Can I get wireless internet for my desktop PC?

[smirkymonkey]

I live in NYC in one of those strange sublet situations where I cannot get a phone line or cable in my name in the apartment as my roommate does not want any "evidence" that I have lived there.

Anyway, I have an HP desktop, about 2 years old, and I was wondering what the process is to get wireless service.

Radio shack has something that you can plug into your computer to pick up wireless signals, but the guy didn't really know what he was talking about so I didn't want to buy it without knowing for sure.

If I buy this thing, am I set to go or is there something else I need to do/buy in order to have access. Not having home internet is really getting to be a pain and I am spending a lot of money at internet cafes.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[reprobate]

1. Depends what you mean by 'wireless internet'

If you mean the newef long distance wireless and not the wireless LAN kind, I don't know much about it, but I'm sure you'll need an account in someones name at that address, as well as an outside antenna to make the connection.

Someone with more knowledge will have to take over from here.

[democracyindanger]

2. I think you have two options

1) Use your cell phone as your connection. I don't think this is very cheap, but I suppose it all depends on the carrier.

2) Find out if there's free wireless in your neighborhood. NYC has lots of people who let others onto their networks for free--read about it in Wired some time back.

[smirkymonkey]

3. Thanks Reprobate and Democracyindanger!

I will check it out - thanks again! :)

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

4. "Wireless internet" is a misnomer

Your internet service will be wired, either via phone line (dial-up and DSL) or cable (coming in over your cable TV wiring). It only becomes "wireless" when you add a wireless router or access point to your existing system. If your roommate already has an always-on connection, all you need do is talk him/her into letting you add the wireless device, and then you need a wireless network card or USB wireless receiver for your computer.

It's straightforward and invisible. If the landlord sees and asks about the wireless router, your roommate can just say it's for their laptop.

[smirkymonkey]

5. Cool - I think she might go for that!

Thanks for the info Prisoner! Do I need someone from the cable company to set it up or can I just add the wireless device? Is it something I can do myself?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

6. It's easier to have someone knowledgable do it.

For me it's a yawner, but I am a one man computer repair service. I'd do it for a flat fee of fifty bucks-- if you think it's worth that or a bit more, get a geek. (Plus the price of the hardware.)

[smirkymonkey]

8. Do you live in NYC?

If so, I would hire you - it's still much cheaper than the $50 plus I am spending per week at Internet Cafes.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. Sorry, I live in Dallas.

No way to recommend someone in NYC, as I've never even been there, except to fly over.

[smirkymonkey]

11. Fly over country - heh, heh!

:)

[NuttyFluffers]

7. what's your connection now?

usually it's easiest to get a gateway device. it's modem, router (firewall, naturally), and wireless access point all-in-one. makes life simple, far less wires.

often people get a modem+router combo, they usually come either dsl only modem or cable modem only, and a separate WAP which is connected to mod+rtr via more wires. i don't like extra wires, but sometimes you can't get the gateway you want. :(

some people fixate on 802.11a/b/g protocol. quick info, a is basically for businesses running a large WAN (wireless access network) and tend to be expensive -- but i keep seeing the occasional person buy one for home confused by the "MORE POWAH!" peer pressure out there. from what it sounds like, you don't need this.

g is nice and flexible, but considering most broadband providers usually don't go over b there's little reason to feel forced to get g protocol ready unless you are going to be running some LAN multiparty for pc games. if you can get 802.11g products at a good price, might as well, but usually not needed.

gee, this is taking a while. easiest way is looking at Netgear's website. they have a surprisingly easy help/explanation function, and nice diagramed pictures too.

after getting the modem, router, wireless access point all you'd usually need would be receiver for pc. different ways to do this. could get it as a card to install in your pc, but i prefer the USB connector method. usually as cheap, easily connectable, and wonderfully swappable with another machine, and works on both laptops, desktops, whatever. most tech savvy people don't say it enough, but i will: when in doubt, get it USB -- KISS tech at its finest, and problems are rare.

if you have strange walls in the way blocking reception then you might need to connect ad hoc (aka "skip the signal across from pt. to pt."). normally people don't worry about this at home. but i'd probably recommend apple's wonderfully small device for this. it also provides printer server function (which used to be a separate function req. a rather expensive separate device) and neat speaker conn. to pc's itunes. for it's size, construction, value and price, i really can't recommend anything else at the moment. but i doubt you'll have reception problems -- unless you live in a weird nuclear bunker. :D

um, overall it's pretty easy stuff. sometimes the connection stuff can get annoying, but most of it is click and follow. oh, and for security, for the most part i doubt you'll suffer much, but secure your WAP by having it only recognize certain permitted MAC addresses of your machines. you could throw on wireless encryption protocol as well -- but MAC addy restriction should be pretty decent for the most part, and i'd rather save you the headache if things don't "gel."

still recommend netgear's site, good learning place. egghead software is also a good place to listen and learn as is ars technica.

[smirkymonkey]

12. I was using dial-up...

another pain in the ass NY apartment situation, but this person doesn't want me to use her phone because she doesn't want her calls blocked. Is there a way to do it so that she can get her calls while I am on-line?

Thanks for the info! :hi:

[NuttyFluffers]

17. 2nd line, cable, DSL, and cell phone (eww)

you could get a line splitter too, but that starts to complicate things.

2nd phone line -- but then phone service for a 2nd line can be as expensive as just getting broadband service. land line phone service has been getting silly expensive with all these extra side fees being levied.

cable -- got cable tv? then you can get cable internet relatively easy. they just plop on a splitter and then pump out both services through the same co-axial cable. then just modem (you could rent, but... why? even at $6 a mo. w/in a yr. you end up spending the equiv. for most of the cost for a gateway) + router (because why bother fiddling with settings when a machine can do it for you? besides, you can split the service from the router for more people, usually around 40-50+) + WAP + WAP Receiver and you're good to go.

DSL -- not as fast as cable, but it works. problem i've found is the DSL service provider here (SBC) is a SOB, req. 1 yr. contract, can't be returned if you opened package (so if you opened it to see if it even works and it doesn't you now own it and are locked into contract -- and face disconnect penalties). friend got royally pissed in trying to use DSL (even though he had cable) just to avoid having everything in one bill, blurring together. didn't work, and he's brilliant at computers, and manages 12+ business homes that are fully interconnected and several servers atop that, and the DSL service just wouldn't work with his area (he was on the border of service area. SBC said he was in, reality was he was out). had to pay $200 penalty fee to return someting that didn't work. he's still furious at them.

but these problems can be with either cable or DSL provider. so find out which company is less of an asshole in your area and doesn't lock you into something against your will.

then there's cell phone -- last i heard it was too fucking expensive (like close to $3-$4 a min.), bit slow, and sketchy service. but it's pretty global, can use it in parks and stuff... whatever. not really what you'd need. has much room for improvement last i heard.

so yeah, got cable tv? go cable. if you're paying around $50 a wk. for 'net cafes then you should just ante up for broadband. you're spending good money that can cover it, so might as well go for something better than 56k. as for bb there's only really cable and dsl (oh and fiber, but that's SOOO unlikely -- try if you can find it, but... won't really need it). then do your homework on the companies that provide the service.

now for ways to get 'net service on the cheap...

library. most libraries here offer 'net service. i'd expect NYC to have the same.

universities. many universities here are completely wirelessly conn. and spray their reception all over the campus grounds. some restrict for students only, but... if you're already at school, or taking a class or two... besides, i often find being registered w/ a univ. useful for the free lexis-nexis and other research engines offered. it's like several $1000s of dollars of service being offered to any student where i am, full access to at least 50+ major research engines. great stuff.

bum off a friend's. it'd req. a laptop, naturally, and a kind friend. but be sensible, otherwise it can strain a friendship.

[smirkymonkey]

20. Thank you for the ideas!

I think cable might be the best bet for me but it's expensive. However, not as expensive as going to internet cafes! ;)

Great advice - thanks again!

[Ready4Change]

10. My advice

Find a friend with a laptop with a wireless card. Have them come over and see if there's a wireless access point signal in your room(s). See if it is using WEP or any other security.

In the suburbs the odds are against you. But in the city I imagine the odds improve immensely.

Even here in the suburbs there are 2 other access points within range of mine. While I am just using simple WEP security, I feel much safer than that simply because I am surrounded by more easily accessed systems. Its the wireless version of not having to run faster than the lion. Just faster than the other gazelles.

This happens because people who aren't knowlegable in these things buy a wireless router/access point at CompUSA or some such, plug it in, and never bother to activate any of it's security features. Usually the factory defaults leave it wide open to be accessed by anyone with a wireless card.

If I could be using 2 other points out in the suburbs, there's probably an easily accessed point near you in the city. Your friend with a laptop should be able to determine if this is true relatively easily.

(I'll let you ponder the moral issues with vampiring someone elses bandwidth.)

[smirkymonkey]

13. That's a great idea! I just had a friend offer that option to me last

night. I will try it with her laptop (which has the wireless card) and if it works does that mean I can just get a wireless card for my PC?

[Ready4Change]

14. Yep.

Now, when you do this, you may not be able to rely on that connection. It's owner may turn it off and on with his/her computer. They may wisen up and apply security measures to lock uninvited connections out.

And, since you will be, in a very real sense, "stealing" bandwidth, it's possible that owner might become upset.

OTOH, unless you are downloading entire movies and such, you probably aren't drawing away a perceptable amount of bandwidth. Most people without security on their access points won't even notice, and some of those who might notice won't care.

In all, it's not a good, long term strategy. But it can work well in a pinch.

[RoyGBiv]

15. This option ...

I'll be blunt and note that this option is illegal and can end in prosecution if you are caught.

Another thing to consider is that if the person whose bandwidth you are stealing is engaged in any illegal activities and is being monitored, you set yourself up to be monitored as well and possibly blamed for whatever it is your host was doing.

I mention this simply because I've seen it happen, multiple times.

[NuttyFluffers]

16. this is very true. though there's some folks....

who actively leave open their WAP on purpose because they believe the internet should be free for all. an ideological thing -- not very common, i'd think.

but we have a few people believing like this in Palo Alto and they were trying to start this as a movement to "free" the internet. i'm sure a little web searching might find if there's a similar group in the NYC area.

otherwise, yeah, moochin' off of someone else's paid for service without their permission/knowledge is mucho bad karma.

[RoyGBiv]

18. I've heard of this ...

I also know people who do it privately, creating a sort of unofficial neighborhood network. A few neighbors get together, pool their resources, and one of them subscribes to a super-high speed connection then sets up a wireless network powerful enough to broadcast to the people who are cooperating. Speed and connection stability vary, but it works in some places and allows fairly cheap access for several people. Broadband companies don't encourage this and won't support it with technical assistance, but currently they don't do anything to prohibit it.

I also know that at least two major cable broadband providers set up open "hot zones" in some major metro areas where a lot of lower income people reside. They don't advertise this, for what I think should be obvious reasons, and it's not something they guarantee will be there forever in case usage starts to task their network or their existence becomes such common knowledge that people take their laptops and start parking on the street to get on the Internet, but these zones are out there. Finding them is the trick.

Anyway ... reading this thread sorta gave me the chills. Putting aside for a moment the moral implications, I don't think people realize just how easy tracking this sort of thing can be. People get away with it for various reasons, not the least of which is that the companies that provide access don't currently see a cost benefit in heavy-handed enforcement, but they do so largely at the pleasure of those who could enforce a crackdown. All it takes is one service call from a customer who is experiencing a slower than normal connection, and you're busted.

[smirkymonkey]

19. Thanks - I didn't know that.

I will have to work something else out. What a pain.