|
Posted by KOS on March 15, 2005, 1:18 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Hi I have a 2 year old Gateway computer. It has a hookup USB for an
internet connection- however, I would like to hookup a NIC card. Is
all that I have to do open the PC and install the NIC? will the XP
system recognize the NIC card or is there software that I must install?
Which type of nic card should I buy, any recommendations?
Does the NIC card work better than just plugging the cable into the
USB?
Thanks for your help
KOS
|
 
| |
Posted by Warren on March 15, 2005, 1:50 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
KOS wrote:
> Hi I have a 2 year old Gateway computer. It has a hookup USB for an
> internet connection- however, I would like to hookup a NIC card. Is
> all that I have to do open the PC and install the NIC? will the XP
> system recognize the NIC card or is there software that I must
> install?
There doesn't need to be any software to install for an ordinary 10/100
PCI NIC to work with Windows XP.
> Which type of nic card should I buy, any recommendations?
Long ago, the typical 10/100 PCI NIC became nearly a comodoty. There's
only a couple of chipsets out there, and nothing very special about the
boards. Get the least expensive one that's new enough to have XP listed
on the box, and you should be fine.
> Does the NIC card work better than just plugging the cable into the
> USB?
Yes. There are so many things that could go wrong running network
communications over the same USB bus that's also running a printer, a
mouse, a keyboard, a scanner, a digital camera, a webcam, etc., etc. Not
only do you have a bus that needs to adapt to all those different uses,
if those uses are happening at the same time, you're sharing the bus.
You can think of it as like comparing a hard-wired phone to a cordless
phone. Most of the time (today) the cordless phone works just fine for a
conversation, but it's still not as reliable, and never will be as
reliable, as a wired phone.
You may not see a marked improvement (although you could), but it's
still better, and more reliable.
Don't forget to power-cycle your cable modem when switching. If you have
an RCA cable modem, the USB and Ethernet ports can't both be used at the
same time, and the modem may need to be power-cycled numerous times.
Motorolas can use both ports at the same time, but your cable provider
has probably only provisioned your modem for one connection.
Power-cycling should take care of that.
Another advantage of going to Ethernet is that you can now put a NAT
router in the mix. The features of NAT will give you a rudimentary
firewall to protect your computer. Consider getting a router even if you
only have one computer.
--
Warren H.
==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Your Guide to the Care and Feeding of a Suburban Lawn:
http://www.holzemville.com/community/landscaping/lawncare/index.html
|
|
Posted by KOS on March 15, 2005, 1:59 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Hello and thanks for the prompt reply- very informative.
I noticed that my PC has an Intel INtel Pro/100 VE Network Connection-
I opened the PC and this is a very small box- not a card. Its about the
size of a very small jewelery box. What exactly is this? Do I still
need a NIC card?
Also, what is powercycling and how do I do this? Just turn off and on
the cable modem?
Thank you
|
|
Posted by Warren on March 15, 2005, 2:36 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
KOS wrote:
> Hello and thanks for the prompt reply- very informative.
>
> I noticed that my PC has an Intel INtel Pro/100 VE Network Connection-
> I opened the PC and this is a very small box- not a card. Its about
> the
> size of a very small jewelery box. What exactly is this? Do I still
> need a NIC card?
That is a NIC. You already have a NIC, so you should not need to
purchase another.
> Also, what is powercycling and how do I do this? Just turn off and on
> the cable modem?
Yes.
--
Warren H.
==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Your Guide to the Care and Feeding of a Suburban Lawn:
http://www.holzemville.com/community/landscaping/lawncare/index.html
|
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Hooking up to RCN at 20mbs any modem and router suggestions? | August 8, 2006, 7:43 pm |
| Help me with GATEWAY | April 26, 2006, 3:33 am |
| Need help understanding static routing with Comcast IP Gateway | November 24, 2006, 5:51 pm |
| Broadband in Lexington, KY | July 1, 2006, 5:56 pm |
| Broadband problem | September 12, 2006, 1:35 pm |
| U.S. Broadband Access Falling Behind | August 18, 2005, 3:58 pm |
| Wireless Broadband - I'm so very confused :-S | August 22, 2005, 4:53 pm |
| Wireless Broadband - I'm so very confused :-S | August 23, 2005, 2:17 pm |
| Broadband Legislation Draft | September 18, 2005, 6:49 pm |
| Broadband connection in 98SE | May 10, 2006, 8:55 am |
|
|
NewsGroups 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML site map