my daughter canceled her internet awhile back
for she planing on moving
but any how my question is. her neighbor has the wireless and my daughter friend came down to visit and he was able to use his laptop from the wireless connection.

so why cant my daughter use her desktop from that as well

when i take my laptop to my moms i have connection from my moms neighbor wireless.

She can, only if she gets a wireless USB hub to plug into the back of her desktop.
A wireless USB adapter is the easiest way to make a desktop PC wireless. The cons of using a wireless USB adapter are the signal strength which is considerably weaker than a wireless PCI card. Most people experience no problems with signal strength as long as they stay within range of the wireless router that's sending out the wireless signal.

Basically, installing a wireless USB adapter plugs into any available USB port. In reality, it only takes a matter of seconds to plug in a USB adapter and start using the internet without the wires.

and how much would this cost

about $30 +
http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-Wireless-Adapter-802-11g-54Mbps/dp/B000FJJASO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248822889&sr=8-1

But aren't you basically stealing your neighbors' wireless connection?

no not really and its legal

actually, some states do have laws against this very thing.

IF I lived where someone could 'tap' into my wireless, I would have it password protected...

My wireless will only reach out the back side of my home unless someone is sitting on my front steps...so, they would have to be in my back yard or on my porch...

there have been law suits about this in MI, and it was deemed illegal.

It is perfectly legal. That is an open frequency. Like picking up a radio station. The person can secure there connection wit WEP or WPA encryption. If they don't it is free.

actually my moms neighbor is a cop and he does have his wireless password protected.

It is probably not your neighbors then. I have seen wireless picked over 3 miles.

Exactly my feelings! Don't want someone on your network, secure it.

Exactly. Now there are ways into the secure network and that is when the legal issues come in.

So glad to have found this thread!

I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 that I bought used. My daughter wants to take it to college with her.

Me...not being computer literate at all...have no idea how to make this useful for her, especially since she wants to try to use it wireless.

Also, do I need to upgrade my internet service to include wireless and what does that involve?

No. All you have to do is get whatever kind of internet service you want, then buy a wireless router and set up your laptop (I'm assuming that's what you want to run wireless on) to connect to the router wirelessly.

As for the OP's thread, be careful tapping into your neighbor's connection. For one thing they can see all computers tapped into their network, including yours. They'll more than likely be awfully pi$$ed if they notice their bandwidth to their own computer is reduced, look for what might be causing it, and find out it's you.

Another thing is that if you, your daughter, or any of your guests have any files or folders shareable over a network (any network), then your neighbor can access those files while tapped into the network. This may allow them to really F some S up on your computers and exact their revenge.

I hear that. If I found anyone on my network I'd be spending their money in short order.

Just be respectful of the person whose wireless you are using and they will not notice. If they are too ignorant to lock down their router they are not going to be able to log into the router to see if some else is using their bandwidth. Even if they could log into the router, the only thing they would see would be mac addresses( serial numbers of you network card) which are not tied to individuals.

only if they broke into it

if you do not have it password protected they are not stealing it

you could keep your signal out of their air space

I am just clueless about this stuff and find it overwhelming!

She will have her own modem here. She wants it wireless for when she goes to college.

First, is it a laptop? or a PC?

The college may have wireless access in the dorms already, so if that is the case, AND her laptop has a built in wireless card, then no problem...it is all ready a done deal...


Do you have a Best Buy or an Office Max type of store near you?

They would be happy to answer your questions and sell you what you need...

The last time I checked, a wireless router was about $35 or so...

I know this is late to chime in here but thought I would anyhow. first off wireless routers are relitively cheap in general you can pay from 30 up to like 300 dollars for different levels of router at a cable /dsl level.

I do not put a heck of a lot of faith in the available level of encription for wireless at this point as I have yet to find a network that even the encripted password could not be discoverd within about 10 minutes if someone is on that network at the time it is being probed anyhow.

MOst colleges are wifi but most also will not allow you to hook up your own router either you can use their hardwire connections and their wifi but they frown on you putting in your own router. They also have major issues with people downloading and sharing music files or any other type of copyright protected files or software.

There is another suggestion most people do not think of. There are some cell phone carriers such as Sprint that will allow you to use your phone as a modem for an aditional fee. that being the case you could connect to the internet through your cell phone no matter where you are as long as you have a cell signal. Also some phones are wifi capable and will pick up wifi signals and connect you to the web over them as well even without your phone having to dial out.
THat service is typically cheaper then the cable or dsl bill if you only need one computer on the internet at a time anyhow.