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I bet you guys get topics like this all the time, but I'm looking for a bit of advice now my town's getting connected on the 10th December (woo!). I live around 150-300m away from the exchange, and I'm currently with AOL on a fixed monthly rate.
Basically, I'm looking for a broadband service which provides a deal that is compatable with Xbox Live, uses ADSL (so I can be on the phone at the same time) and is 512Kbs or higher. So what are the best deals and what are you guys most pleased with?
I'll be doing my own research too, but nothing beats good old consumer advice/opinion.
Basically, I'm looking for a broadband service which provides a deal that is compatable with Xbox Live, uses ADSL (so I can be on the phone at the same time) and is 512Kbs or higher. So what are the best deals and what are you guys most pleased with?
I'll be doing my own research too, but nothing beats good old consumer advice/opinion.
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taka-Q wrote:
> Im a bit tired today! :)
That was a bit random. What I ment was I'm a bit tired to be explaning what im mean in my posts, so it all gets a bit squewed.
> Im a bit tired today! :)
That was a bit random. What I ment was I'm a bit tired to be explaning what im mean in my posts, so it all gets a bit squewed.
Im a bit tired today! :)
It's probably a lot more to do with the companies covering their own backs - they don't want to be held liable for any data loss incurred by their devices, so they come with warnings to use their drivers and their drivers only.
There were a lot of innacuracies in this thread, but I cba to point them out and none of them were major >:O|
There were a lot of innacuracies in this thread, but I cba to point them out and none of them were major >:O|
unknown kernel wrote:
> If Windows is so easy, so automated and so great then how come every
> piece of third party hardware comes with a dire warning to install
> their own drivers before you even think about letting XP loose on
> your new bit of kit?
This is because drivers have to be very persific about what they do, and hardware compaines decide they want a slighly different setup to there rivals to tray and entice new buyers. Unfortunatly, the bogstandard drivers in windows are design to work on the codes etc that microsoft have set out as the basic standard, so can't control these more complicated peices of hardware.
> If Windows is so easy, so automated and so great then how come every
> piece of third party hardware comes with a dire warning to install
> their own drivers before you even think about letting XP loose on
> your new bit of kit?
This is because drivers have to be very persific about what they do, and hardware compaines decide they want a slighly different setup to there rivals to tray and entice new buyers. Unfortunatly, the bogstandard drivers in windows are design to work on the codes etc that microsoft have set out as the basic standard, so can't control these more complicated peices of hardware.
adrian wrote:
> Just slot the network card into a PCI
> slot and its done. If your on Windows XP or possibly ME or 2000 the
> network card should need no drivers.
Heh, I've just been installing Linux again and so I've been spending a bit of time on Linux forums where somebody pointed this out:
If Windows is so easy, so automated and so great then how come every piece of third party hardware comes with a dire warning to install their own drivers before you even think about letting XP loose on your new bit of kit?
> Just slot the network card into a PCI
> slot and its done. If your on Windows XP or possibly ME or 2000 the
> network card should need no drivers.
Heh, I've just been installing Linux again and so I've been spending a bit of time on Linux forums where somebody pointed this out:
If Windows is so easy, so automated and so great then how come every piece of third party hardware comes with a dire warning to install their own drivers before you even think about letting XP loose on your new bit of kit?
Wireless cards won't come with the router, although the place I bought mine from offered a discount on any cards you bought with the router. You'll also need an ethernet bridge to hook up your XBox to a wireless network: these seem to cost £60+ so I decided it was too expensive for me. Performance is fine for sharing an internet connection, but when it comes to file transfers it is very slow. I have 802.11b stuff, so the 802.11g may be much better (I don't want to investigate because I get depressed about buying obsolete hardware). Inteference can be a problem but probably won't affect sharing a net connection: 2.4GHz cordless phones and big thick walls are especially bad, both of which I have in my house.
That makes wireless sound absolutely terrible doesn't it? It wasn't meant to. I'm really pleased with my setup but it's not the right solution for everyone, especially since the technology is still fairly young.
That makes wireless sound absolutely terrible doesn't it? It wasn't meant to. I'm really pleased with my setup but it's not the right solution for everyone, especially since the technology is still fairly young.
The problem with wireless is they are alot more expensive compared with your convwetional wires. Also, if you want to connect a console with wireless that could get a bit tricky.
Maverick42 wrote:
> Is the motherboard relatively easy to access? I only know the basics
> of PC hardware really.
>
> Will these wireless cards come with the router? And is inserting one
> into the motherboards of my two PCs all I have to do? Also, what is
> the connection like compared to wires? Is there any unfortunate
> interference?
Yes the motherboard is inside the box that you turn on. You unscrew the case and look inside and you will see a big board where everything is plugged into. Just slot the network card into a PCI slot and its done. If your on Windows XP or possibly ME or 2000 the network card should need no drivers. How new are the computers? As you might already have network cards built in? Also you might have network cards installed if you bought it as a package computer.
With a Wireless router its pretty easy to set up I think. You will need to buy wireless network cards which fit in the same way as normal ethernet network cards.
Wireless works at different speeds. The new ones are 54Mbit, while standard wires are 100Mbit. With sharing a internet connection only 54Mbit would be ok. But with wireless the speed decreases with distance and also depends on whats in between. You probably can get a few walls in between but your likely to get only a few Mbit. Wireless is good if you have a laptop as you can go out in the garden on a sunny day, access the internet from the whole house. Wireless is also good if you cant be bothered with cables and dont mind a slower network speed.
> Is the motherboard relatively easy to access? I only know the basics
> of PC hardware really.
>
> Will these wireless cards come with the router? And is inserting one
> into the motherboards of my two PCs all I have to do? Also, what is
> the connection like compared to wires? Is there any unfortunate
> interference?
Yes the motherboard is inside the box that you turn on. You unscrew the case and look inside and you will see a big board where everything is plugged into. Just slot the network card into a PCI slot and its done. If your on Windows XP or possibly ME or 2000 the network card should need no drivers. How new are the computers? As you might already have network cards built in? Also you might have network cards installed if you bought it as a package computer.
With a Wireless router its pretty easy to set up I think. You will need to buy wireless network cards which fit in the same way as normal ethernet network cards.
Wireless works at different speeds. The new ones are 54Mbit, while standard wires are 100Mbit. With sharing a internet connection only 54Mbit would be ok. But with wireless the speed decreases with distance and also depends on whats in between. You probably can get a few walls in between but your likely to get only a few Mbit. Wireless is good if you have a laptop as you can go out in the garden on a sunny day, access the internet from the whole house. Wireless is also good if you cant be bothered with cables and dont mind a slower network speed.
Is the motherboard relatively easy to access? I only know the basics of PC hardware really.
Will these wireless cards come with the router? And is inserting one into the motherboards of my two PCs all I have to do? Also, what is the connection like compared to wires? Is there any unfortunate interference?
Will these wireless cards come with the router? And is inserting one into the motherboards of my two PCs all I have to do? Also, what is the connection like compared to wires? Is there any unfortunate interference?
As for wireless routers, you can either put a wireless card inside your PC, just like a normal network card. If you use wireless you won't need a normal network card (it has the port to connect a wire from PC to router you see). Or if you want you can plug a wireless adapter into a USB port.
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