Quick fly-by post

[selenay]

Happy (Be-lated) Birthday margec01!

Shredding is an evil process, particularly when one's shredder only takes on sheet at a time and needs emptying approximately every twenty sheets. But I am now victorious because the shredding has been completed. Yay me.

Unfortunately I forgot to de-frost lunch and with the current "try to get rid of all fresh food by Saturday" policy there is not sufficient left-overs lurking for me to concoct a replacement meal. I'm hoping that time in the airing cupboard and then a minute or two in the microwave on lowest power settings will enable me to eat my lunch shortly.

On the up side, our builder has offered the loan of a laptop until our new computers arrive so we are still on schedule for getting our Internet hooked up next Thursday. Phew!

Anyone know anything useful about cable routers/modems? Particularly ones with wireless and wired connection potential?

Comments

[wimble.livejournal.com]

What do you need to know about the routers/modems? How to use, or recommendations?

I've got a linksys WRT54G wireless router, which I've had for a few years now, and it's permanently on. It's behaved flawlessly. You can get one from Amazon for a price between 31 and 43 quid, depending on precisely which version you get. I think mine's the 43 quid version, and the newer models are cheaper. The SpeedBooster only works with other LinkSys devices, so don't get sold on that :)

It's got 1 ethernet socket for your upstream device: the cable modem. 4 ports for your local wired network, and of course, wireless. If you need more local ports, you can always plug another switch in, of course. The same'll be true of most other equivalent routers.

I liked it so much, I got one for my parents, even though they've only got one PC. But it works effectively as a firewall, and gives me wireless connection when I visit them.

[selenay]

Thank you for the recommendation! It was recs that I was looking for more than anything else. We've always had ADSL through telephone lines here (no cable) so getting cable modems/routers is all new to us.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well, the difference between ADSL and cable?

I've got a fiber optic cable coming to the wall of my house, and the copper inside, and on the end of the copper cable is my cable modem. And then I run an ethernet cable from the back of my cable modem to my computer equipment (exactly like any other ethernet cable).

ADSL (as I understand it, 'cos I've never used it): phone line coming to the house, which connects into the back of an ADSL router, which could have sockets for ethernet cables, and could provide wireless connectivity. Might not though: when ADSL started in the UK, suppliers only provided connections to a single PC. It's only fairly recently that things like BT HomeHub have come along to support multiple home PCs.

Basically, from your point of view, the fact that it's cable is nothing special. The important thing is the gadget that you plug straight onto the end of the the cable lead. I've got my cable modem from NTL (after they were ComTel, before they became Virgin), and it's pretty basic, hence the extra router. It's possible to buy cable modems, but they're rare in the UK.

You may find that, once you're connected, you're given a snazzy cable modem, which provides multiple ethernet connections, and wireless, in which case, you're sorted. You may find you've get one much like mine, which only connects directly to one piece of equipment.
Or you may find that you're expected to go to the computer store and buy one of your own, which gives you the freedom (and confusion!) of choice. On the plus side, if that does happen, it should mean that your local computer store is more expert at dealing with that situation than they'd be over here!

[selenay]

Hmm, all of that makes a lot of sense. I'll have to contact Eastlink to find out what they'll be providing and whether I need to buy a modem etc. or whether that's something that they'll provide.

If it's something that I need to buy, I'll be going to a local computer store rather than attempting to buy over the Internet. Hopefully the store guys will know what I'll need and then I can see whether any of their suggestions match what people have suggested here. We've used LinkSys routers for our ADSL and they've always been good.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

Hmm, all of that makes a lot of sense.

Wow! That's not what people usually say when I write a technical response! Thanks :)

[ninasis.livejournal.com]

We've had a 2Wire modem for almost 5 years now, and it works great. It has 4 ports for wired machines, and broadcasts a pretty strong wireless signal that's secured. It costs us around $89 US.

[selenay]

Thank you, I'll take a look for that one :-)

[gmul.livejournal.com]

The Linksys suggestion above is a good one. The only caveat I'd flag up is that things *may* (or may not) be more complicated than might be expected for a connection here. Which service are you getting (did you go for Rogers in the end?) and are they providing the modem for you? You may find it comes with Ethernet and maybe also wireless already...

[selenay]

Went with Eastlink in the end. I've heard so many bad things about Rogers that I knew I didn't want them and Bell has just been in the news for strangling certain types of Internet use, so I wasn't happy with that, either. My aunt has been with Eastlink for a few years without problems and I couldn't spot anything in the fine print that worried me.

The guy will be out to hook me up on Thursday so I might call Eastlink at the beginning of the week to find out what kit he'll bring with him. That's a good thing to remind me of :-)

[gmul.livejournal.com]

Hopefully you'll get supplied all the right bits and not have to worry any further!

You should have a message to your gmail address. If not, shout. You're allowed to ignore it, as long as you got it in the first place!

[selenay]

I got your message :-) Just working out when I'm going to be at Gatwick and then I'll send you a reply.

[margec01.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the birthday wishes! Yesterday was a bit so-so (work crap) and I wasn't even on-line at all, so it seems not at all belated to me. Seeing so many birthday wishes from my lj friends has made me feel better about ye old birthday anniversary.

Saturday I'm having a party with my RL friends, and that's always a good time. I've made a note on my 2009 calendar to take the day off on Aug. 6 next year.

PS. I hope your move to this side of the pond goes smoothly!

[selenay]

Booking a day off for your birthday is always a fine idea :-)

Have a great time at your party, it sounds like a ton of fun! I do remember feeling quite happy and pink when I get birthday wishes on LJ so I'm glad we all cheered you up.

I am not stressed. Not at all.

*wibble*