I’m a techno know nothing…but a fast learner and I find that the tech support I get from my local cable company can be a bit….iffy. That makes me twice as happy to have found this site and I appreciate any help I might need…because…our new Dell is on the way and I’ll be changing from a seriously antiquated laptop to a desktop. I have wireless internet thru my cable company and wanted to be sure that I’ll be able to switch easily from laptop to desktop. The tech support person says my new PC will be equipped with its own card which will mean I won’t have to take my cable company card out of my laptop and then…figure out how to use it with my desktop. She says…the desktop will search for the best connection AND enable encryption. IF so, this means I can still go back into my laptop (at the same time) if necessary.
LIKE I SAID…I’m not in the know as to how this magic works…I just wanna know that SHE knows…and I won’t get stuck needing a technician before I can use my new computer. It takes DAYS to get someone here…. Whadaya ya’ll think???
It depends on what kind of equipment you have, and from your message, I’m not entirely sure what you’ve got. Some cable modems I’ve seen lately have a built-in wireless transmitter, and many of them even come with wireless PC cards. I suspect that’s what you have. Probably, the only thing you have plugged into the cable modem is the power plug and the coaxial cable TV cable, and then you just have a wireless card (which came with the modem) installed in your laptop, and that’s how you have Internet access — right?
If so, adding your desktop to the mix should be easy. Your cable modem will also have something called an Ethernet jack (which looks like an enlarged phone jack) on the back of it. Your new desktop computer will surely have an Ethernet jack as well. All you have to do, then is use an Ethernet cable to connect the cable modem to the desktop, and the desktop should have Internet access without a problem, while the laptop can continue connecting to the Internet the same way it always did.
On a side note, encryption is irrelevant for the desktop — wireless connections are encrypted to protect them from being snatched out of the air. The desktop will have a physical connection, so there should be no problem there.
Please post again if you have further questions, although I’m afraid that I may not perosnally be able to respond for a week or so, as I will be on the road.
GEE..that was quite a while ago wasn’t it??? Things are ginning along very well after all of that silly bidness….
I finally had to get a technician here because no one via the phone thought to ask if my desktop was wireless enabled; it was not. SO, I had to go to the cable company and buy an SMC ez connnect gizmo to make it possible for me to use wireless with my desktop which was my intention FROM THE BEGINNING!!! Why people seem to think wireless connection for your desktop is silly is beyond me. I didn’t want to have cables and lines running from the cable outlet across the room over to the desktop! I also thought I’d be able to get some use out of the laptop before it went belly up…but that wasn’t the case. I hope I never see that thing again….
NOW, I know you said in your response that my wireless connection is encrypted and that means I don’t have to worry about my desktop because it has a “physical connection”…but it doesn’t…it’s WIRELESS. How do I now make sure that my connection IS secure from people who like to drive around looking for internet service out of thin air??
Hello! Wireless security will never be quite as good as a physical connection, but you can protect yourself from casual wardrivers by enabling WEP or WPA encryption. The way you do that depends largely on what hardware you have. Do you know if you have a wireless router, or if the wireless capability is integrated into your cable/DSL modem? Whatever the device is, try to search for the model number online and find some documentation for logging in and enabling WEP/WPA. This is something you can usually do in a web browser in a few steps. If you can’t find anything, post the model number here and I’ll try to figure out some solution.
Once you have the router/whatever configured for wireless security, your computer will have to redetect the connection, but it should do that somewhat automatically. When you go to the “View Available Wireless Networks” window, you’ll see your network with a padlock icon next to it; just double-click on it, type in the security key you set up on the router, and you’ll be online.