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Moving
Aug 22, 2012 4:46:11 GMT -5
Post by philunderwood on Aug 22, 2012 4:46:11 GMT -5
This is to let everyone know that I’m getting down to the wire on selling my home and moving into a smaller apartment, so I won’t have much time available for sitting in front of my computer for awhile. I’ll be off line for a couple of days while I figure out how to go from cable modem to wifi.
I’m looking forward to getting all of this behind me, but it’s going to take awhile.
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Moving
Aug 22, 2012 13:11:12 GMT -5
Post by mikekerstetter on Aug 22, 2012 13:11:12 GMT -5
We recently did that for my mother in law. She sold her home and moved into an apartment at Riverwoods. Enjoy.
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Moving
Aug 22, 2012 14:24:15 GMT -5
Post by Ritty77 on Aug 22, 2012 14:24:15 GMT -5
I’ll be off line for a couple of days while I figure out how to go from cable modem to wifi. You'll need the name of wifi connection and a password or other authorization code. Then click the network button in your control panel and follow the prompts. Your PC must have wireless capability built in or you'll need a network adapter or router. Comcast modems have built in routers in some models, I believe.
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Moving
Aug 29, 2012 14:06:24 GMT -5
Post by relenemiller on Aug 29, 2012 14:06:24 GMT -5
O.K. confession time....I am technologically challenged. So I don't stand in an electronics store somewhere and ask out loud....what is WiFi... Please in layman terms?
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Moving
Aug 29, 2012 19:24:37 GMT -5
Post by philunderwood on Aug 29, 2012 19:24:37 GMT -5
Wifi is internet that magically comes out of the air if you're in the right place and your computer's set up for it.
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Moving
Aug 30, 2012 4:16:24 GMT -5
Post by leisuresuitlarry on Aug 30, 2012 4:16:24 GMT -5
Restaurants and such advertise on their door "Free Wi-Fi". That means they have a high speed internet connection coming into their location - cable modem, DSL, Fiber Optic, or wireless broadband like the kind Chilitech offers in our area. Any means of a high speed connection will do. They then have a wireless router(s) installed within their premises that sends out the wireless internet signal to devices within range that are capable of going online such as laptops, smart-phones, iPod Touch, iPad, etc. With one of those devices you can "search" for wireless networks to "join". When a device discovers a wireless network you can confirm you wish to join it or skip it by and just use your 3G or 4G cellular data (in the case of a smartphone or iPad with data plan). Sometimes these local wi-fi networks will have a security code you must enter on your device in order to communicate with the network, and the staff at the restaurant or whatever can usually provide that key code. A lot of places have wireless networks within, but they are for business use only and not for free public use - I've seen many password locked networks pop up on my phone when I'm out at different businesses in the area; similarly I will often see private networks from homes nearby pop up on my phone when I'm out and about. Wi-Fi is all around us.
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Moving
Aug 30, 2012 14:01:51 GMT -5
Post by relenemiller on Aug 30, 2012 14:01:51 GMT -5
So, let me see if I comprehend. If I have a wireless system, and there is a signal someplace close, I don't need cable internet through Comcast or any other provider? I appreciate your help. If WiFi is all around, why would people pay for service? Please indulge my ignorance....
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Moving
Aug 30, 2012 15:06:56 GMT -5
Post by philunderwood on Aug 30, 2012 15:06:56 GMT -5
That’s what I said, Jose.
Relene, you can pick up wifi if you’re someplace that provides it and it’s unsecured. You have to have a computer that’s wifi enabled though.
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Moving
Aug 31, 2012 4:19:49 GMT -5
Post by leisuresuitlarry on Aug 31, 2012 4:19:49 GMT -5
Your neighbor might have a WiFi network in their home and that signal may broadcast far enough for you to see it, but the only way you could use it is like Phil says if "it's unsecured". Plenty of people put WiFi in their homes and are ignorant of security and leave the door wide open with no passcode to gain access - this is a bad idea. If your neighbor is smart he/she will have at least a WEP password needed to use their WiFi network.
Just because WiFi is all around you doesn't mean you can just get a laptop that is WiFi enabled and forget about paying for internet. I pay $30 a month for my DSL service and I don't want my neighbor piggy-backing on my dime and eating up my bandwidth - thus I not only password protect my network where I need to input the password on each device that accesses it, but I also hide my SSID so folks around me cannot "see" my network. The SSID is the name of the network that the wireless router broadcasts so computers and smartphones can see what networks are available to join. To join my network you need to manually type in the name of the network and the passcode. By you piggybacking on an open network you are using up data bandwidth that someone else is paying for and expecting to have at their disposal. If your neighbor likes to stream pay-per-view movies or netflix movies over their high-speed cable connection and you decide to sign in to YouTube to watch some funny videos of your nephew that your sister just posted then you are eating up his bandwidth and could cause his streaming to become slower than he's expecting it to be.
Businesses like coffee shops and such advertise "Free WiFi" as an amenity to attract customers who would like to work or surf the web while enjoying what the establishment has to offer. No one is really offering you free WiFi to use for your main access to the internet. The businesses that do offer it are likely paying $75 or so for cable internet per month in hopes of making customers happy and bring in new ones.
You will most likely still need to buy your own service - DSL, cable modem... You can then set up your own WiFi network in your home - just remember to secure it so someone close by can't steal your signal or worse yet hack into your computers via your network.
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Moving
Aug 31, 2012 5:23:13 GMT -5
Post by philunderwood on Aug 31, 2012 5:23:13 GMT -5
Where I live now, wifi is available in two channels, a secure one for staff and an unsecured one for tenants. Many apartment complexes, motels and hotels are now offering it as part of their services. Since I’m using it on a desktop, it’s just like what I had with a cable modem, except it’s faster and I don’t have to pay for it since my rent would be the same if I didn’t use it.
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