Meaning that it is fast, but it is shared amongst users. The more users, the slower it gets, but most of the time you will not noticed. You probably do notice that at around noon, the browsing slows down.

For configuration, you can hook up your cable modem to the router and then have your OS detect the settings. Just make sure that you change the Admin password on your router. Also, ensure to enable the WEP function, so not everyone in your neighborhood can access your net.

 

Well I got an ethernet adapter for the desktop and I finally got the desktop to work right but I am still unable to get the laptop to get on the internet, I figure that it has to be the settings, but I can't figure out what to do. Please help.

 

They were probably trying to trick you into letting them come out and set it up for you... charging you a premium in the process. But as I suspected, it's nothing you can't do yourself.

The setup should be like this:



The number of computers you use and whatever's wired or wireless doesn't matter. Completely up to you. But you can't use the USB cable AND ethernet cable from the cable modem at the same time. Has to be one or the other, and the only way you'll be able to be wireless is to use your ethernet cable. So if you don't have a network card on the desktop you're trying to make wired, you need to get one. They're dirt cheap at www.newegg.com and takes all of 5 mins to install.

 

Paul,

What kind of Laptop/OS?

 

If it is Windows XP OS, you can go to START/CONNECT TO/SHOW ALL WIRELESS CONNECTIONS

From there, you should see your SSID, whatever you named it. Then it is a matter of configuring the internal wireless card. Make sure the SSID/WEP matches whatever you set it up with.

 

Well,I finally got the laptop going, thanks for all the help. francr, that last step got the internet up and running. One other question. When I pulled up the "show all wireless connections", I got the one I needed which is a secured network but I also got an unsecured one that I did not recognize. Could that be someone elses wireless?

 

Well, if you "accidentally" got it running the first time, but couldn't make it work and you left the default, that could be a "leftover" settings. I sometimes get a ghost linksys default. But if the SSID is different from yours, then it is someonelses'. You can try accessing his admin by typing the default password. I can do that with my neighbor's system, but I don't know where they are located. I wish i could let them know that their system is not secured.

I change my WEP often. I look at my incoming logs and I do get hacked' but only up to the router. Set you Windows XP firewall also. It is in Control Panel and then click on Windows Firewall. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the firewall tip, everything seems to be working fine now, just have to get used to the keyboard and controls. never used a laptop before.

 

Yeah, I got rid of our desktop in 2003. My wife was a little bit apprehensive about it, but she loves the freedom of having the laptop anywhere in the house and outside. I am actually going to get another laptop to replace mine. This time something small and luggable instead of "Table Tops" that weigh a ton!

 

you may wanna check what their policy is.

comcast was like this before they changed.

after all, each additional machine was $$$ to them. i think it was like $5 per month extra.

but that was before all the routers/wireless stuff started to happen.

when i signed up with them over 3 years ago, i went through their TERMS OF SERVICE agreement.

no where on said i can plug in multitple machines at the same time in the house.

so i bought a wireless router and wireless cards.

i dont know when they actually started to embrace this, but one day, one of their wacky commercials actually had a linksys router (although painted black) and they said you can share your connection in your house.

oh well.

now TWC might have something similar even these days.

might be one of those UNOFFICIAL policies...

just check your TOS with them...

 

If you have a NIC card already there should be an antenna of some sort to put into the RJ 45 port if not the usb-ether adaptor should work