Setting up a wireless network in uni halls

Atari · 27 Nov 2006 at 17:42

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been asked before, but I checked the stickies and couldn't find the relevant information.

I'm currently living in private halls, our internet comes through an ethernet socket through the wall, which is operated by a company called 'CableCom'. I had to pay £168 for the year in order to access the internet. I'm currently connecting through my PC, but I've recently bought an Apple MacBook.
What I'd like to do is create a wireless network so I can use the laptop around the flat. I'm unsure however what I should be looking to buy to set this up.
Could anyone please clarify what bits of kit I would need? I'm guessing I won't be needing a router as I'm not actually connecting to an ISP - the ethernet port on the wall is always on.

Sorry if this sounds confusing, but it's hard to explain. Would I just need a switch?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

garyh · 27 Nov 2006 at 17:52

Atari said:
snip

You would need a wireless cable router of some sort; have a look on the main site for them here

You may need to ring your ISP once you've plugged your router in to tell them of your new MAC address (the one of the router) as chances are they use MAC filtering on the wall socket ports (I know my private halls did) although you may want to tell them you've simply bought a new pc rather than the fact youre sharing the net with the router (they may not support your own network and refuse to do this if you tell them the truth).

Your router may however have MAC spoofing capabilitys.. in which case just clone your existing computers mac to the router, plug it in and away you go.

JaFFa · 27 Nov 2006 at 20:10

I dont think thats needed. Does the mac book have wifi built in ?

If so you can just buy a wireless card / usb dongle and setup an ad-hoc network between the two. It does mean the PC has to be on for the laptop to get the net but its miles cheaper and much less hassle.

Beansprout · 27 Nov 2006 at 20:14

garyh said:
You would need a wireless cable router of some sort; have a look on the main site for them here

Doubt it - it's most likely a switched halls network hooked up to an ISP, so they'd have a router connecting the switches or some such.

If he needed a router to go wireless, he'd need one to go wired - infact, to go at all

A wireless access point should be fine

- much like a wired switch, since hopefully you'll just pick up an IP through their network as you would with only one PC connected.

I considered going wireless in my halls, but due to the insecurity I bought a ton of Cat5e - but then again I don't have a flat to walk around

Atari · 27 Nov 2006 at 20:26

Thanks for the advice guys, it's much appreciated. I was originally thinking of getting a cable router but as CableCom provide me with an IP address, I figured they had routers etc in place.

Looks like I'll be after a wireless switch, can anyone recommend a decent one? I've dealt with some 3Com ones in the past which have all promptly died very quickly for no apparent reason.

I did also ask CableCom if I could use a wireless switch in my flat, at first they refused to allow me to get one, but when I told them some people already had them, they quickly changed their tune and told me I could have one but they wouldn't support it

Thanks again ^^

JaFFa · 27 Nov 2006 at 20:34

did they ask for your mac address when you connected if no then a wireless switch would be fine.

Atari · 27 Nov 2006 at 20:36

IIRC the registration process had already filled in my computers MAC address, but it did have space for two other MAC addresses for games consoles and other stuff. Could I clone my computers MAC address and use that on the router?