Wireless router, cable broadband and old computer

gazzer

Im hoping somebody here might be able to help me with a problem I encountered whilst trying to set up a wireless connection in my family house.

My brother has a desktop computer in his bedroom and he gets his broadband through NTL. My other brother has a laptop that is wi-fi enabled. I decided to get a wireless router so that my brother could use his laptop to connect to the internet.

Anyway I went to PC world yesterday and after talking to one of the sale assistants i bought a Belkin 54G wireless router.

I went down to the folks and proceeded to install this router.. The modem that was in my brothers room had 4 outlets.. the power supply one, one for the cable, a usb one and an ethernet one. From following the instructions that came with the router I was to take the ethernet connection (Modem to Computer) from the back of the computer and plug it into the router, then i was to attach the wire that came with the router into the router and attach it to the back of the computer.

Here is where i encountered the problem. The ethernet connection on the modem is not used as my brother doesnt have an ethernet connection on his PC (it is 5 years old). He just has a normal phone connection. The broadband is connected to the computer through a USB port.

So I cant take the connection from the back of the computer as it is a USB one and obviously wont connect to any of the ports on the router.

What can I do. Is there a special adaptor I can get that will enable me to plug the usb connection from the modem to the router and then the ethernet connection from the router to the computer? or would I have to install an ethernet connection onto the computer.. or do I bring the router back and give up??...

I would really appreciate any help anybody here could give me?

Thanks

Gazzer

Little-Devil

I think i understand. You brother doesn't have a ethernet card in his computer. The best thing i think you can do is connect the Belkin up to the laptop using the ethernet cable and buy a wireless USB adapter and connect that to your brothers computer. Then they can both use wireless no problems.

irlrobins

You can buy a pci ethernet card for your brother's PC as well, could well be cheaper than getting a wireless card (and it will def be faster).

So basically your options are this:

1) Connect modem to router using ethernet cable. Then connect to router from your laptop wirelessly and your brother's PC by ethernet if you buy a network card.

2) 1) Connect modem to router using ethernet cable. Then connect to router from your laptop wirelessly and your brother's PC by wireless if you buy a wireless network card.

gazzer

Thanks guys for your help. I will check out the prices of the ethernet card and wireless card and get on to it tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

cast_iron

gazzer wrote:

Thanks guys for your help. I will check out the prices of the ethernet card and wireless card and get on to it tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

I got a cheap PCI Ethernet in Peat's for 10 euro the other day. Definitely cheaper than any wireless card you will buy.

gazzer

Just thought I would let the helpful people here know that I ended up getting a PCI Ethernet Card that I installed onto my brothers PC at the weekend. Got the wireless broadband set up perfectly and now my other brother has taken to sitting out in the back garden and surfing the web.. so he is very happy.. Thanks again everybody for your help.