Wireless broadband

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Bedlam

Registered User
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I am using the above for 2 laptops in the house for my daughters use.
Both tell me that it should not be necessary to turn the main PC on to use broadband on their laptops and that the router should work to provide the signal. Is this correct?. I have tried it with no sucess any comments appreciated

Thanks


Bedlam
 
Hi Extopia

Thanks for the reply. Can you throw any light on what might be the reason why it is not allowing this to happen?

I am using Eircom and have downloaded their Norton antivirus package would this have anything to with it

Thanks

Bedlam
 
Do you have a separate DSL modem and router or are they both the same unit?

1: If the DSL modem is separate, it and the router must be powered up.

2: Maybe instead of connecting to the router, they're connecting via the main PC using Internet connection sharing (assuming it has a Wifi card).
 
Hi Technologist,

You are correct the router and modem are seperate and both are powered on.
How would I figure out your point in item 2 of your reply please?

Thanks again

Bedlam
 
If you do an IPCONFIG at the command prompt on the laptops, the gateway IP address should be that of the router.

That said, it's unlikely the laptops are going through the PC, but technically possible and this would explain your symptom.

Another thing to try is while the PC is running, unplug the network cable from the PC to the router and then see if the laptops lose their Internet connection.
 
Technologist

Thanks for the suggestions which I tried and yes it worked, when it was the case that the PC was on and broadband running. It seems that so long as you turn on the PC first and then use the laptops for the internet everything is fine to the extent that once the above is done I can turn off the PC and laptops will run on the internet perfectly.

On the otherhand as previously mentioned if I try using the laptops without the PC being on I cannot access the internet

Many thanks and any suggestions welcome.


Bedlam
 
OK, so we know that the laptops are connecting through the router/modem.

I guess what might be happening is that the DSL connection is not established until the PC (which I assume is on a wired connection) somehow initialises it.

I don't think I can tell you what to do other than to check the modem's manual to see if this is a feature that can be configured. If I'm right, then the 'session' light on your modem is off when the laptops have unsuccessful connections.

Other possibility is that you're not simply waiting long enough for the laptops to connect, give it a few minutes after the modem has been switched on and the 'session' light has come on. It's not instantaneous.
 
Hi Technologist

And thanks for your feedback. On the laptop Network Centre it shows the following regarding the connection

Laptop1 ...... Default Computer.....x..... Internet

Can I take it from this that the Laptop has to communicate via the PC to get onto the internet? and if so can I change it so that they would communicate directly?

Bedlam
 
It's very unusual for a PC to be involved in the connection and I thought already we'd ruled that out.

I've no idea how to interpret what the "laptop Network Centre" is saying as this program is probably specific to your machine.

Here's what I suggest:

Turn off everything.

On the laptops, delete any connectivity settings for 'peer-to-peer' networks.

Turn on the modem and the router.

Wait for the DSL session to establish.

Go to one laptop, use whatever connectivity program is has to scan for 'Infrastructure' networks.

When you see the SSID of your home WiFi network, select it and enter the WPA or WEP key when prompted.

Job done.

Now, do the same for the other laptop.
 
Another suggestion is to run the Eircom disc in one of the laptops making sure to select the "connect wirelessly" option during the setup procedure. If that works,then repeat for the other laptop.
 
caff said:
Another suggestion is to run the Eircom disc in one of the laptops making sure to select the "connect wirelessly" option during the setup procedure. If that works,then repeat for the other laptop.
Click to expand...
That should definitively exclude the desktop from the equation as long as it's off.

But, is there a security problem with Eircom's wireless setup? I believe older versions set the WPA key to be a close relation of the SSID?
 
Technologist said:
I....That said, it's unlikely the laptops are going through the PC, but technically possible and this would explain your symptom...
Click to expand...

I've never heard of that.

Is there a wireless card in the PC? Maybe its acting as router?

Who set this up anyway?
 
aircobra19 said:
I've never heard of that.
Click to expand...
It's unusual, but technically possible. It could be jimmied up with a comnbination of a wireless card, a 'peer-to-peer' connection and 'Internet Connection Sharing'.

Odd thing is that the OP said that after the laptops connect he can switch off the PC and they'll still have a connection. I think the PC-dependency is a red herring.

I asked him to leave the PC off and to wait for the session light to appear on the DSL modem before trying to connect the laptops, but I have not heard if he tried this.
 
Hi All

I will try as suggested and let you know how I get on. Thanks for all the suggestions and help

Bedlam
 
Hi All,

The router has to be changed as it is apparently an old type which has to be linked through the PC. to work. That said the PC is 8 years old so maybe I should change that as well

Thanks

Bedlam
 
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