Connecting an Ipad?

[catgirl]

Hi people,

I don't have an IPad as yet but I do want to buy one. Unfortunately I'm over the hill technical wise

At home we have ADSL2 which connects to a bigpond (Our ISP) modem. The modem IS NOT wireless, four cables run from this modem and connects 4 different computers (windows computers) throughout the house.

So can I still use an Apple IPAD, or will I have to get rid of our modem completely and buy a new wireless modem? My family likes our cable type modem.

Is there some way I could still use an IPad with my existing modem...some electronic 'thingo' I can buy that will allow it all to happen?

Please make your answers technical beginner level

Thanks

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

First of all - welcome to the Forum.

There are many potential solutions to your problem, so I'm sure you'll get several - possibly contradictory - answers.

OK - one solution would be to purchase a USB WiFi 'stick' such as

Netgear WG111 Wireless 54Mbps USB 2.0 Adapter
by NetGear

You can buy these from Amazon, for example. They would plug into a spare USB port on one of your Window's PCs. You could then enable 'Internet sharing' on that PC and it would provide a local wireless network that the iPad could use to access the Internet.

As I said there are numerous possible solutions. If you need any further help when you get your iPad - this is the place to come with your problems...

Tim
Scotland

 

[tzimisce]

Hi people,

I don't have an IPad as yet but I do want to buy one. Unfortunately I'm over the hill technical wise

At home we have ADSL2 which connects to a bigpond (Our ISP) modem. The modem IS NOT wireless, four cables run from this modem and connects 4 different computers (windows computers) throughout the house.

So can I still use an Apple IPAD, or will I have to get rid of our modem completely and buy a new wireless modem? My family likes our cable type modem.

There are several ways to do this, but the option I would pick is to get a new wireless-capable router modem with at least four physical ports. That way, you can keep the current setup with the cabled computers, but also have Wifi capability for the iPad and other Wifi-capable devices. (As a next step, you might also think about connecting the cabled computers wirelessly as well - all you'd need is to get a USB wireless antenna which plugs into the computer.)

 

[twerppoet]

Tim said you'd get lots of options, and I'd hate to disappoint him:

If you have a spare cable port left over, you can connect a wireless router to it. While most routers will automatically set up to create their own network, it is possible to configure them as a wireless gateways. This is important, because this type of setup is needed if you want to wirelessly access the other computers on your network with ease.

Second to replacing the old router, as tzmisce suggested, this will create the easiest way to access the rest of the computers from the iPad. Even if you are only thinking about internet now, you'll find reasons to want to do the rest later.

While Tim's solution can work, I don't recommend it. Best to not tie your internet access to whether one computer is on and working.

If you don't have any tech savvy friends to walk you through it, you might call your provider. They may have an off the shelf solution that they will set up for you, if not free then hopefully for a nominal charge.

 

[tzimisce]

Tim said you'd get lots of options, and I'd hate to disappoint him:

If you have a spare cable port left over, you can connect a wireless router to it. While most routers will automatically set up to create their own network, it is possible to configure them as a wireless gateways. This is important, because this type of setup is needed if you want to wirelessly access the other computers on your network with ease.

Yeah, that'd work as well. Just keeping in mind the original poster isn't tech-inclined, so trying to keep the tech jiggery to a minimum.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Tim said you'd get lots of options, and I'd hate to disappoint him:

If you have a spare cable port left over, you can connect a wireless router to it. While most routers will automatically set up to create their own network, it is possible to configure them as a wireless gateways. This is important, because this type of setup is needed if you want to wirelessly access the other computers on your network with ease.

Second to replacing the old router, as tzmisce suggested, this will create the easiest way to access the rest of the computers from the iPad. Even if you are only thinking about internet now, you'll find reasons to want to do the rest later.

While Tim's solution can work, I don't recommend it. Best to not tie your internet access to whether one computer is on and working.

If you don't have any tech savvy friends to walk you through it, you might call your provider. They may have an off the shelf solution that they will set up for you, if not free then hopefully for a nominal charge.

Thanks, twerppoet, you made an excellent point - yes, of course, that would mean that computer would have to be left switched on all the time if the poster wanted to use their iPad....Doh.....

Tim
Scotland

 

[twerppoet]

Tim said you'd get lots of options, and I'd hate to disappoint him:

If you have a spare cable port left over, you can connect a wireless router to it. While most routers will automatically set up to create their own network, it is possible to configure them as a wireless gateways. This is important, because this type of setup is needed if you want to wirelessly access the other computers on your network with ease.

Yeah, that'd work as well. Just keeping in mind the original poster isn't tech-inclined, so trying to keep the tech jiggery to a minimum.

I admit, I prefer your solution over mine. I just didn't want to disappoint Tim with less that three solutions in the thread.

 

[twerppoet]

Thanks, twerppoet, you made an excellent point - yes, of course, that would mean that computer would have to be left switched on all the time if the poster wanted to use their iPad....Doh.....

Tim
Scotland

I'm actually doing something very like that to bypass a weak router signal for my iPad. So I'm probably a bit sensitive to the downsides.

Edited to fix quote error.

 

[Hasty]

Generic wireless modems are fairly cheap now and most come with four cable ports as standard. If you're lucky you should also see a speed improvement.
Best of all you will be able to use your iPad anywhere in the house and even in the garden (I can, great for watching streaming movies).

 

[catgirl]

Thanks guys for all your feedback

I followed "twerppoet's" suggestion that I call my ISP. It appears that even though I'm using my modem with cable it is a wireless modem. Provided that I still had the card (and I do) that came with the modem that gives the 'wireless network name' and 'wireless security key' I was good to go with any wifi enabled device.

I didn't quite trust that information so I had a friend bring over their laptop and they were able to connect to my modem.

I'm over the hill and trying to keep up with technology or it's going to leave me dead on the ground.

Thanks for all your help, I know that if I come to grief with my device you guys will be more than happy to help me out.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Great to hear that your problem is solved...

twerppoet is *the* man.....

Yes, if you have *any* further problems or concerns just come back here. We're all iPad enthusiasts so any iPad problem is fun for us...

Enjoy your iPad when you get it.

Tim
Scotland