My 71 year-old dad decides he wants a laptop despite never having used
a computer before. Against our advice, he runs out and buys one and
all kinds of unnecessary accessories (the salesman really saw him
coming!) then leaves it with my wife and I to try to figure out.

We cannot even figure how to connect to the internet, despite calling
the retail store twice. Then I call Toshiba and after waiting 20
minutes spoke with a barely understandble woman with a very thick
Asian accent. She tells me the laptop won't connect wireless unless
we have a "router" installed. I asked her how did she know we didn't
have one installed and she couldn't answer. I got frustrated and hung
up.

I find it hard to believe that Toshiba markets a wireless/satellite
laptop and then doesn't include every thing you need to connect to the
internet without a phone line! And it's also hard to believe the
salesman sold him everything but the kitchen sink but left out the
one thing he needs to connect to the internet!

Could this be right? What is a router? The model is A15-S27.

"Jeffy3" <jeffy3@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ae6397ac.0308180722.1c7e324f@posting.google.c om...
I'm sure they assume a certain base level of knowledge about internet
connectivity.

You're father does have an internet account, right? And he does have a
wireless access point that connects to his internet account (either by phone
or via his LAN)?

If not, he (and you) may be in the group of people that think that wireless
connectivity of a laptop implies that the computer can pluck and ISP right
out of the air worldwide no matterwhere it is.

It IS possible to connect your laptop via a special modem to your cell
phone. You could them makes calls from anyplace your cellphone has coverage.
Kinda expensive, though. And very slow.

Otherwise, wireless connectivity of a laptop means that it has the
capability to connect to an 802.11 a/b/g wireless access point. These
802.11x standards (if built into the laptop) allow the machine to connect to
the internet and your home LAN by connecting to the wireless access point,
which in turn is connected to your cable or DSL modem, or telephone (if the
router is so equipped). Note that the range of such a connection is about
100 feet. There are some other areas around the country where you can
connect wirelessly (usually for a daily fee) such as airports and coffee
shops.

If your father's laptop has built in 802.11x, then he can connect wirelessly
to his internet service provider by going out and buying a wireless access
point (Linksys, D-link etc) at Best Buy, CompUSA, etc and plugging it into
his cable or DSL modem. If he doesn't subscribe to cable internet or DSL,
he's pretty mcuh out of luck. He could plug his laptop's modem into his home
phone line and connect to his ISP that way, but wireless isn't going to help
him.

HMc

In article <ae6397ac.0308180722.1c7e324f@posting.google.com>,
Jeffy3 <jeffy3@hotmail.com> wrote:
(snip)
Do you want to connect to the Internet wirelessly? If you're just
talking about normal dial-up or through a cable modem, then yes, it
should be easy. If you're wanting to go via another computer, or
wirelessly to a cable modem, then there needs to be a wireless thing
for the laptop to talk wirelessly to - an access point or bridge or
something, that bridges between your home wireless network and your
Internet connection.

(snip)
Tell us more about the bit of equipment you want to talk wirelessly to
that is already connected to the Internet.

A router is likely more than you need, though they're ubiquitous in
the stores, and not much more expensive than simpler things like
bridges. Did you mean A15-S127?

-- Mark

Jeffy3 <jeffy3@hotmail.com> wrote:
You have a problem.

That's correct. The wireless card is one end of a sort of magic
invisible cable. The other end of the magic invisible cable is a "base
station", which you buy from your telephone company, along with the
"ADSL line" that connects it to the digital telephone exchange.
These things are also usually routers, and hence may be called "ADSL
wireless routers". They're a nice piece of kit. Very reliable. An
alternative is buying a desktop computer to act as the terminator
for the ADSL line, via a "ADSL modem", and then plug it into a
wireless basestation via an ethernet card and cable.

That was a mistake.

It includes everything you need to connect to a wireless network. It's
your job to supply the wireless network.

What you are doing is complaining that they didn't sell you a petrol
station when they sold you the automobile. It's a ridiculous complaint.
Clam up and act less like this year's twerp contest winner, and all
will be well again.

He can connect to the internet just fine, as soom as you supply the
internet connection.

Peter

"Peter T. Breuer" .

So I am someone with a life who doesn't drown himself in computers 24
hours a day who comes to this forum for help because my dad got in
over his head and I have to deal with this prick of a responder? Gee,
thanks but no thanks. To someone who lives in a world of human
interaction and not cyberspace, when someone asks you a question about
a laptop they bought called a "satellite wireless laptop", it sounds
like it's a laptop that should log on to the internet wirelessly by
calling a satellite, much like a cell phone. They market it like you
can sit in an airport with your laptop on your lap and call up the
internet without plugging in somewhere.

Jeffy3 <jeffy3@hotmail.com> wrote:

Why do you select the ONLY sentence in the post that criticies you to
reply to? Why don't you ignore it and reply to the rest? The sentence
is only there to give you a solid kick in the right direction, and thus
orient your perceptions correctly.

Are you sensitive or something?

Cease wailing already. If you wish to go and have a tantrum in the
corner, I suggest you do so not in public. A dignified (and strangled)
"I seeeeee" is the adult reponse.

Oh, You bought a satellite wireless? Does it orbit well?

I believe "satellite" is the name of one of the brands of Toshiba
models. Has been for nigh on ten years, I think. "wireless" means
it comes with a wireless ethernet card.

You can. Exactly that. Well done! You got the idea.

Peter

tbabes <tbabes99@hotmail.com> wrote:
You're right. But it would look bad when this years virtual darwin
awards are handed out.

Peter

"Jeffy3" <jeffy3@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ae6397ac.0308181713.6c801694@posting.google.c om...

Yeh, that was kind of an unfortunate response. Most people here are (more or
less) geeks enough that they haven't ever interpreted the marketing that
way, but it all has to do with one's knowledge base in this particular area.
You are certainly not the first person to post here with that misimpression
about wireless connectivity.

Actually, you *can* connect wirelessly from most major airports, but that's
because they have installed a bunch of wireless access points throughout the
airport. Note, however, that it's not free - costs between $5-$10 per 24
hours to use that connection. Same for most major hotels. Coffee shops are
usually free.

It's most useful to think of wireless computing like your cordless (not
cellphone) phone at home (they mostly even use the same frequency - 2.4
ghz). Your cordless phone will only work when it's within range of the base
station, just as your wireless computer will only connect to the network
when it's within range of a wireless access point. And the range of your
wireless laptop is similar (probably a little less) to the range of your
cordless phone. The days of global satellite connection for laptop computers
are coming, but they are at least a few years off and will initially be
outrageously expensive for general internet surfing. Satellites are very
expensive to put up and maintain, and bandwidth is limited, so the
connection fees are going to be high. Currently, a satellite cellphone, for
example, costs about $1.50 - $2.50 per minute to connect and the connections
can be a little flakey. And you must be outdoors, not standing under a tree
etc.

Your father can still use the computer to connect wirelessly from his home
(within about 150 feet of the wireless access point) without *major*
expense. He would need an internet connection ($25-$45 per month
subscription) and he'd have to buy a wireless access point to plug into the
cable or DSL modem ($50-$75 at Best Buy). It's pretty easy, and if you or he
aren't comfortable setting it up, I'll bet you have a friend that knows how.
Or you could hire someone.

HMc