Broadband for Beginners

[nivrip]

I'm hoping to get broadband started in the next few weeks. I will be using a wireless router and I know that I will need a filter for my phoneline connection (downstairs). Do I need a filter for my phone extension (upstairs) even though this phone will have nothing to do with the PC and network?

 

[Electronics & Photo Fan]

If both phones are connected to the same telephone line (i.e. they both ring together when someone dials your phone number), then you will need to put filters on both of them. Otherwise you could 'hear' the broadband down the phone line, (believe me, it does happen), and the DSL modem could disconnect when you pick up the phone.

 

[nivrip]

Thanks for that E&PF.That is the case so I'll make sure I get 2 filters.

 

[nivrip]

Is the Thomson 580 ADSL Router roughly comparable to the 585v?

 

[V_R]

AFAIK they are very similer, the 580 has a USB port where the 585 dont. I think thats the only difference.

 

[nivrip]

Thought I'd better write a conclusion to this thread.

Finally got my broadband through TalkTalk as I was with them anyway for my phone. The monthly fee is only £5.89 and it includes free weekend and evening phone calls AND free calls to all over Europe - very useful for me. Also cheap rates to N. America and Australia but, disappointingly, not to South Africa which I would have liked.

I got a brand new Thomson 585v6 Wireless Router on ebay for £15 and had a Wireless Card fitted to my new PC. Setting the whole thing up was a piece of cake - simply followed the instructions on the CD that came with the Router and away it went. It took about 5-10 minutes.

Not bad for a beginner.

Thanks to all those that helped throughout the thread.

 

[Abarbarian]

Hi how much are you paying in total to Talk Talk and do you have to pay for a BT line aswell and is the service good quality ??

 

[nivrip]

Hi how much are you paying in total to Talk Talk and do you have to pay for a BT line aswell and is the service good quality ??

Hi AB,
I must admit when I saw this offer I couldn't quite believe it. I was already with TalkTalk for my phone and yes I do pay £10 amonth for the phone line (slightly less than BT charge). So now I pay the same £10 for the line and £5.89 for the package which includes the broadband and the free evening and weekend calls plus the free or cheap international calls. And that's it. I rang TalkTalk and went through the whole thing in great detail before I agreed to it - I think it's a good deal.

The service has only been going for just over a week and seems to be fine - no problems so far. However, I am bound to find it excellent after dial-up I suppose. I imagine that the only time you can really judge whether a service is good or bad is when something goes wrong, and then to see how quickly and efficiently it is dealt with.

There was also a one-off set up charge of £29.50 but the low monthly charge will soon pay that off.