[Masked Man]

Hey there geeks, I'm heading off for second year of uni in September and the halls I'm staying in only have wired internet connections. i.e, all I get is a port for an ethernet cable. I've got a decent number of things that use internet (phone, laptop, ps3), and I'm looking for a way to turn this ethernet cable port into a wireless hotspot. I had a similar situation last year and used connectify, but it was temperamental to say the least and since my laptop has a fault where it shuts down randomly I would regularly lose wireless. I'm looking for a more permanent solution, something which I can just leave plugged in and it will just keep pumping out wireless.

Thanks guys.
Rob

[Artellos]

Hey there,

Take a look at a wireless router. That should do the trick.

Regards,
Olrik

[Masked Man]

Thanks for the quick reply. Also my apologies for my ignorance in this matter, I'm not bad when it comes to computers but the actual network side of it has been my parent's to sort out while I was living at home. Dad's got a spare router kicking around, is it simply a case of plugging one end of the cable into the wall and the other into the router or is it more complicated than that?

[Ztruker]

It has to be a router that supports wireless. What is the make and model number?

[Masked Man]

I can't give the make and model, I believe it is belkin but I'm not certain. I'm pretty certain it supports wireless though, since its one that my dad used to use to run the wireless for the house. So unless there's some other meaning to supporting wireless then it should be ok

[dsenette]

you may want to talk to the IT group at school before you make too many plans as well. some schools have policies against multiple connections on their network which prohibit the connection of routers and other such connection distribution equipment.

[Masked Man]

Its not the university network, its at the accommodation I'm staying in. I've checked all the terms of accommodation and as far as I can see there shouldn't be an issue

[Masked Man]

OK, turns out one of the routers is a BT homehub. Should that work?

[Troy]

http://en.wikipedia....iki/BT_Home_Hub

Never heard of it before, but two problems stand out to me (if they are true, and depending what version you have):

2 ports are always open with no way of closing them
router will kick users off the internet if too much data is downloaded within a certain timeframe

You can read more under the "Criticism" heading of that page.

Got anything a bit better you can use?

[Masked Man]

I've been using it for a few months at home and havem't had any issues with too much data so that shouldn't be a problem. As for the ports, could I just use my software firewall to block them off? Either way I may have a different one laying around, I'll have a check.

[Masked Man]

OK I've had a look around and found a netgear wireless ADSL modem router. Should that work?

[Masked Man]

Bumping, anyone able to help?

[Troy]

Sorry I didn't get notification for some reason. I would suggest not to use the ADSL modem unless you had an ADSL internet connection. A router with a WAN port would be better. If you are confident in getting the BT hub to work this might be the way to go. Definitely use a software firewall to make sure those ports are blocked. However you will have to do it on each computer, and people from the outside will still have potential access to the router itself.

[Masked Man]

Homehub I'm pretty certain is the same, only an adsl input. I've done a bit of research and unless I'm mistaken theres no way of converting an ethernet input to an adsl one. I have had a quick look around and I think something like this would be what I need. Does that look right?

[dsenette]

if the dorm is supplying you with an ethernet connection, you need somethign that is just a router. not a cable modem/router or an adsl modem/router or anything else. it just needs to be a router. if it says "cable" or "ADSL" or "modem" anywhere, it's not the right thing