Wireless Router

[rich1298]

Hi all
This may sound like a silly question but whats the differance between a cable router and a wireless.

I am on virgin and have a cable coming through my house to my modem then a cable (Eternet) i think from modem to router, so is my router cable?

The reason i ask is i have just been looking on ebuyer at wireless routers and they still have eternet ports on the back of the router.

I dont have a laptop just a desktop but i am getting one this week, my lad uses the router tor his playstation 3.


Thanks in advance
Rich

[sara3]

if you can use your internet without a wire going from your pc to your modem, it's wireless. I think they all have ethernet ports in case the wireless connection fails for some reason, and for while you're setting up the wireless connection, and then you can use ethernet cable.

[ChuckFickens]

You are getting your terms a little muddled up

To start with there are two common meathods of delivering broadband into people houses in the UK,either ADSL or Cable.

ADSL comes in to your house through your phone line and you need an ADSL router

Cable come in via Cable run by virgin media (or Kingston communications if you live in hull) and to use cable internet with more than one computer you need a cable router.

So the term "cable router" refers to it being a router that is used with virgin cable and has nothing to do with if it's wireless or not.

Both a Cable router and an ADSL router can then be either wired, or wireless depending on if it then has a capability for your computer to connect the the router using wireless, or if you can only connect your computer to it using a Ethernet cable.

[ChuckFickens]

OH and as Sara said, wireless routers will still have ethernet (wired) ports on them, the wireless is in addition to the ethernet, not in place of it.

[VHG]

So you already have a router by the sound of it.

If you got it free from Virgin it may already be a wireless router. Do you know the name and number of the router?

does you son connect his Ps3 to it via a wire or wi fi?

As has been said, a wireles router can work with a PC or laptop connected to it via a wire AND a laptop (or maybe desktop) connected to it via wi fi, it can do both.