The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

[Burning Down]

Originally Posted by zevokes

hey all. for the last year or so my girlfriend and i thought we had a wireless modem and had no problems connecting to the internet. a couple of weeks ago we discovered our neighbour hanging out in the hall stealing what we thought was OUR wireless signal. then, the real owner of the wireless decided to secure their signal, leaving us to figure out that we had a hardwire modem, and we too had been stealing internet.

my girlfriend has a mac, and has no problem just plugging the ugly yellow cord into it and using the net (hence me posting this). but i have a PC running XP, and am feeling as though i actually need to hire someone to come figure this out. it's registering the connections and stuff, but it says they're firewalled.

so... anyone know anything about hooking the net up to a PC running XP?

any help at all would be ridiculously appreciated!!!

It shouldn't matter what operating system you're using when trying to connect to a wireless Internet signal.

What kind of router do you have (like what brand)? Is it a 2-in-1 modem and wireless router or just a wireless router? Some routers require that the wired Internet connection goes through a desktop computer before going to the router itself, via an Ethernet port, USB, or DSL line, only because you need some kind of modem to process the signal. The modem in that case would be a card inside of your desktop.

I have a 2-in-1 modem/router, which can be used on it's own since everything is inside of it. I'm not sure if you can buy these in a store because my ISP has given me one to use for the length of my contract with them.

If you're not sure of what's going on with your Internet, hire a technician. I know, it costs money (nothing is free!) but it will probably be a lot easier on you if you're not tech-savvy. The technician will also be able to secure your wireless signal which will require a password for each new computer that wants to connect to the Internet on your signal. This is extremely important especially if you live in some kind of complex or apartment building! You don't want any unwanted download and bandwidth user fees tacked onto your bill.