Walkman's apartment needs to be wireless :-)

help needed

[walkman]

in a few days I will get my cool Fujitsu ST5032D Tablet /Laptop (convertible,) and would like to use it as I watch TV or just chill in the living room. Right now I have cable internet and woul like the simplest way to add a wireless router. I'm pretty cluless on the wireless router department, so any suggestions on what what brand is good and some security tips would be greatly appreciated.

Nothing too fancy, but definitely need to secure it; this way my neighbors don't download stuff on my connection, and I don't get my doors smashed by the feds ;)

The tablet comes with:
"• Integrated multinational³ 56K4 V.90 modem and 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
• Integrated Atheros Super AG® Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g)
• Integrated Bluetooth Wireless PAN
"

what do you suggest? thanks in advance,

[Broadway]

I just got DSL on Friday. I bought a wireless router but haven't been able to get things set up properly. I blame myself, not the router.

I won't make a suggestion as to brands. I sure others with more qualified opinions will make suggestions for you. What I do have to say is that LinkSys and D-Link wireless routers are heavily rebated right now (RadioShack and Office Depot). You can recoup almost half of the retail cost.

[steve40]

walkman
I have a linksys wireless router and when I got my daughter a laptop for xmas with bluetooth she turned on bluetooth on laptop and it all worked with no messing about

but this is the big BUT I am lucky and live out in the country ( so no cable etc. ) so no others find my router except local farmer and found that my daughter can connect through his so would suggest depending where you live depends on the level of security needed and implemented so from personal experience easy to get working but advise caution re: security appartment building sounds like some security needs to be implemnted

steve

[PatrickKerby]

When it comes to security, usually just setting up a wep key is fairly standard, although not the MOST secure. You should be able to set up MAC address filtering, and this should provide you with all the security you need.

[Lyndsay]

I have a Linksys router, as does my boyfriend, and it's been A1. We both use WEP keys and MAC address filtering, as we live in a residential area.

Price is right too. I definately recommend.

[mister charlie]

linksys has been the market leader in wireless routers for a few years now. their price has come down, and the strength of their signal has improved dramatically.

once you plug in your router and connect it to your data feed, you should be off to the races. most things are pretty much plug and play nowadays, so after setting up your WEP, you should be good.

[walkman]

so, so far seems to be: Linksys, MAC filtering and WEP setup.

sounds great. Thanks to all.

[jchance]

I prefer WEP encryption over just disabling everyone that isn't listed on the MAC list.

I like this approach because if someone ever comes over with their laptop and wants to get on, I just tell them the password and they are on.

Much easier than finding out their MAC address, adding it to the router, etc...

[PatrickKerby]

just depends on HOW concerned you are with security. WEP keys ARE hackable... but again, depends on how concerned you are. In most cases it does the job fine. Enjoy the wireless Walkman! Now all you need is a wireless speaker setup, and life is grand.

[walkman]

>> Enjoy the wireless Walkman! Now all you need is a wireless speaker setup, and life is grand.

:)

I will--once I figure out what Fujitsu will do with me; I screwed up and ordered the wrong tablet. I wanted a convertible one, tablet + laptop in one, but apparently I ordered a straight tablet and I have no use for one. Over 90% of my work will be done in laptop mode. I have to wait 48 hours for their decision since I ordered a modified one with more RAM, larger battery and not pre-built one. All I want some "store credit" since I'll buy another one.

[akmac]

Sure, you screwed up-but they haven't shipped it to you yet, so what you're asking for isn't unreasonable. Have you tried speaking with a supervisor? (someone other than a salesperson)

Explain your error, and they will most likely let you change it. If they won't, ask to speak with THEIR supervisor, and so on until you reach someone who wants to keep you as a happy customer as opposed to a potential charge back.

[jchance]

You didn't screw up, they screwed up.

You said you wanted the convertable and they wrote it down wrong. They should be thanking you for figuring out their mistake before it got shipped.

:-)

If that doesn't work, just tell them you are going to call the CC company. That always works.

[Broadway]

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I was having problems configuring my new wireless router and blamed myself, not the router.

That router was a LinkSys router and I bought it because I thought they were a market leader and a strong product. After several hours of frustration, and since a friend recommended it, I went out an bought a D-Link wireless router. I had it configured and running in no time.

Maybe if you know about these things or have special needs LinkSys is fine but for the average guy, just needing something for home, for use with a computer that isn't brandnew, and is someone who just needs easy setup and for the thing to work, I would suggest D-Link.

[walkman]

Bought a Linksys WRT54G I think I figured it out. The laptop was sent back (100% Refund from Fujitsu), and I am waiting for the new one. Apparently there's a delay for P1510D Fujitsu with built-in Bluetooth screens.

[walkman]

for home, I have it secured with mac adress and wap, so I think it's pretty safe. Thanks to all.

I have another question:

I connected to my school's connection, however I was warned by Windows that this is unsecured and others could intercept my data.

should I access my email and other password protected sites while on a public wifi? I mean how unsafe it is (in reality) and is there something I can do to make it safer, short of not using the network?

thanks