I currently have a desktop computer that uses phone line dial up, no DSL. If I purchase a lap top, could it be used with a wireless connection, or would I need a dual phone line splitter connection? In other words, If a am using my desktop, can my wife use her lap top as well (at the same time I am on the desktop)? If so, how? I hope my question makes sense, Thanks, Abner aka TTC "The Technologically Challenged"
Abner, you could split the dial-up but it would be a lot more trouble than it is worth ( a simple line splitter would not work for simultaneous access) and the speed would be awful since you would be sharing the line. I recommend that you look at alternatives. Can you explain why you don't want to use DSL, cable, or someother high speed alternative? If cost is the main reason there are some cellular alternatives that may work and a discussion might shed some other means. Kevin
Wow! Great link, thanks. Actually, my wife has not bought the lap top yet, so we are looking at the different options. Do you think DSL or some other cable service would be best? I know it would speed up the connection quite a bit. Right now I pay around $20. or $21.00 a month for dial up. I have been thinking of getting one of those deals where you pay your cable(DSL), phone bill, tv cable, etc. all on one bill. Let me know what you think. Do you have cable? If so, what company? Thanks for the feedback. Abner
Abner, I use cable rather than DSL. However, I placed my elderly parents on a BellSouth DSL Lite due to cost. It provides a faster than dial up speed but similarly priced. My cable is at 8Mbps (Comcast). I don't like the adapter/filters involved with DSL. I also use my connectivity for VoIP and videoconferencing and like the notion of having multiple means of communication. DSL has more downside issues than cable for high speed delivery (my opinion). However, DSL is preferred to no high speed. Bundling of services can net some savings, so if you can get your phine, cable, cellular, etc... with the same provider you might save some money. Look for promotions and make the call to the providers since what is advertised may not be the best deal. I agree with some points Gregg made about honest discussion when pricing theses services between providers. However, any high speed is going to be a greater return on your investment than what you are currently paying for dial-up. A simple wireless router and a high speed connection would work great. In fact I have three computers that are wired/wireless (I use docking stations) and one that remains wired. a word of caution, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or newer security that uses AES is best but not compatible with all type of operating systems. A couple of other points. I use HP 7200 and 7140 all in one machines for the house. They cost a little more but I cut down on the number of printers used by having these networked off the router. Make sure you have adequate ports on the router for your wired devices. I have attached some links for the devices I use: http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=299 http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=306 http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=384 As for which company, who do you have available? Kevin
Hi Kevin, SBC is my dial up provider. Thanks for the great links, I have a lot of reading up to do. Just a note, Kim and I really just use our computer for internet access, e-mail and homework. Would it be possible to use Bellsouth DSL Lite in conjunction with a router? What does a router do? Does it speed things up? Or is it a means to hook up more printers, etc? We are really looking for the basics, but something faster than dial up. Thanks once again for you help. Abner
Abner, it looks like SBC has something similar to BellSouth: https://swot.sbc.com/swot/dslMassMarketCatalog.do?do=view&serviceType=DYNAMICIP Make sure you find out what the price will go to after the 6 month period. Assuming you can get DSL, use the check availability in the upper left, any of the offerings will work. Make the same statement on your needs to your provider. If you cannot get DSL then cable or some other means would be options. I would start with the cheapest offering and work from there. In simplest terms a router "routes" IP traffic to its designated source. But a router, usally includes additional features such as filtering and special provisions for different functionalities. Even the cheapest (~$29) offer a good selection of features. For you folks some of the security and filtering features will be beneficial. A router can speed things up but not because of making your connection faster but rather through its delivery methods (collision avoidance, etc...). A router can provide a means to hook up mutilple devices. In some instances smaller routers have a built in print server that enables a standard printer to be connected and shared out. For your purposes before buying, holler back and I would venture that folks here would make a recommendation. Just let us now what kind of a printer and/or other devices (along with how they connect; USB, serial, or some other means). I believe that you will find with a more robust connection you might want to use IM video chat with family and friends, online gaming, or other activities. I have posted som additional links that might help (I have to cheat since I can't type near as fast as Gregg) http://computer.howstuffworks.com/dsl.htm http://computer.howstuffworks.com/router.htm Kevin
Because of the amount of information DSL can handle simuiltaneously, our one DSL account at home provides both our regular home telephone service and the network service for three computers.
Thanks Kevin and Dr. Bear. I am going to check into all this. Thanks once again for all the great info.!!! Abner
Don't bother splitting a POTS (plain old telephone service) connection. That leaves you with three basic options: DSL, Cable, and Satellite. DSL: Comes in over your copper POTS wire. One channel handles voice as it always did/does, the other handles data. Advantages: already wired, not too costly, decent speeds. Disadvantages: not available in all areas (must be near a switching station, but the distance required has increased with technology, so more locations can get DSL), quirky setup (getting better now that the local phone companies are handling it--can still be tough with 3rd-party vendors, not as fast as cable, uploads much slower than cable. Cable: Comes in over your cable wire. Either copper or fiber optic, depending on your cable service. Advantages: can be cheaper, especially when bundled with cable TV, simple to connect, reliable (usually), fast (often a lot faster than DSL, especially with fiber optic). Disadvantages: not universally available, your neighborhood might not have fiber optic, if you don't have fiber optic you can see slower speeds if your neighbors are using their connections too, can go down if your cable service goes out (varies with each cable company), uploads slower than downloads. Satellite: Downlink comes to your house and is received via dish, just like your TV service. Uplinks are usually--but not always--done over slow POTS line. (Comments below assume this--ignore them if you have uplink, too.) Advantages: available just about anywhere. Disadvantages: Slow compared to other options, uploads are really slow (but most uploads are just commands to the internet; most people don't upload big files from their homes), must have clear view of southern sky, can be expensive. Which to choose? Many people have one choice, or none at all. I have all three options. My choices (in order): 1. Cable 2. DSL 3. Satellite Cable by way far, IMHO. Especially if fiber optic is available. My D/L speeds are usually 3.0 Mbps using a wired router, about half that using wireless. (More below.) Splitting the signal. Again, don't bother with dial up. With the others, there is a receiver at your end to take the signal and translate it into something your computer can understand. If you want the signal to go into one computer, fine. The CAT 5 cable (like a computer cable at work) runs from the device (like a "cable modem"--a misnomer since it doesn't modulate/demodulate like a modem) into the LAN port of your computer. (The RJ 11 jack that is slightly bigger than the phone jack that leads into your modem.) Your computer is configured to join the network and BAM! You're at high speeds. But you can also use the signal on more than one computer. As mentioned above, the signal can be split using a router. The cable comes from the cable modem (or whatever you're using to receive the DSL or satellite signal) and is fed into the router. Software in the router keeps track of all of the incoming and outgoing data, ensuring each computer in your home gets the right information. The router appears as one computer on your provider's network, but keeps track of your computers internally. (It gets more technical than this, but I don't want to explain cloning a MAC address and stuff like that.) The signal is transmitted to each computer, either by more CAT 5 cable or by wireless transmission. (Depends on whether or not you have a wireless router and whether or not your computers are capable of receiving wireless signals.) I have both, using the wired connection in three places and using the wireless connection throughout the house. (A legacy from when I only had wired connections throughout my house.) It sounds like a lot, but you can figure it out over time. Hope this helps.
Man, you guys are computer geniuses! Thanks so much for the breakdown Dr. Douglas. Kim is checking our basic cable bill to see how much it would be to sign up for Road Runner Cable through Time Warner. We have to have basic cable in order to watch T.V. A regular antenna will not work because I live in a foothills area. Kim is going to call Time Warner and see what they have to offer as far a computer cable services, cost, etc. With both of us going to school, we just came to the conclusion one computer in the house is not going to work. But I digress. Have a good evening! Abner
Abner, Maybe you should consider Wireless DSL. I believe Verizon is a good service provider in the mainland. I use Centennial’s Wireless DSL service and I love it. I get a faster connection than dial-up but it is available anywhere, anytime. Since I do travel a lot it has become a life saver. It is kind of expensive here in Puerto Rico, but it is my understanding that it is cheaper in the US mainland. Take care friend,
Thanks Miguel. Right now It is choice between DSL or cable. I will keep Wireless DSL in mind. My main objective is to simply find something that is reasonably fast. Also, something that can handle two computers at a time (one printer). Right now, anything other than the dial up connection I am using will probably seem lightning fast. And it will be nice to get phone calls while online. Take care buddy!! Abner Que te vaya bien en el ano nuevo! P.S. How do you make the squiggly symbol above an N in Spanish?
Miguel; Wireless DSL is still a pretty spotty offering throughout most of the states. 3G (cellular) broadband is growing, but it still lacks coverage in different parts of the country, depending on the provider, and is expensive to boot. I've looked into that because I travel quite a bit as well. I guess it would all depend on where you live. I had no idea the Puerto Rico had blanket wireless coverage - man, that sure would be nice! Dave
This island is so small complete coverage is no big deal. I have been able to use it pretty much anywhere I tried it. I also had been able to use it in Miami with no problems. I honestly thought coverage in the US mainland was more extensive and less expensive than here. I can tell you from my experience that the connection in the mainland is substantially faster. Bottom line, it is sweet to be able to connect anywhere and anytime without limitations.
Attention Gregg: Thanks so much for emailing me the great information regarding my connectivity question. For some reason, it didn't really make sense to me until after I read your explanation. I like how you broke it down in easy to understand terms. Thanks once again, Abner
I use cable service which is bundled--Phone, TV, and Internet service for which I pay around $120 a month. It works out pretty well here in Hawaii since it gives me a high speed connection, cable service and unlimited phone calls back to the mainland. I also have both a laptop and desktop, which are networked so I can share files between computers and the printer is on the network, so I can share that. The desktop is wired and the laptop is wireless, but you can easily make both computers wireless. Definitely go to a high speed connection, and shop around for bundled deals, especially if you already have cable or make a lot of phone calls out of state. William
Ask for competitive pricing One thing that I have learned (from a Comcast person, actually) is that you should always ask for a competitive rate. When I signed up for cable internet last year I was able to get a significant discount for one year. When it came time to go up to that much higher rate, I called Comcast and discussed the possibility of my moving to DSL. Very quickly and very easily they offered me a reduced rate for another year. All you have to do is ask. Tom Nixon
Re: Ask for competitive pricing Exactly. Comcast will drop the price down to as low as $20 a month which sure beats the regular $46 per month! DSL providers will do the same. www.dslreports.com is a good place to get up to speed. They cover much more than dsl of course. http://www.dslreports.com/
