feeling completely useless as cannot connect a laptop to the internet.
have router (not wireless), need really, really simple, slow instructions as if talking to a five year old. my poor child is the only one in school who has not connected lap top to internet yet, and its all my fault.

 

pete, is that ting tong

 

 

RTFM baby.... it's the only way to go

 

You lot are a great help!

First thing to do is check your connections and equipment that has been supplied. Apart from the power leads, there are two possible types of cable - USB (larger metal connector) and / or a network cable (will look a little bit like a telephone lead).

Post up details of what you have got and we can go from there.

 

Thanks Chris, I see at least there is one person on this forum with a brain cell? i have a usb cable and a thing like a telephone cable.
i will be back later, must dash now.

 

your bens mrs then at a guess. sorry about my one braincell

 

Who's your Internet service provider?

They usually will talk you through the setup of a new router.

 

And most come with a quick setup leaflet?

 

TROLL

 

BT, and i followed their set up disk to connect my main pc, then tried it on the laptop but it didnt work. i dont think they support equipment that isnt theirs, but i could try them, hopefully i wont get put through to India.

so i have a pc connected to a router via ethernet cable, a laptop, a usb cable and a phone cable thing. can i plug both pc and lap top in to internet at same time?

TROLL???

 

Who joins a Subaru forum calling themselves useless women to ask about the internet ??

No way.. your a big fat fake... come on who are you?

 

Lets assume you are genuine tell me the make and model of your router and perhaps I can help

 

I havent laughed that much in years! i didnt know this was a subaru forum, i just googled idiot's guide to connecting laptop to internet and ended up here!
I am genuine I swear. my router is a bt voyager 210 ADSL router.
thanks to those that are trying to help. fake indeed!

 

OK - right, from what you are saying, the Internet connection is working for the PC, but not the laptop?

If that is the case, then this is a limitation of the BT ADSL modem. You have two choices:

Buy a small ethernet hub / switch like this

or buy a replacement ADSL router which has a built in switch / hub (bit more expensive) like this.

(Hubs and switches do the same thing - there are technical differences which you don't need to worry about. It used to be that hubs were cheaper, but now there is little difference and most people will use a switch)

Your BT ADSL router has a DHCP function - this basically will automatically give an IP address to a device connected to it (in this case your main PC). The default configuration for all ethernet ports on PCs and laptops will be set to DHCP. What the ADSL router won't be able to do is assign an address to two devices if one is connected by ethernet port and one is on the USB port.

However, by plugging in a small hub / switch into the ethernet port of the router and then connecting both your laptop and main PC in to the new hub, both devices will be able to request an address from via the DHCP function from the router. Both devices will now work.

The additional switch / hub is probably the easier technical solution. If you don't want to order it online, you will be able to get everything you need from someone like PC World. Don't forget that you will need another ethernet cable to connect the laptop. What you will end up with is this:



Chris

 

a million thank yous and i will buy the cheaper hub i think.
now i will disappear and leave you to your subaru forum.
it was nice to be a visitor for a short while!

 

I just tried that and didnt come across this forum ...

 

you obviously didnt try hard enough did you?

 

Thought you'd gone

 

how can i go when you keep posting replies? actully i have got new problem now; i cant work out how to sort out my digital camera photos i have just uploaded to my pc. help?

 

 

UW - no problem. Best solution to organising digital photos is to download Google's Picasa

C

 

chris comes to the rescue. thank you. that pimmo, who hasnt as many posts to his name as you, chris, is obviously a very suspicious individual. wouldnt want to be married to him!

 

shocking... now why would you say that mum

 

No worries UW. If I get fed up with some of the less helpful replies I'll delete them - the joy of being a moderator

Been around this forum long enough (and worked in IT long enough!) to spot a basically genuine request

 

Chris l. ul The same person

 

am getting a bit worried now as this is the most fun i have had all week.
by the way i drive a toyota, does this count? and no, i am not pimmo's mother, though if i was i would give him a good telling off and send him to his room (which probably needs tidying anyway).

 

Hmm someone who knows what a post count is but can't tell the difference between a computing and subaru forum?

 

you are too suspicious for your own good,you must be a scorpio? and have you tidied your room yet?

and Chris, (the voice of reason on this site) can i buy equipment from that site you gave me or is it just for companies?
pc world dont have any in stock.

 

this just gets better and better! where do you get these names from?
i bet you are a mate of pimmo's? probably in the c.i.d together?