[Alison32]

Hi there, I am not that familiar with computers so I just want to ask a question about laptops. I have a desktop PC with AOL Broadband, which is connected by cables and I am happy with that set up. If I bought a laptop that is Wifi Wireless with Broadband already installed; would I need to set up another Internet account separate from the account that I already have at present on my desktop PC? I don't really want to pay for two Internet accounts, but it would be nice to have a laptop that is wireless to use in other rooms in my house, so would my desktop PC have to be made Wireless or can it stay with cables and just the laptop be wireless? Would I have to uninstall the WiFi wireless to add my own AOL Broadband Internet software and sign in with my username and password, so I don't end up paying for two separate Internet accounts? I hope all this above here makes sense and I thank anyone to can give me some help with this.

[AuroraDizon]

as long as you have a broadband connection all you need to do is get a wireless router and it will hook up a bunch of computers and send out a wifi signal you can connect to with your laptop.

[Alison32]

Thank you, I do have a wireless router, but can my desktop PC stay with the cable connection?

[Alison32]

Yes, I think I get it, as long as it is the same AOL Broadband Internet software I wouldn't need to set up a new account. I was just sign in with the same details from my desktop PC and it would all run from the same account. So I would need to find a laptop that is WiFi Enabled rather the WiFi Installed. Thank you again for your help.

[smax013]

[quote name='Alison32']Hi there, I am not that familiar with computers so I just want to ask a question about laptops. I have a desktop PC with AOL Broadband, which is connected by cables and I am happy with that set up. If I bought a laptop that is Wifi Wireless with Broadband already installed; would I need to set up another Internet account separate from the account that I already have at present on my desktop PC? I don't really want to pay for two Internet accounts, but it would be nice to have a laptop that is wireless to use in other rooms in my house, so would my desktop PC have to be made Wireless or can it stay with cables and just the laptop be wireless? Would I have to uninstall the WiFi wireless to add my own AOL Broadband Internet software and sign in with my username and password, so I don't end up paying for two separate Internet accounts? I hope all this above here makes sense and I thank anyone to can give me some help with this.When you say "WiFi Wireless with Broadband" do you mean that you have ONLY built-in WiFi? Or do you mean that you have built-in WiFi AND built-in cellular/mobile network broadband (like thru Verizon)? Most laptops will come with WiFi. Some laptops these days come with built-in cellular broadband that works with the likes of Verizon, Sprint, or other mobile phone carrier broadband networks.Regardless, you likely have built-in WiFi. And it appears from your most recent post that you have a router with built-in WiFi. If so, then you are likely good to go to use your current broadband connection with the new laptop. Do you have the router setup right now (i.e. line comes in from AOL Broadband, goes to a modem, line goes from modem to router, and line goes from router to desktop computer)? If so, then it is just a matter of going into the router setup and configuring the wireless setup...and then hoping that your current router does not have any issues with the built-in WiFi of your laptop (some pieces of WiFi equipment don't play nice together and have to have a "time out" [i.e. get replaced by something that does play nice with others).

[Alison32]

Hi, on my desktop PC I just have AOL Broadband with a wireless router. My modem is built in, but not the router. My Ethernet cable goes from the router to the back of my PC and a LAN cable that goes from the router to the telephone socket with the telephone cable, and an adapter goes from the router to the mains socket. I don't own a laptop at present as I am trying to find out more about them before buying one.

[Alison32]

If I set up a laptop with my wireless router with a wireless Broadband connection, will that change things with my router when I put it back onto my desktop PC? I just don't wnat to mess up my desktop PC.

[smax013]

[quote name='Alison32']Hi, on my desktop PC I just have AOL Broadband with a wireless router. My modem is built in, but not the router. My Ethernet cable goes from the router to the back of my PC and a LAN cable that goes from the router to the telephone socket with the telephone cable, and an adapter goes from the router to the mains socket. I don't own a laptop at present as I am trying to find out more about them before buying one.OK, I have to admit that I did not understand that...I think. Let me see...I am assuming that your AOL Broadband is a DSL connection. Is this correct?If so, then there should be a telephone line that goes from a telephone wall jack to a electronic device. That electronic device should be the DSL modem.Now, there should be an ethernet cable (looks like a telephone cable on steriods) that will either go to a) your computer (if there is a router built into the modem or if you don't have a router) or to b) another electronic device (which would be a router). If the latter, then there should be another ethernet cable that goes from the router to the computer.Which do you have a or b? If a, are you sure that you have a router built into the DSL modem? And that it is a router with a wireless access point?After you answer those, I hopefully will understand better and we can go from there.

[rgreen4]

If you have a wireless router, the giveaway is the little antennas. No antennas, what you have is called a modem. A router will have an input for the ethernet cable from the modem to what is labled WAN (Wide Area Network) or Internet. There are about 4 other ports which can be used to connect other devices, as well as the antennas to connect to wireless devices.I have satellite since DSL is not available in the boonies. The input cable is connected to a decodeer box (equivalent to a modem on DSL). From this point on, all systems are similar. An ethernet cable goes from that box to the routher. I then have wired devices plugged into the 4 ports on the router and a desktop and laptop connect wirelessly. I am currently useing the broadband connection wirelessly on my lapttop in the living room. I have two accounts only because I have not disconnected my old dial up as its cheap enough to use as a backup. I have lost my broadbandt twice tonight due to cloud cover with thunderstorms.I only have dial-up on one computer and its not shared. It is for emergency use if we have heavy storms (hurricanes anyone) and I want to get into and the satellite is out. You don't need that with DSL of course.

[Alison32]

smax013, thanks, Yes my AOL Broadband is a ADSL connection. The electronic device is a modem with built in wireless router and it has a small antenna. The Ethernet cable goes from the router to the computer. I think the answer is a). rgreen4, Yes, there is a little antenna on this wireless router.

[smax013]

[quote name='Alison32']smax013, thanks, Yes my AOL Broadband is a ADSL connection. The electronic device is a modem with built in wireless router and it has a small antenna. The Ethernet cable goes from the router to the computer. I think the answer is a). > > > > rgreen4, Yes, there is a little antenna on this wireless router.Do you know what your IP address is for the computer? If not and you are running Windoze XP, then go to the Start menu and select run. Type in "command" and hit enter. You should get a "DOS" window. Type in "ipconfig /all" and hit enter. This should list your IP settings. Does the IP Address start with 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, or 172.x.x.x? If so, what is the Default Gateway address? Once done with that informtaion, just type "exit" and hit enter and the DOS window should go away.This will verify whether you actually have a router built into the modem or not. It is possible that you may not have a router built-in but still have a WiFi access point.If you have a router built-in, then you should be able to enter the IP address that is listed under Default Gateway in your browser and enter the setup for the router. This will then allow you to setup the WiFi if/when you get a WiFi equipped computer. If it does NOT have a built-in router, then I am not sure how to access the setup for the WiFi access point. You would have to see if you have instructions for the modem setup or if not, then provide use with a modem brand and model number to see if we can find something.But, it would appear that you should be all set to use a laptop with WiFi if you so desired. It would appear to only be a matter of setting it all up. The only potential wrinkle is if the WiFi in your modem did not play nice with the WiFi that is built into any laptop that you get. Sometimes, WiFi equipment will not play nice with each other as some WiFi chipsets don't "play well with other kids".

[Alison32]

Hi, I have look at the DOS and my IP address start with 192.x.x.x. and the gateway address is 192.168.x.x as well. When I had set up AOL Broadband using the Broadband package (CD) on my desktop PC, there was an option to go wireless if I chosed to do so, but it said I had to set it up on a cable version first. I stayed with tha cable version because I was happy with that option on my desktop PC. I was concerned about buying a laptop that was not Internet connection WiFi compatible. I have seen a laptop on sale without the WiFi installed and there is an option of upgrading this laptop to have WiFi installed. I wondered if I would be better off buying a laptop without WiFi and just install with my AOL Broadband CD and use my wireless router to make it WiFi. The wireless router and the AOL Broadband CD came together as the same package. My wireless router brand name is Netgear, which it says on it, it is a 54mbps wireless ADSL modem router. I hope this helps.

[smax013]

[quote name='Alison32']Hi, I have look at the DOS and my IP address start with 192.x.x.x. and the gateway address is 192.168.x.x as well. When I had set up AOL Broadband using the Broadband package (CD) on my desktop PC, there was an option to go wireless if I chosed to do so, but it said I had to set it up on a cable version first. I stayed with tha cable version because I was happy with that option on my desktop PC. > > > > I was concerned about buying a laptop that was not Internet connection WiFi compatible. I have seen a laptop on sale without the WiFi installed and there is an option of upgrading this laptop to have WiFi installed. I wondered if I would be better off buying a laptop without WiFi and just install with my AOL Broadband CD and use my wireless router to make it WiFi. The wireless router and the AOL Broadband CD came together as the same package. My wireless router brand name is Netgear, which it says on it, it is a 54mbps wireless ADSL modem router. I hope this helps.First, let's be clear about something...if you have a laptop that is without a WiFi adaptor of some sort, then you will NOT be able to go wireless until you get some sort of WiFi adaptor for it. Think of WiFi like a pair of walkie-talkies. One walkie-talkie does you no good. You have to have second one in order for the first one to do anything. Same is true for WiFi. You appear to have a WiFi access point built into your modem/router. In order to make use of that WiFi access point, you will need to have device (typically a computer, but there some other devices with WiFi that can use a WiFi access point) with either WiFi built-in or with an add-on WiFi adapter.Thus, if you get a laptop and you want to make sure of WiFi, then that laptop will need to either have a built-in WiFi adapter or you will have to buy a WiFi adapter to use with either the card slot or a USB port. But, if no WiFi adapter, then you will no be able to make use of the WiFI access point in your modem/router.Based upon the IP address information, it certainly does appear that you have a router built-in or with your modem. As such, you should be able to use a WiFi equipped laptop with it. It will just be a matter of setting up the WiFi.At this point, I would say there is not really anything else to do unless/until you do decide to get a laptop (or other computer) with WiFi and are ready to setup the WiFi with computer in hand.

[rgreen4]

I do not know of a serious laptop sold in the U.S. today without wireless capability. They use the term WiFi in a confusing manner. WiFi hotspots are available that have 801.11A/B/G/N access that your wireless laptop can connect to.There is also another totally different standard sometimes called WiFi which requires an adapter to connect to a cellular provider such as AT&T (the commercial with the guy in the hole connecting to the internet), Verizon and Sprint. These generally require a card that goes in the Express Card slot. They are only good, however, if you are in an area that has the service and you have deep pockets. (The service is not cheap) but there are those willing to be able to connect anywhere when outside.

[smax013]

[quote name='rgreen4']> > There is also another totally different standard sometimes called WiFi which requires an adapter to connect to a cellular provider such as AT&T (the commercial with the guy in the hole connecting to the internet), Verizon and Sprint. These generally require a card that goes in the Express Card slot. They are only good, however, if you are in an area that has the service and you have deep pockets. (The service is not cheap) but there are those willing to be able to connect anywhere when outside.That is not WiFi (802.11)...and I don't believe that they refer to it as WiFi...at least not that I have noticed. It is commonly refered to as wireless broadband or something like that. Now, you may have heard about WiMax, which is the potential next step in wireless broadband.And there are some laptops that now come with wireless broadband built-in. I have seen various laptops with the built-in Verizon wireless broadband.

[Alison32]

Thanks for explaining about WiFi. So if I bought a laptop with WiFi installed or added by an adapter or card slot, and set it up with my wireless modem router to make the laptop wireless; would my desktop PC still work with the cables with the same wireless modem router afterwards? Thank you again for your time.

[smax013]

[quote name='Alison32']Thanks for explaining about WiFi. So if I bought a laptop with WiFi installed or added by an adapter or card slot, and set it up with my wireless modem router to make the laptop wireless; would my desktop PC still work with the cables with the same wireless modem router afterwards? Thank you again for your time.It should...baring something strange. Routers are specifically meant to allow you to share a connection with multiple computers. My WiFi router has at least two computers wired to it at all times and a third computer that frequents uses either a wired or wireless connection. I have another computer that can use the wireless connection or wired connection, but it is rarely used. I also have a couple other computers that are either retired (but they don't get to move to Florida) or semi-retired that I could hook up if I needed. And I have one device (a Slingbox) that will use a wired connection to connect to the Internet.Point is that unless your modem/router is some how "crippled" by your ISP, you should be able to have the desktop use the wired connect and a laptop with WiFi use the wireless connection with no problem.

[Alison32]

Thank you. You have been very helpful.

[smax013]

[quote name='Alison32']Thank you. You have been very helpful.Glad to help. 8)The bill is in the mail! :wink: