I needed a cheap desktop PC so I went to the store and bought one. When I got it home I realized that it didn't say anywhere that it has wireless capability.
I've pretty much always only had laptops, and wireless is pretty much assumed for anything made in the past couple of years.
Not true for desktops? I haven't opened the box yet.
For less than $20 you can get a USB wireless card like this on sale:
TRENDnet TEW-424UB IEEE 802.11b/g USB 2.0
Plug it in and you are good to go.
What he said.
Even a card for the computer (which should have better range / performance than the USB dongle) will likely set you back less then $20.
OR... buy a wire for $5.00
John Brown wrote:OR... buy a wire for $5.00
Too primitive. I do wireless at home, even though my router is about 14 inches away from my laptop.
David S. Wallens wrote:John Brown wrote:OR... buy a wire for $5.00
Too primitive. I do wireless at home, even though my router is about 14 inches away from my laptop.
And I cable in at the same distance for 1Gb/s file transfer capability (and yes, I do move very large files often)
Wireless gets very slow if you get someone else connected with a 802.11G or less card
I like wires. Fast, cheap, and easy--just like me!
wireless is the stuff, we routinely have a set of laptops and a set of "boxes" running in my house, all piped in to the home wireless network. the only issue ive been having lately is the dsl signal coming from the carrier. whatever they did to "improve" the line signal a few months back screwed the pooch in some way. amazingly, when i call and report a trouble on the line, nothing is ever wrong on their end but it miraculously gets better right after the call...
wireless adapters are fairly cheap, i got a set of pcmcia "G" adaptors on ebay recently for like $12 for the old laptops. youd want a USB or a card for a pc. usb is the easy solution, some pc's are picky about cards.
Wire is faster and "safer". If the router and PC are close enough I would strongly suggest that route, otherwise what I said earlier.
+1 for wiring it up. If it doesn't move, wire it.
Reviving my own old thread - I think that at this time I can answer the subject line in the affirmative.
Follow up: I bought the wireless adapter (didn't get a cheap one either). Everything works great 80% of the time. Pages load quickly and everything hums right along. Then, randomly but within 5-10 minutes, it freezes and the browser times out. It just seems to get stuck. No other computers in the house are similarly affected - both hard-wired and wireless. The network manager says that the wireless signal is strong. IE-8 or Chrome... no difference.
Any clues where to start troubleshooting? Think 3rd grade comprehension level, please.
The computer is out-of-the box new, running Windows 7 if that helps any.
Sigh. Wires are like manual transmissions. Nobody wants them anymore, in spite of their obvious superiority.
Regarding your wireless problem: How does it start working again? Do you have to reboot the computer?
1988RedT2 wrote:Sigh. Wires are like manual transmissions. Nobody wants them anymore, in spite of their obvious superiority.
Regarding your wireless problem: How does it start working again? Do you have to reboot the computer?
I hear what you are saying but there are cathedral ceiling, slab foundation, open floorplan issues - running a wire would be an all day project with less than ideal choices.
No, don't have to reboot. Close the browser, kick the chair across the room, have a quick beer and come back a few minutes later - everything works fine again for another 5-10 minutes. Then repeat.
I'm willing to bet the router has an idle timeout when there is a period of inactivity. This can be checked/changed by logging into the router and changing the default setting on the WAN Setup page. Do you know howw to log on to your router?
I could probably figure out how to log on to the router.
Inactivity isn't the problem, however. The freeze-up happens during active use. Click on GRM - BAM! page loads, click on Yahoo, BAM! page loads, click on something else, little spinning circle spins indefinitely. No correlation to any specific website. A site that worked great 5 minutes ago won't load again.
My USB wi-fi card had issues when first installed. Similiar issue, all good, then nothing. Ends up that the manager software that came with the USB was conflicting with the built in Windows manager. I deleted the manufacturers management software and let the Windows software run it instead. All issues solved.
I had a repetitive freeze up a few years ago that I found was the computer trying to make the fubared scanner work. Once I pulled the plug on the scanner, all was fine.
I've also foufght with windows defender having a fist fight with Macafee.
Hit Control/alt/delete once, see whether something is occupying your computers time first.
1988RedT2 wrote: Sigh. Wires are like manual transmissions. Nobody wants them anymore, in spite of their obvious superiority.
+1 for truth
