Router Info Required

Fandango

Hiya guys,
I have the Zyxel Prestige 630 Modem and i wanna get a wireless router for it. I have no Ethernet card in my PC and the modem is USB only. Im with IOL and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for routers that would work with my setup? All the routers i have seen need an Ethernet modem and card in your computer. Any help would be great! Thanks

Tenshot

It's far cheaper to add an Ethernet card to your PC than to go for one of the (very few) routers that can talk directly to a USB modem. For example, a PCI Ethernet card is only €10 from Marx Computers.

Presumably you have a separate laptop you want to use for wireless surfing, while your main PC remains connected the whole time? If you get a network card, then you have your pick of DSL-enabled wireless routers, and you'll be able to surf from both PCs completely independently (one wired, one wireless) with no messing about.

preilly79

i'm with IOL also, and my setup is made up of the following:

for wireless access i have a Linksys WRT54g wireless router, into the WAN port of that i have plugged in a Sonicwall Soho Firewall, and into the WAN port of that i have a Cisco 837 ADSL Router.

Both the Cisco and Sonicwall are pretty darn expensive (i work in IT so i like to mess around with different configs), but you could easily do away with them.

the Zyxel prestige that IOL supplies has an ethernet port, so you need only plug that into the WAN port of the WRT54g, stick a wireless pci card in your desktop (WMP54gs or similar) and you're ready to rock n roll!

now, you say you're using a desktop pc right? is it possible to run a Cat5 cable from the pc to the router? i only suggest this as an Ethernet NIC and a length of Cat5 cable would be a little cheaper that a wireless NIC.

either way, i do this kinda thing all the time, and if you need any help let me know!

bk

Tenshot wrote:

then you have your pick of DSL-enabled wireless routers

Personally, I strongly advise against getting a wireless router with a DSL modem build in, it is a bad idea. If you ever decide to get NTL Cable BB or IBB Wireless Broadband, etc. in the future, your new router will then become useless, I have already made that mistake

Instead get a wireless router that doesn't have any modem built-in, instead it should just have a WAN port. This way you can connect the ethernet cable from your Zyxel Prestige 630 modem straight into the WAN port of your wireless router. As preilly79 says, a Linksys WRT54g is an example of one of these. Also any of the gear on this page should work:
http://www.dsl-warehouse.ie/Category.asp?PcatIDL1=2&CatID=20&l=2&CnL1=NTL/Telewest&CnL2=Wireless%20Cable%20Routers

Also Fandango, you would be better off getting an ethernet card for your fixed PC, rather then using USB.

Fandango

preilly79 wrote:

i'm with IOL also, and my setup is made up of the following:

for wireless access i have a Linksys WRT54g wireless router, into the WAN port of that i have plugged in a Sonicwall Soho Firewall, and into the WAN port of that i have a Cisco 837 ADSL Router.

Both the Cisco and Sonicwall are pretty darn expensive (i work in IT so i like to mess around with different configs), but you could easily do away with them.

the Zyxel prestige that IOL supplies has an ethernet port, so you need only plug that into the WAN port of the WRT54g, stick a wireless pci card in your desktop (WMP54gs or similar) and you're ready to rock n roll!

now, you say you're using a desktop pc right? is it possible to run a Cat5 cable from the pc to the router? i only suggest this as an Ethernet NIC and a length of Cat5 cable would be a little cheaper that a wireless NIC.

either way, i do this kinda thing all the time, and if you need any help let me know!

Hiya, the modem i got from IOL definately doesnt have an ethernet port. I think the new modems they supply do but mine doesnt. There are adapters i have found on the following link that change the connection from ethernet to USB but im not sure how reliable they would be. Do you think they would work for it?
http://www.directusbstore.co.uk/cnb/shop/directusbstore?op=catalogue-products-null&prodCategoryID=30

Tenshot

Fandango wrote:

There are adapters i have found on the following link that change the connection from ethernet to USB but im not sure how reliable they would be.

Fandango, this is an adapter to add an Ethernet port to your PC; it won't help with your current situation, other than as a possible alternative to buying a PCI network card.

BK's point about using separate routers for wireless and DSL access is fair enough; I only mentioned a combined device for cost reasons. That said, if you do get an all-in-one and then upgrade to a service that comes with its own router (e.g. NTL), it should be possible to reconfigure the wireless router to send wireless traffic out its local Ethernet port and over to your other router, just ignoring the DSL side of things altogether.

preilly79

fandango

IOL sent me two modems by mistake (i havent checked the back of the new one but im sure it has an ethernet port). if so, feel free to have it, for the cost of postage.

bk

Tenshot wrote:

BK's point about using separate routers for wireless and DSL access is fair enough; I only mentioned a combined device for cost reasons. That said, if you do get an all-in-one and then upgrade to a service that comes with its own router (e.g. NTL), it should be possible to reconfigure the wireless router to send wireless traffic out its local Ethernet port and over to your other router, just ignoring the DSL side of things altogether.

Hi Tenshot, my point was aimed at people in general, I'm just trying to help people learn from the mistakes I made*

Almost all companies now supply a modem with at least one ethernet port for free, so most people won't save money by getting integrated.

I tried what you described above, put it doesn't work. The routers just aren't that sophisticated, you have to have a WAN port on the router for it to work.

BTW I hadn't realised Fandango's modem hadn't ethernet, that obviously complicates things.

*It wasn't really a mistake on my part, I was a very early adopter of ADSL, I got it when you didn't get a free modem, you had to buy it off of Eircom or get one yourself. So I was saving money by getting integrated.

Fandango

preilly79 wrote:

fandango

IOL sent me two modems by mistake (i havent checked the back of the new one but im sure it has an ethernet port). if so, feel free to have it, for the cost of postage.

You serious? That would be amazing if it does have an Ethernet connection. In the other PC i want to link i have an ethernet card so i can put that in my main computer instead.

preilly79

Fandango

yeah, i just checked and it has an ethernet port. yours for the taking, i dont need a second one! just do me a favour and check the model number of your own, AFAIK IOL only ship one type of modem.

where abouts are you? if you're in dublin i might not have to post it.