AOL GOLD! Free router! The Wii, DS and laptop! HELP!

[Owen]

I'm sooooo confused. PLEASE HELP! lol

 

-OK i have AOL Broadband GOLD. I was using a BT VOYAGER 105, USB ADSL Modem. However on friday i should be getting a free wireless router from them (i asked nicely).

 

My first question is, when the Nintendo DS USB WI-FI connector was released it would not work at all. I tried and tried but nothing happened.

 

However i'm now thinking that it will work as i will be getting a router from AOL. Is this correct? Will it work? or will i have problems connecting again?

 

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-Secondly, i'm obviously going to get a Wii and i want to go online. Will the free AOL router (and of course AOL) work with the Wii? or do i need a better internet supplier and router? The thing is my contract runs out before the Wii is released, so i need to know before i sign up for another 12 months lol

 

 

 

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-Thirdly i now have a laptop. It's Wireless enabled and i want to go on the net with that so i can go in any room etc...

 

I've been told that i just load the AOL software on the laptop and once thats done it will pick up the signal sent from the router becuase i'm already a member, is that correct?

 

I'm also thinking about preordering the DS OPERA BROWSER just to see what it's like. Will that pick up the signal from the router as well and work fine with AOL?

 

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The problem being is i haven't got that much information on the free router, i know it's 54 something speed, and it should be this 802/11g thing right?

 

Is this fast enough for the Wii and DS though? The bloke said it works with Xbox 360 but there seems to be some problems when you use a faster router with AOL GOLD?

 

VERY CONFUSED! lol

 

Thanks for any help in advance!

[Platty]

If you're getting a Wireless Router then you dont need your Nintendo USB Dongle to connect. You simply connect via your wireless router to Nintendo Wi Fi. Easy.

 

Same thing will apply for the Wii.

 

With the laptop there is no need to load the AOL software onto it. Just search for Wireless connections and it should pick up your wireless router and connect via that but make sure you have your WEP key enabled incase other buggers in your street try to use your connection.

 

I have AOL platinum and got the thomson speedtouch 576 wireless router free. It works fine with My Nintendo DS, never had any problems, the only thing i had to do is change the channel setting to a higher level cos i think my sky sender was interfering with it. So i whacked it up to like channel 11 and it works fine.

 

It also worked fine when my mate brought his laptop round. Connected with no problems at all.

 

Hope that helps ?

[Owen]

THANKYOU PLATTY!

 

How do i enable my WEP key on my laptop? and that won't change anything important will it?

 

I have McAfee Firewall on my main PC. Will that do anything? I don't really want to disable it as it has stopped a few annoying adverts/ pop-ups in the past!

 

[Platty]

Your WEP key should already be enabled but to check it when your router is installed you need to go to your routers IP address which you can usually get by going to the default address of 10.0.0.138 if you are getting a thomson speedtouch that is.

 

You can enable it on there and also get the WEP key code which you will need to add to the Nintendo DS and Laptop settings for them to work.

 

Keep your firewall, you need it. You shouldnt have any problems running it with your new wireless router.

[Twozzok]

Platty, does the signal from your speedtouch go down significantly when it has to go through a couple of walls?

[Platty]

Just tested it for you with my DS.

 

Went into the bathroom which is 3 walls away and i connected fine with 3 full bars.

 

Went downstairs and connected fine with 3 bars.

 

Went down to the ground floor (yes my house is a 3 storey town house) and i still connected with one bar depending where i was standing.

 

So im guessing that the signal is pretty good really.

[Fuzpoy]

Do you know what router they are sending?

How did you request the router?

 

I'm on AOL and have a wireless router(Thompson SpeedTouch 580) it works with my DS but not my other computers, i didn't get it from AOL so i think i'll get myself a freebe.

[Twozzok]

I have the Speedtouch 570, it doesn't have the greatest signal just a couple of rooms away

[Owen]

Do you know what router they are sending?

How did you request the router?

 

I'm on AOL and have a wireless router(Thompson SpeedTouch 580) it works with my DS but not my other computers, i didn't get it from AOL so i think i'll get myself a freebe.

 

My dad just asked (we rang up, and spoke to customer support), because it stated you get a free one when you go with AOL GOLD and we never did! Also we are 9 months into our contract and stated we may go with someone else who's offering one! lol

 

It should arrive in 4-5 days, so friday/sat. I'm hoping so anyway!

 

If it isn't good enough (hopefully it's good) i'll have to get another one, but hey at least i didn't pay out for it!

 

Oh and thankyou again Platty! I'll have to try what you said. I'm very rubbish at all PC/technical stuff.

 

[Haver]

OK, we should totally do this.

[Owen]

It arrived today! It's a Netgear one?

 

Is that good?

[Platty]

Yeah Netgear is ok, what version is it?

[Owen]

It's the lowest one i believe!

 

I think it's £49-59.99 in the shops! but i'm pretty sure it's the first in the series of them you can get, it has a little antenna (can't spell it) thing.

 

Thanks for your help Platty!

 

Just check i've done it right please, lol. Seemed pretty simple, although i had to buy a enthernet thing because the DSL cable wouldn't fit in the back of my PC because it was a little too old and didn't have the port!

 

OK. I put in the AOL disc, followed the instructions connected everything, when through a few updated AOL 9 things and installing your router and putting in your screen-name, password and WEP key and now i'm on! YEAH!

 

Secondly turned on my laptop, becuase it was wireless enabled it immediately picked up the router and my AOL account! I had to manually enter the WEP key and all screen-names etc.. and it logged on to my internet after that! YEAH!

 

Thirdly did exactly the same for my PSP! Browsing this site! really cool! I had to enter my WEP key with that as well!

 

Is it all secure Platty? Neighbours would have to enter the WEP key and everything won't they? (Like i had too, they wouldn't know it).

 

I've enable McAfee again, have virus scan also on the main computer! Would it hurt to load the Nortan Anti Virus software which came with the laptop?

 

I want everything as secure as possible!

 

Also can i just go online (for free) now with my PSP and DS? That would be cool!

 

Thanks for your help again!

 

[Platty]

When you tried to connect with you laptop and it asked for the WEP key that means that your connection is secure.

 

So if your neighbours tried to connect it would ask them to enter the key, which of course they wont know so yeah you connection is protected.

 

I would definitely load some sort of anti virus onto your laptop just incase. So if you have norton already installed use that.

 

And yes you can use it for your PSP and DS for free. (well no extra cost of what you pay for your connection to AOL)

 

Glad it all worked out good for you mate.

[Owen]

When you tried to connect with you laptop and it asked for the WEP key that means that your connection is secure.

 

So if your neighbours tried to connect it would ask them to enter the key, which of course they wont know so yeah you connection is protected.

 

I would definitely load some sort of anti virus onto your laptop just incase. So if you have norton already installed use that.

 

And yes you can use it for your PSP and DS for free. (well no extra cost of what you pay for your connection to AOL)

 

Glad it all worked out good for you mate.

 

Thankyou!

 

Yep i have Norton on my Laptop, McAfee on my PC, i think i may have to get something on my bros PC.

 

One more thing, lol.

 

OK, my main PC has AOL on. I sign-on to AOL broadband using the router and that's fine. When i sign-on using AOL on my laptop the connection is lost on my main PC and it's on my laptop instead.

 

However i've noticed that if i use 'The Internet Explorer' icon, i can surf on all 3 devices (2 PC's and 1 Laptop) and it doesn't effect anything. I can surf 3 different sites for example at the same time (what your meant to be able to do)

 

Is this what i'm supposed too (and allowed too) use? I seem to be signed on to my connection but when i use Internet Explorer it states nothing about AOL.

 

It won't cost me extra will it? I'm thinking i'm just using my wireless connection to get on the net with my devices but i'm not sure if i was meant to be using 'Internet Explorer' icon or not as it states nothing about me being a AOL member.

 

Thanks again Platty, been a great help!

[Platty]

Use IE on your laptop. It's fine trust me, it's what you should be doing.

 

It probably signs you out of AOL on your main computer when you log onto your laptop on AOL as you can only be signed in by one computer. (security thing)

 

Using IE will cost you no extra. I hardly use the AOL browser anyway, just log on now and again to check emails. I always use IE....not a fan of the AOL browser you see.

[Oli1983uk]

Your router will need its own logging in name, For my AOL i have my own user name, my bro has his own user name and the router has its own log in details. you need to create an extra user name in AOL and this will then be used for the router this should fix the problem. With AOL BB once u have created the User details for the router you will be able to log on AOL from a different computer with your own details. With me we can sign on 3 aol users at once using our AOL connection.