HELP WITH MY PC World's Cheapy Router

[DarrenSV650S]

I need a router for my laptop and this one from PC world seems the cheapest:
Click here
But it says on the site that its only compatible with Windows 2000 (I've got XP Pro) ...but surely that can't be right

Also, am I able to plug in USB things into the router for them to work on my laptop? It's an external hard-drive that I need to access.

it'll work fine with XP. more details here

you won't be able to plug usb things into the router, only ethernet. plug your usb things into your laptop

I dont know of any routers that'll take USB storage devices.

There are storage servers around such as Snap Appliances. These are essentially a harddisk with a network connection

[DarrenSV650S]

Thanks for that weazelz. Another question though
It would be good if I could also have my old desktop PC connected too. Would I be able to just put the router next to it and plug it in with a wire, then have the laptop wireless
And if I did that, would I then be able to access the files on the PC from the laptop? And kind of use it as a back-up instead of the external hard-drive

Check out Misco too. I bought one for my daughter in November. Approx £41 delivered.

http://www.misco.co.uk/productinform...~WW~/index.htm

£34.99 + P&P

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by DarrenSV650S

Thanks for that weazelz. Another question though
It would be good if I could also have my old desktop PC connected too. Would I be able to just put the router next to it and plug it in with a wire, then have the laptop wireless
And if I did that, would I then be able to access the files on the PC from the laptop? And kind of use it as a back-up instead of the external hard-drive

Viney is doing this now have a look here.

Cheers Mark.

Originally Posted by DarrenSV650S

Thanks for that weazelz. Another question though
It would be good if I could also have my old desktop PC connected too. Would I be able to just put the router next to it and plug it in with a wire, then have the laptop wireless
And if I did that, would I then be able to access the files on the PC from the laptop? And kind of use it as a back-up instead of the external hard-drive

the router has some wired ethernet ports, so long as you have an ethernet (network) card in the desktop PC then you can do what you describe pretty easily

i dont know much about this subject but whats the security issues with a wireless laptop connection? my aunt had £2800 removed from her bank last month by a guy in london who had hacked her details this concerns me as my dad is on about doing the wireless thing with his new laptop

[DarrenSV650S]

Originally Posted by weazelz

the router has some wired ethernet ports, so long as you have an ethernet (network) card in the desktop PC then you can do what you describe pretty easily

It doesn't seem to have an ethernet card, just a dial-up internet port. Is there any other way around this, like using a USB port or something

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

iwhats the security issues with a wireless laptop connection?

The security issues are that most people don't bother to encrypt their wireless connection with a WEP key and restrict what MAC address' can connect to it so they leave it wide open for anybody to use / hack into.

It takes 5 minutes to do and I'm amazed by the number of people who don't bother to do it.