Virgin Media Wireless Router

[m4ttyh2007]

I want to get a wireless router, seing as i just bought a laptop, but i have no idea how it would be connected.

So until i know tht i dont really want to buy one... im just after a basic description of how it would be connected..

My current setup is:

i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/m4tth3w_2006/currentsetup.png
(The simplicity of it.. and its prob real obvious anyway)

Any help would be appreciated.

~m4ttyh2007

[moogle]

love the mini setup drawing
i modded it here so you could see how the router will fit in



you can have 4 pc's wired up to the router (depends if the router supports it) I had a Linksys WRT54G and it was an excellent router. Mind you all the lines connecting to the router are ethernet RJ-45 cables ( the standard ones) virgin media shoulda given you one. if not most routers come with at least 1 ethernet cable.

Also added a itty bitty wireless one in as well

so all the internet goes through the router then to any peripheral or device.
thats it!

hope this helped

oh and if you got a laptop then you can easily connect with cable but if you want the freedom to move about then get wifi

[m4ttyh2007]

So, is the modem connected to the router through an Ethernet cable? or.. some other cable.


Ty btw

[moogle]

yep ethernet cable. the router has a wan port which is seperate from the other 4 ethernet ports so its all quite a doddle to setup
i assume you got virgin media cable internet? not the adsl one from the phone socket. if its not a phone socket one then you can use the ethernet cable.

[m4ttyh2007]

Ok. so my modem has one ethernet port.. so then that would go into the wireless router, and then onto my comp..

Would i have to install something onto the computer its connected to before i can use the actual wireless?

[moogle]

Ok. so my modem has one ethernet port.. so then that would go into the wireless router, and then onto my comp..

Would i have to install something onto the computer its connected to before i can use the actual wireless?

yes thats how the setup goes, you can connect by ethernet cable to the comp orrr use wireless. although you will need a wireless card. if you got that then your set. wireless cards cost £10 - 15 for decent ones. Go with a belkin or linksys one.

[m4ttyh2007]

Well, the computer iwll be ethernet as thats how its alredy connected up.

And the laptop i bought is wireless enabled ;p but no neighbours have wireless for me to steal ;p


Cheers for all your help

now to search around shops i can buy one from later today.
Would that be ADSL or DSL? for virgin media..

dsl isnt it?

[moogle]

no problem
even if your neighbours dont have people with laptops outside can still connect so always password the router, add a connection key and hide the ssid

glad to be of help.

I was using the Linksys WRT54G, it was £20 at ebuyer during the google checkout times. just find any router that isnt adsl2+ or adsl.

anyway good luck with the internet

[m4ttyh2007]

dixons.co.uk/martprd/store/dix_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1338236318.1193399506@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccfjaddmgeehhmlcflgceggdhhmdgmi. 0&page=Product&fm=undefined&sm=undefined&tm=undefined&sku=457039&category_oid=

that'd be fine wouldnt it?

[moogle]

yea thats an okay one, i'd avoid d-link as well as my mate always used to have to port forward whenever he needed to host a server or for me to remote control his pc.

for a few £ more i'd get this one
Linksys WRT54GS SpeedBooster Broadband Wireless Router 4 Port 802.11g - Ebuyer
It's the one I used all the time and I've never had any problems. If port forwarding doesnt matter to you and you dont mind the few £££ difference then the dlink one is an okay choice too.

[m4ttyh2007]

If i can find that one in a shop like pcworld, currys or dixons.. il get that one


and what problems where their with th one i selected?
Port forwarding? which is a one time thing for something init?

[moogle]

If i can find that one in a shop like pcworld, currys or dixons.. il get that one


and what problems where their with th one i selected?
Port forwarding? which is a one time thing for something init?

when your on a router, you have 2 ip's a wan ip and a lan ip, your lan ip's seperate you from all the pc's on your router/network. your wan ip is your internet ip etc. lets say you host a webserver on port 80 right? you give me your ip and i go visit it, i can't connect because the router doesnt know where to route my traffic. ie it can't tell if your pc is hosting on port 80 or the laptop. unless it and the application is upnp enabled then it will be auto but mostly everything needs to be port forwarded. so the solution for you is to go into your router, you add your lan ip, and port 80 in the port forwarding section. now when i connect to your ip, the router sees hmm this port needs to be forwarded to this lan ip etc.

you can have many port forwards on a router. i have http, p2p, realvnc, ut server, americas army server, age of empires server, worms server all set up on my router. my friend's dlink one used to reset all the time. had to go add the port forwards each time and in the end he gave up and it was always me hosting a game etc.

if you can find the linksys one do get it. its the wrt54g or wrt54gs, the wrt54gl is a few £££ more just under £40 thats because its a linux one. my one never used to overheat, its probably a bit bigger than the others but its not cramped inside so i never had any resets or reboots without warning.

if you still dont get the port forwarding let me know and ill explain some more
maybe with another picture.

[m4ttyh2007]

does the wireless roter u suggested work with vista? cz its not on the requirements

[MadduckUK]

yes, routers dont care what operating system you use as long as you have a web browser, which is nice

[moogle]

yes, routers dont care what operating system you use as long as you have a web browser, which is nice

yep ethernet ones, usb ones need drivers. always go for ethernet ones.

[MadduckUK]

yep ethernet ones, usb ones need drivers. always go for ethernet ones.

everything wireless will have ethernet

you do have wireless cards/adapters dont you m4ttyh2007? thats where you have to be careful with vista compatibility