connecting to existing broadband router with usb wireless thingy

learnerplates

I'm trying to connect a laptop with a USB wireless modem thingy to an existing broadband connection and failing.
My Network connections have a 1394 Connection and a LAN Connection. The 1394 says it's connected and firewalled.
How do I connect this laptop to the broadband connection?
I thought it was a simple thing, I done it on my own machine months ago.
There's a password on the broadband connection which I have.

watty

Disable the 1394. A camcorder or harddrive does not use networking, that is only for Firewire to another PC.

LAN will be the 8 wire RJ45 socket (Ethernet).

You need to install the USB WiFi dongle SW, before connecting it (Delete it in Device manager).

Reboot and plug in the WiFi dongle. It will be correctly detected. If it has its own configuration SW you need to uncheck Use Windows to Configure in its properties, otherwise Windows Wireless Zero config must be running in services.

You need to detect your WiFi base and enter the correct settings.

Make sure your Broadband's WiFi is enabled either with WPA, or WEP 128 shared key.

Liam Byrne

The 1394 connection is your FireWire card.

A wireless modem won't connect you to a wireless broadband connection; a wireless network card will. A wireless modem is designed to connect to Vodafone or 3G or whatever (doing roughly the job that the "existing broadband connection" modem/router does, except without the phone line).

If it's a wireless network card, then it should show up under Network Connections; if it doesn't, then the drivers aren't installed or aren't working properly.

Try connecting via the LAN cable first and see if that works.

Then try installing the drivers that came with the "wireless modem thingy".

learnerplates

hmmm, it must be wifi dongle then (3Com), I don't have the drivers, it plugs into the USB I didn't think you need drivers for USB devices.

watty

Depends on the device.

Actually you need drivers for EVERYTHING.

Plug and Play is a myth, smoke and mirrors, it's just lots of devices the drivers are already on the Harddisk or the Windows Install CD.

You can ge the driver from the Internet, but I think you can see the snag there, for a network device, if it is the only way to get connected.

learnerplates

oh right, it's a 3com usb device, I have another laptop which I'm using now ,

So I've entually found the dongel driver at http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/result.jsp?selected=all&sort=effdt&sku=3CRUSB20075&order=desc
. All works now, have to configure windows to manage the connections too.

Thanks for your help;
That's an eye opener for me on the usb devices needing drivers too,

Cabaal

moved to wirelesss