PC / Laptop question

[Dollie]

Can you help a technophobe please? - my daughter wants to use her new laptop in her bedroom. My Aol connnection to my PC is in another room. She wants to be able to use the internet in her room and I've been told to buy a router. Can you tell me if we also need to install a phone socket in her bedroom for her to be able to connect to the internet ? Thank you

[RATTER15]

You can use wire free router or you could run a patch cable through, no you wont need a phone socket in her room.

[fo3nix]

You can get wireless routers. These sit by your phone socket downstairs (or any phone socket that's ideally central in your house), and transmit the internet signal wirelessly.

To pick up that signal from your daughter's laptop, it'll need to be wireless capable. Many new laptops have this out of the box already, but if not, you can buy adapters to add this functionality.

Here's a decent one at a good price, which includes both router and wireless adapter:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/103183

[MustafaTickl]

But AOL supply a modem. Do we therefore remove the modem supplied by AOL and substitute the modem you recommend, please, fo3nix. If so, will the new modem operate straightaway or is there some complicated setting up to do? Do we have to notify AOL of anything, ie that there is now a PC and a laptop operating on the ADSL connection?

[BillyNoMates]

You are better off buying a combined ADSL modem and wireless router rather than sticking with the AOL modem and adding a router.

Check the AOL website help sections for their recommended products.

Wireless is comparitively cheaper these days and easy to set up.

[fo3nix]

Mustafa: things like the one I've linked to include the modem too, and you want it that way. It would be fine if the modem AOL supplied you with connected to your PC with an ethernet cable, but most supplied by ISPs connect with USB cables, which aren't very friendly with routers.

When you get the modem+router device, you will need to enter your ISP username and password that will have been sent to you that you originally typed in somewhere. And that's about it.

[MustafaTickl]

Thank you very much fo3nix and Billy. Much appreciated. Based upon what you say I'm going to have a go. If you hear a lot of cussing a few weeks from now from the direction of Hertfordshire you will know that I have got it round my ear !!!

[Dollie]

yes thank you all for prompt replies - you've given me plenty to go at and pointed me in the right direction. Doll x