Making pc tower wifi- help needed
Zimzammam
Posts: 158
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Is it possible to wirelessly make my pc tower unit wifi? At the moment I have to run an Ethernet cable from back of pc along landing, down stairs and across kitchen - hardly ideal. Any suggestions welcome.
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What do you use the internet for, are your streaming HD films etc or just general browsing?
Also who provides youre internet, what 'Box' do they provide?
You need 2 things then. Somthing to make your PC wireless and somthing for it to connect to as you have no wireless upstarirs
But if the reception on the iPad is zero then it will be little better with the antenna inside a USB dongle.
Either do as "Old Dude" suggests, a 5m USB extension cable from the PC with the wi-fi dongle on the other end - run the cable into the landing, or a USB wi-fi device with a bigger aerial. Like this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WN722N-150Mbps-Wireless-Adapter/dp/B002SZEOLG/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1361961251&sr=1-4
£10
The dongle will function but you may not get the full speed.
A WiFi dongle connects to your home network so apart from the costs of your broadband service there is no other cost involved once you've purchased the dongle.
What you have connects to the mobile phone network, completely separate to your home network. That is why it involves an additional cost as you are using a totally separate broadband connection to the one you use at home.
But in any case if there is next to no WiFi signal where the PC is then I would be inclined to look at alternatives such as Homeplugs/Powerline adapters.
These are small units that plug into the mains and use the mains wiring to carry the network signals. You have one next to the router which plugs into a spare port on the back of the router. The other goes next to the PC and plugs into that via another cable. As far as your PC is concerned it thinks the cable goes all the way to the router even though most of the run is actually your mains wiring.
For example something like these
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-PA411KIT-AV500-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B0084Y9N3O/
They sound good. Will check them out.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-WPA281KIT-Powerline-Extender-Wireless-Starter/dp/B0067GS29W/
Bit more expensive but with those you get a wired connection for the PC and WiFi for the iPad or laptop in one.
These types do need a bit more tweaking than the non-WiFi version as you have to set up the WiFi side of things. But shouldn't be that difficult to do.