Broadband - again

[tim]

Well I've finally ordered broadband.

I went for Zen and the 1MB option. Straight talking guy, no bs at all. When I queried the price of some of their accessories vs other sources, he said that I should use the cheaper source.

Its a month by month contract. I'll let you know how I get on.

Techy question: I am going to get the Netgear 834G wireless router so that my wife can use her wifi laptop. It also comes with Ethernet cables so am I right in assuming that I can just plug that into my desktop rather than having to use a new wireless card. Do I need an adaptor for this?

Also can anyone recommend a reasonably priced microfilter?

Cheers

Tim

 

[wizer]

yes u can plug the desktop in using a normal rj45 network cable. Do you have a network card in your PC? Most PC's now have them.

As for microfilter. You can pick them up on ebay for next to nothing. Infact I am sure the router will come with one.

 

[tim]

Do you have a network card in your PC

How can I tell?

Also is the cable you mentioned the same as the Ethernet one.

God, I really know very little about this!

Cheers

Tim

 

[wizer]

yes ethernet/rj45 its all the same

network card sockets look like modem sockets only slightly larger

 

[Chris Knight]

I may well be wrong but I thought RJ45 was the Bell telephone standard socket (i.e typical US socket) The ethernet sockets are different surely?

 

[wizer]

Telephone is RJ11

RJ45 aka Ethernet aka UTP aka CaT5e/CaT6, etc, etc

 

[Chris Knight]

Thanks - I knew I wasn't sure!

 

[Jake]

RJ11 is US telephone. UK is a BT431A, no less.

 

[tombo]

some lesser know facts about rj45 and rj11.

Ethernet uses the rj45 plug and UTP cable standard which has 8 wires/contacts, though the ethernet signal only uses 4 wires 2 to transmit and 2 to receive pins 1, 2, 3 and 6. The other 4 wires are unused. You may think it odd to waste 4 wires but other network technologies also use the standard cat5/rj45 type cabling and utilise the 4 pairs in different configurations. Therefore cat5/rj45 is a standard universal system.

useful as it is rj45 is a bit large and clunky to use on a phone though some do, you can think of an rj11 as a scaled down 4 wire version of an rj45.
At a stretch an rj11 plug will work in a rj45 socket and it will just use the middle 4 wires. I have also cut the sides off an rj45 plug to make a rj11 patch cable

tom

 

[tim]

And the learning is:

If you want a clear and helpful answer, don't ask a techy!

Flipping heck, guys! Will it fit or won't it? and what about the network card - can I tell by a search?

Cheers

Tim

 

[trevtheturner]

:shock: :shock: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[wizer]

network card sockets look like modem sockets only slightly larger

 

[Johnboy]

Tim, open "my computer" then "control panel" then "system" then click on the "hardware" tab this will open a window that lists all the disk drives , video cards etc installed on your PC. Look for "network adaptors", if you have one installed it will be listed.

John

 

[tim]

Thanks Johnboy. Looks like the one listed is : Intel PRO/ 100VE Network connection. Is that it or is that a driver for a card?

Also re microfilters, some cost £0.50 and some a tenner. Can anyone explain the difference please and if anyone has a recommendation I'd be grateful. I need three.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Johnboy]

That will be the card Tim. As a double check look for the socket on the back of your PC.

John

 

[mr]

Also re microfilters, some cost £0.50 and some a tenner. Can anyone explain the difference please and if anyone has a recommendation I'd be grateful. I need three.

DO you really need three? Do you really need any? You only need to use microfilters where you intend to use a telephone at the same time as the broadband connection. Another thought that occurs to me is that if you really do need three this suggests that youre planning on having three routers in different places around the building. If thats the case it would be a much cheaper option to have one wireless router and cards as appropriate. As to the difference between the filters youve looked at there probably isnt any but without the specs of each no one can tell you if there is.

 

[tim]

We have three phones in the house.

I thought that a filter would be needed at all of these points so that if the broadband connection is being used and the phone rings, any one of the phones could be used.

I don't want to have to go and answer the only phone in the house which has a filter ie the one in the study because its about as far away from the main parts of the house where we would normally be.

Have I misunderstood how this works? Highly likely I might add.

The microsfilter specs weren't included because they aren't all specified. I just did a microfilter search on Amazon.

Cheers

Tim

 

[mr]

Hi Tim
As for the specs of the ones youve looked at I would hazard a guess that theres no difference other than price. Have a look at the solwise site for prices and variations as well as advice on whats required. www.solwise.co.uk

 

[Jake]

You can either have the filter dongles hanging off every point where you have a telephone, or have a filter faceplate at the point of entry, which splits the ADSL from the telephone, leaving the telephone on the existing wiring and giving you an ADSL plug for your router. Depends where you want your router.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi guys you can only have a maximum of 4 filters on your broadband line