I'm a semi-regular visitor/contributer to this website…..
I'm currently on dial-up….Been online for a bit over a year…
It at times is PAINFULLY SLOW to download files , load web pages &/or websites etc……
A friend reccomended I go wireless…New world for me…
I am retired , unemployed & NOT making ends meet with those "wunnerful" Soc Sec checks…..
So I can NOT afford a Cadillac on a VW budget…..Hell , I can't even afford the VW !!!…… …..
I have NO clue as to what I need to get for my computer…( Dell GX280 SFF , Win XP Pro with SP-3 )
So I need your help on what I need to buy for my computer & IF I need to subscribe to some satelite company …..OR what ???
Going wireless has nothing to do with increasing your speed, not on dial up anyway, the only thing that will improve your surfing speed is to subscribe to a faster service, and given your situation I am unsure how possible this would be for you.
The initial thing to find out is who can supply an Internet service to your property, you will be looking for a broadband\DSL: service, if your lucky there will be several choices in your area, but there are people who are stuck with dial up because there is no such service available where they are, so your first step is to look in the papers, ask your current isp etc if they can provide such a service for you, and more importantly how much they will charge for it.
The next step will be watching out for the best deal, often they may offer a free router or half price for x months and the like, so you need to see whats available in your area, then see who's offering the best deal, once you have that info, do a search about that service, sometimes cheap service means just that, cheap, and nasty with it, such company's usually promise the moon, but once they get your money and contract (usually 1 year, sometimes more), they no longer care, and should you have a problem, they will be impossible about resolving it, so do research your choice before committing.
Mind you that said, ALL company's have good and bad occasions, so because one person has had a nightmare of a time with them, it doesn't mean it should be avoided, when things go bad it usually does it in a BIG way, the good ones aren't as obvious because people by nature only make noise when complaining, good comments about a company wont stand out as much as a bad comment will, so don't take the first results you see as gospel, do look at more results to get a better idea about them.
Now you mention a satellite service, the time people use such a service is when there is no alternate service in they're area, I don't know much about the service and that, but I do believe it is quite expensive to use, if your unsure about what is available in your area, if you state where you are (not precisely, just generally) then those that know the area may be able to make suggestions to help you choose, hopefully this will get you started on your quest for faster net access, feel free to ask about what you need to know and people will do they're best to advise the best they can, hope this helps a bit anyway.
Hi Ron.
You have a Desktop system, not a Laptop so there is no point to your converting to wireless. You would get a bigger bang for your $$ by subscribing to a high speed internet provider, Cable or DSL (phone line) and connecting via a CAT5 Ethernet Cable. That would give you 100Mbs connectivity. Wireless yields only 54Mbs currently.
If for some reason you still think wireless is what you want, you will need the following:
1. You will need to subscribe to a high speed internet service provider, either Cable or DSL (phone line). If they don't provide a modem with Wireless capability you will have to buy a router with Wireless capability (also usually provides 4 Ethernet ports) $30 to $50 range.
2. You will need to purchase a wireless PCI card for your computer, $30 to $50 range.
Sorry 8210GUY, I guess it took me awhile to compose this and so you had already responded. Oh well … at least we agree
Going wireless has nothing to do with increasing your speed, not on dial up anyway, the only thing that will improve your surfing speed is to subscribe to a faster service,
OK , seems to be a conflict in info here….
From Ztruker;…
Cable or DSL (phone line) and connecting via a CAT5 Ethernet Cable. That would give you 100Mbs connectivity. Wireless yields only 54Mbs currently.
I'm on basic dial-up….Awhile ago Ztruker said that dial-up delivers about 7 MB's per sec….Which I'm getting about 5 MB's per sec….
So by just going wireless increases my speed 10 fold….
Cox Cable & I think Sprint provide internet service here….
Cox is about $30 a month…I think….
Both of you seem to be suggesting a high-speed dial-up…
I will look into that area rather than anything with a "router" or satellite….
MANY THANKS to you BOTH…
You have given me some GREAT help….
Ron, you seem to have missed the first part of that line:
You would get a bigger bang for your $$ by subscribing to a high speed internet provider, Cable or DSL (phone line) and connecting via a CAT5 Ethernet Cable. That would give you 100Mbs connectivity. Wireless yields only 54Mbs currently.
The intent here was to tell you to move from dial-up to high speed internet, and use a Ethernet connection, not any kind of Wireless connection.
Going wireless has nothing to do with increasing your speed, not on dial up anyway, the only thing that will improve your surfing speed is to subscribe to a faster service,
OK , seems to be a conflict in info here….
There may be something I am not aware of, but the point I was making was simply by going wireless, you wont go any faster, your net speed is dictated by your isp, and the package you have, being on basic dial up your speed as your aware is slow compared to what most use today, and by just going wireless that speed wont change dial up speed is dial up speed, it's as basic as it gets.
The ONLY way to increase your Internet speed is by getting a faster service such as DSL, which will obviously cost more money than dial up generally speaking, and DSL is an always on service, so you have no limitations on how long you can be online, the only limitation you may come across is the amount of data usage, some low cost DSL services restrict you to anything say from 1gig to 10gig of data transfer allowance, there is no easy way to figure out what you may use, but such services usually give some facts and figures on how many pages you can view, or how many songs you could download
Ztruker makes an excellent point about the difference in speed between cable and wireless connections, but again the speed available to you, is the speed of your isp service, getting a router, or a wireless card will not change your dial up speed connection, they simply act as an interface to get that speed to your PC in the most efficient way each option offers, at least this is my understanding of this, others may know better, but hopefully this helps to make sense of the above a bit more now.
I'm greener than an avacado when it comes to this stuff….
They say "There's no such thing as a stupid question"….Get ready for some attempts… ..
1st;…Ztruker;…
You would get a bigger bang for your $$ by subscribing to a high speed internet provider, Cable or DSL (phone line) and connecting via a CAT5 Ethernet Cable.
I'm certain that NetZero provides High Speed….
Where I'm lost here is with "DSL (phone line) & "connecting via a CAT5 Ethernet Cable".,…
I have never heard of "Ethernet"…
Methinks DSL will be an extra charge from my phone company…Si ???
Wouldn't DSL be a "dial-up" since it's a "phone line" ???
BTW: I'm not going "wireless" (OR satellite) based on the info from both of you guys…THANKS !!!…. …
8210GUY:…
There may be something I am not aware of, but the point I was making was simply by going wireless, you wont go any faster, your net speed is dictated by your isp, and the package you have, being on basic dial up your speed as your aware is slow compared to what most use today, and by just going wireless that speed wont change dial up speed is dial up speed, it's as basic as it gets.
My ISP is Netzero…I will check with them….
What I'm trying to accomplish here is to be able to load a website faster & increase my download speed….
AND do it without having to give them my firstborn… ….
Both:…
I'll need a bit more help on this DSL & Ethernet Cable stuff…
What is an "Ethernet Cable" & DSL ????
THANK you BOTH VERY much for your VERY informative replies…. …. <8210GUY….
You want to get rid of NetZero completely.
You could get DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) from your phone company and yes, it will cost more than NetZero but it will be much, much faster. DSL uses a protocol (communications method) called PPPOE or Point To Point Protocol Over Ethernet, which is sort of like a high speed dial up except there is no dialing, the modem they give you is always connected, always active. It requires a userid and password to connect, just like dialup.
You could also go with Highspeed Internet from your local Cable company instead of DSL. This is what I have.
Your computer almost certainly has a Ethernet connection. It looks like a large modem connection, but there is only one, not two ports. It uses a CAT5 Ethernet cable to connect it to either the DSL or Cable modem.
Both are "Always On" connections. This is one reason having good Antivirus and Firewall is a must with these types of connections.
Any high speed internet service is going to cost you more than your current dialup. Some DSL is as cheap as $19.95 / month. Cable costs more.
There is a lot of information available via Google for all this … as they say, "Search, and you shall find"
Great comments above, but rather than repeat I will clarify some points for you.
The difference between cable and DSL is basically how they are delivered, cable have they're own network of cables they use for the service, of course you need to be in a cable area to use this, DSL uses existing phone lines, the speed difference between them is often negligible, but that depends on the services available in your area, and the capability's of the existing phone lines, so it isn't uncommon to find one faster than the other depending where you are, and what each can offer.
Ethernet is quite simply the name given to the type of wire\lead\cable used to connect to the service\router, and I don't think I have ever heard of a router coming without one of these as standard.
As said they are similar to your modem lead, but more rectangular as opposed to square like the modem wire, but it is not uncommon to have 2 such ports in your system, both my systems here have 2 Ethernet ports to connect too, but as said you should have at least 1 in your system, hope this clarifies a bit.
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