Comments for How do I get wireless internet?

Comment from Noel on 2009-11-21

2009-11-21T12:05:10Z

Have read your articles on connecting to Wifi and still no luck with my desk top. The lap top connects to a nearby source in my RV park (Tengo internet) and works like a charm. Picked up an Engenius eub326ext adapter for the desk top and ran disc but the desk top does not recognize a signal. Getting notice that network cable is unplugged. Would appreciate some advice. TIA, Noel

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Comment from Steve on 2009-11-18

2009-11-18T23:21:47Z

I read these articles but im still having problems connecting. its more of a wire type thing. We had comcast come and connect a house phone. After that we were left to have to use a wire to connect to the internet.

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Comment from S. Soto on 2009-04-01

2009-04-02T00:42:42Z

I read the articles on this page but don't understand enough for them to be helpful. My husband purchased a hp laptop for me and it is hooked up to dial up because I had web tv.(I hate dial up). I want to go wireless and don't have a clue how to start. I know this space is for comments but can you point me in the right direction? how do I get out of dial up and into wireless? Any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

1) get a broadband connection like cable or DSL to replace your dialup, then 2) connect to that a broadband wireless router.

- Leo
02-Apr-2009

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Comment from Nancy on 2009-03-09

2009-03-09T21:06:21Z

I have inheirited a lap top computer and it ther is a router with the desk top computer hooked up but my lap top still will not connect to the internet. I have tried unplugging and replugging everything and nothing has worked. What else should I try.? Could it possibly be password protected by my deceased loved one whom I inheirited it from?

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A comment on: How do I get wireless internet?

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Comment from Shannon on 2009-03-07

2009-03-07T23:03:06Z

I live in the country where I am unable to get cable or DSL access, satellite is expensive & as you've noted before not always reliable. What are my options??

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Comment from George Muradugh on 2009-03-04

2009-03-04T19:51:15Z

I am trying to find a wireless internet connectin company - I am in Brazi and my friend
is in Costa Rica. Can you help. Costs:

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Comment from Maraih on 2009-03-03

2009-03-04T00:57:21Z

I had dsl service and wireless router but I can not activate my laptop wireless I had to use the cables because I don't know how to instal wireless on my dell laptop. Can you please help me.

thanks,

Maraih

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A comment on: How do I get wireless internet?

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Comment from Kate on 2009-02-15

2009-02-16T02:51:07Z

If I have cable internet, get the wireless router, still pay cable internet, can I use the wireless internet to go online on a second computer in my home, or will I need to subscribe to cable internet on the second computer too?

Nope. The router lets you share the one connection with as many computers as you like.

- Leo
16-Feb-2009

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Comment from michelle on 2009-01-11

2009-01-11T22:29:16Z

Hello. I think this may sound daft but i really have to ask, im not to good with computer lingo. I already have a internet connection, broadband, one that is wired. Can i just go out and buy a wireless router and plug it in and will get wireless? or do i have to ring up telecom and gt them in to do evrythin then pay for wireless? or can i just continue paying my nrmal internet and get wireless through the router?

All you need is that wireless router. Your telecom doesn't need to know (and probably doesn't care :-).

- Leo
11-Jan-2009

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Comment from NewHorizon on 2008-12-31

2008-12-31T12:51:59Z

RE: Satellite Internet...I highly recommend it.

While it certainly is not equivalent to DSL, Cable, etc., it is a major step up from dial-up service. I run a business from home in a very rural area and I've used WildBlue (through Dish Network) for 2+ years. I've been able to do things I never could have done with dialup, like download multiple MB files from my clients' FTP servers in seconds (minutes for 100+MB), participate in webinars, view YouTube videos, etc.

The relatively high latency that Narc referred to is trivial when compared with dialup. With regard to weather, I have experienced on rare occasion intermittent service but only during heavy downpours - a handful of times over the past 2 years. Snow buildup hasn't been a problem for me, but that's probably b/c the wind blows so hard here that the snow rarely has a chance to land until it becomes plastered against the side of a tree! :) I also have a wireless router installed that allows me to use my laptop on the front porch during the summer.

Certainly if DSL or cable were available to me, I'd choose one of those options. And, if you're used to hi-speed landline service, the satellite speed would probably drive you insane. But in locations where dialup is the only other option, I wouldn't hesitate to go for satellite service.
Just my 2 cents,
NewHorizon

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Comment from gremons on 2008-12-31

2008-12-31T11:50:53Z

Good day, yes Sir Leo right you must have a DSL connection first, Ok now you have an internet on your wifi, but for how long? You must know if they detect that you have an access on thier wifi they will absolutely put an en to your free wifi. So please understand and have your self a DSL connection.
thanks
gremons

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Comment from Narc on 2008-12-30

2008-12-31T06:27:03Z

@Jim king:

Satellite Internet is, indeed, another wireless connection type, and it's a somewhat older one than most of the ones discussed in this article, thus we could say the technology is "proven". However, its low adoption rate is not solely because of its price.

Satellite connections suffer from some limitations which can be hard to live with, depending on exactly *how* you're using your Internet connection:

- firstly, and most importantly, satellite connections suffer from high latency. This is a function of basic physics -- the satellites are far enough away from any point on the surface of Earth that it takes a non-trivial amount of time for data in the form of electro-magnetic impulses to reach them, reach the other point, and return. My current Internet connection gives me latencies on the order of 150 milliseconds, on average, from Romania (Eastern Europe) to the United States. By comparison, for satellite access you could be looking at latencies as high as 1 or 2 seconds (thousands of milliseconds!) for a roundtrip to a server that might be just a couple of miles away. And that's on top of the pre-existing round-trip from the other end of the satellite connection to the server you're trying to reach.

- secondly, weather: as documented on Wikipedia, "[satellite] communications [are] affected by moisture and rain in the path of signal"; meaning, effectively, that a rainy day in the summer might leave you with a crippled, if not completely non-functional Internet connection. Add to that the likelihood of snow build-up on the satellite receiver dish, and thus the requirement of continuous maintenance, and it makes for a somewhat unreasonable connectivity solution.

- the third, least important but still potentially crippling disadvantage is that most satellite Internet providers tend to offer one-directional access only. That is, download-only (from the Internet to your computer). But all communication on the Internet, by virtue of the design of the TCP/IP protocol, is bi-directional: all packets sent must be acknowledged, and don't get me started on the three-way handshake. What this all means is that you might still have to keep your dial-up connection and use it for the opposite direction, which will effectively slow down your communications to the rate at which your dial-up connection is capable of routing the acknowledging packets, which, although obviously smaller than the primary communication ones, are still a limiting factor.

There is also the further limitation of line of sight, specifically the communication-dampening effects of vegetation, meaning more continuous maintenance to ensure a tree (or, in a city environment, a building!) doesn't come between your receiver dish and the satellite it's trying to reach.

But the trifecta of latency, weather, and unidirectionality provides strong incentives to stay away from satellite connections except as a last resort. I'm also suspicious of your final statement of "not [having] to buy anything", since contacting a satellite absolutely requires the existence of a satellite dish, but perhaps you already have that for TV.

If you're curious, the uni-directionality limitation results from the fact that satellite communications are generally optimized for TV-like systems, whereby there is a single sender and many recipients. By contrast, an Internet connection by design is point-to-point, there being a sender-recipient pair for each such connection. This effectively results in satellites being a very poor method of transmission, having a very limited number of channels, which accounts for the relatively high cost of connection. Simply put, a satellite with, say, 1,000 channels could broadcast 1,000 TV programmes to millions of viewers (who are all receiving the exact same data), or it could provide Internet access to exactly 1,000 people. Some magic is probably possible by splitting the channels into smaller ones, but the result of that will necessarily be a lowering of speed, and you may end up with a bandwidth the same as a dial-up connection but with a much higher latency.

I didn't mean for such a long treatise of satellite connections, but I feel I've done a reasonable job of describing the pitfalls there. I'd like to restate that it could still be a reasonable option, just not one that is likely to be reasonably priced -- either in upfront or hidden costs.

There's also one more limitation I hear about all the time: bandwidth capping. Since, as you've said, the transmission bandwidth is shared by some number of subscribers, the satellite providers often enforce equal access by capping the bandwidth of heavy users. That means that for a while I might get full-speed connectivity, but if I use it too much they'll limit me to dial-up speeds so that others can have more equal access to the Sat.

Personally, not something I could live with.

Thanks for the informative comment.

- Leo
31-Dec-2008

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Comment from Jim king on 2008-12-30

2008-12-31T03:52:31Z

Great subject! Informative answers! But don't forget about Satellite internet. The prices are comming down. I live in the country and have only dial-up. I've checked some different options and I found I can get broadband high speed for about $15 a week and not have to buy anything.

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Comment from James Streator on 2008-12-30

2008-12-30T18:17:58Z

We live in the country and have a wireless connection to our ISP. The wireless signal comes from on top of a water tower 3 miles away. We can not receive wired cable nor DSL because we are too remote.
This signal is received and changed to a frequency which can be distributed by our wireless connection within our house.
It is always fun to try to respond to "Do you have a wireless internet connection?"

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Comment from P Van Dusseldorp on 2008-12-30

2008-12-30T17:17:40Z

THANK-YOU!!!
Working for a WISP - I continually have to explain that wireless isn't a ubiguitous service. And then try to determine which wireless technology is being discussed so I can then explain what that particular technology really is.

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Comment from Anon on 2008-12-28

2008-12-28T08:46:06Z

Clearwire doesn't use a wireless network but you're close. WiMax is very inexpensive, check out clear.com

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