I am sorry, I do not know! Connect two computers to the Internet?

Ariana_FFD

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Nov 30, 2010
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I am not sure if this is the place, but as soon as I have my puter built (*today!!!) I will have 3 computers. When I was with AT&T and on DSL, the Modem had 4 ports for up to 4 computers. My current provider Charter, only has one port! They say I need wireless, but must stay attached with an Ethernet cord for good reception??? :sweat: And that also I need to have extra wireless adapters on the other computers.

I know this is so damn basic but I do not know what the heck I need, because so far no one has been able to explain this to me from there!

What do I need to hook up 3 computers to the internet? Do I need a different Modem, and Wireless Router? What do they mean I can try to find a USB Plug In?

Before with AT&T I never had any issues.... Now I am so confused and I have like 6 connections with Charter, 1 coaxial cable, 2 phone lines, 1 line into a Modem(?) for the Phone, and 1 for the Internet :ouch: I have no idea why I am having slow connection speeds.

So Charter suggested I might want to buy a wireless Router/Modem combo. Can someone educate me. I honestly feel so stupid... and worry that I don't have everything I need to build my puter today! :??:

ThanX
Ariana
 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Buy a wireless N router that also has 4 LAN ports. Unless you want dual band, which is only useful if your adapters can support the 5GHz band, something like a D-Link DIR-655 would work well.

From the Charter modem use an Ethernet cable to attach to the WAN port of your new router. The new router will provide the DHCP service for the wired and wireless network.
 

aaron88_7

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What you had with AT&T was most likely an integrated router/modem. It sounds like with Charter you simply only have a modem, and will need an integrated router as well. The int. router will take the one IP address from the cable modem and convert it to multiple IP's that your other PC's can use - which is also what the AT&T router/modem did previously.

You only need a wireless router if the 3 computers cannot physically connect to this router, which is common because most people don't keep their PC's all in one room. If you connect wirelessly you won't need any cables connected to the modem, that part was incorrect, it wouldn't make sense to connect with a cable AND wirelessly to the router.

How were your computers setup previously with AT&T? Did you have a wireless router, or were they physically connected with a cable?

The USB adapter they mentioned is a wireless adapter you plug into a PC port so it can connect to the router wirelessly - but of course this isn't needed if you are connecting with a cable to the router, but a lot of ISP's just assume everyone wants wireless without even bothering to consider some people don't need it. I doubt you need them if you didn't use them with AT&T, but I really need to know more about your setup to say for sure what you might need. Your computers might already have built in wireless cards anyway, if any of those PC's is a laptop it most likely has this so the USB adapter wouldn't be needed. Personally I would avoid using USB adapters anyway because they are slow and crappy, but they are also the easiest to setup because they don't require any hardware installation.

At the very minimum you'll need a router, probably wireless - but the prices are all over the place and if your not using wireless any cheapo should be fine. Just need to know a lil more about your setup to give a good recommendation.
 

Ariana_FFD

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I finally got everything sorted out and have switched back to AT&T, they now have broadband in this area. So far so good. I don't like that so much of the signal is "out there in the air" but it did solve the problem of multiple computers.

Everyone here rocks! I also plan to post a pic of my new system soon here ibn the new build forum thread, so be sure to look for it later this week!!!

Ariana
 

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