Hi there all. I am new to this forum, i could really do with some help. i hate to be defeated. i have two computers. one on the ground floor and a laptop for the second floor. I have been on line with aol. for several years. silver. i have now updated to gold. 2 meg speed. and a wireless router. trouble is allthough i go on the internet im very limited with knoweledge of how it all comunicates. so networking has me completly baffled. i have managed to connect the wireless router and can connect to aol. and other online sites. the problem is although the router is picking up another signal for someone elses computer it wont pick up the laptop i have. and i just dont know where to begin to sort this out. i dont nessersarily want it to be linked to other computer i just want it to be able to use the same wireless conection, save me having to feed wires all over the house. i tried setting up a network, and it was a nightmare. i think iv have asked the laptop to look for itself on the network, talk about confused. i really could do with some guidence, if there is anyone who fancys a real challenge, im not the brightest light on the xmas tree, but im persistant, and dont like being beaten. i can read instructions and follow them and find information that is writtern on boxes. i just need someone who knows about aol. dell laptops, and wireless networking. (i think) so does anyone fancy a challenge. PLEASE. Clue1e55 by name, clueless by nature.
Well, you seem to have the concept a bit backwards. The wireless router should not be routing through the laptop, the laptop should be routing through the router. I've attached a simple diagram to help illustrate this concept. Set the laptop to connect to the wireless router's signal. You should also be using the highest form of wireless encryption your router supports. WPA is the best you can hope for in a home-grade wireless router. Refer to your router's documentation for the gritty details.
Well ive spent another evening on and off the phone to AOL. apparently my DNS server is unreachable. whatever that is. i have made a connection to my laptop. it is now saying connected, even without wires. except i cannot go online cos i need to reach DNS. everything seems to be pointing me to my provider. they have sent me the info on the router. but its still not making any difference. im not a happy hippo. Thanks for the diagram. it looks so simple. i feel like throwing the towel in cept i cannot aford to take it anywhere. i will stay away from it for a couple of days i think. its really getting to me now. my router is a speedtouch 570 and my provider is aol. but they are no help at all so far.
DNS = Domain Name Service. For example, it translates www.yahoo.co.uk into 217.12.3.11 so your browser knows where to get the webpage. Your DNS server should have the same address as your default gateway
