Going wireless with a wired router.
Going wireless with a wired router.
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Discussion

dragstar

Original Poster:

3,924 posts

272 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
Ok, bear with me:

After faffing about with lots of wired routers (all of which were crap thus returned) i have finally bought and settled on a Speedtouch 546 router (wired). It is fantastic for gaming and i'am very happy with it.

To it, i have connected:

1. iBook
2. Xbox 360
3. Playstation 2

This means i have a free ethernet port (there are no usb ports on the router). Everything is working fantastically, and without problems.

However,

I've just managed to get hold of Animal Crossing (DS) and want to go online, i.e. i need wifi (plus i'd like to surf the internet on my psp).

Therefore, my question is: is there an adapter/dongle which will plug into my spare ethernet port to give me wifi in my home? I know the nintendo usb adapter wont work with macs (plus i dont want to put the ibook on whenever i fancy some wifi-ing).

or am i doomed to buy another router (please, for the love of god no )

cheers big-lads

Mikey G

4,848 posts

262 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
From what i understand you would need a Wireless Access Point.

Something like this i would imagine:-
www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/54065

dragstar

Original Poster:

3,924 posts

272 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
Cheers Mikey, that's very helpful.

However, i have follow up questions:

1. Would i need to install software onto my Mac for it to work, or will it literally plug and play?

2. If it is plug and play, how safe is the content on my network, i.e. could somebody hack into my wired laptop through the wireless access point?

any help appreciated

Raify

6,554 posts

270 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
dragstar said:


2. If it is plug and play, how safe is the content on my network, i.e. could somebody hack into my wired laptop through the wireless access point?

any help appreciated


Do a search in this forum for wireless security. It's come up a few times, with some very useful advice. Basically, you should:

Enable WPA-PSK security
Enable MAC filtering

That's normally enough for a home wireless network

dragstar

Original Poster:

3,924 posts

272 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
yep, cheers

scorp

8,783 posts

251 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
I use one of these, i have a similiar setup, 2 xboxes downstairs, but my wifi access point is upstairs.

What i use is a 4port mini-hub with the xboxes connecting to that, and the wifi bridge as the gateway. Works perfectly.

http://reviews.cnet.com/USR5430_802_1

dragstar

Original Poster:

3,924 posts

272 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
cheers Scorp.

I'm going to do some shopping...