Topic: SSID question

[daveeb]

Well everything has gone quite well with the new laptop (apart from the wireless card drivers which were corrupt and had to be updated  ). The main reason for the purchase was so the kids can use it downstairs and won't hog the two desktops kept upstairs.  I got the wireless connection up and running and then turned off SSID as recommended.  Trouble is there is no connection with SSID off.  As soon as i re-enable it I have a connection again.  When I was asked for the key the first time i used the connection i ticked the "automatically use this connection" (or something like that) box and i'm guessing this is the problem.  Question is how can i turn off SSID and have the laptop find the connection (running vista premium) 

[sam]

hmm thats an odd one, I personally haven't had quite that issue - it might be a vista idiosyncrasy... does the wireless work for either of the two desktops when the ssid is not enabled? I'm sure someone who knows a bit more about vista will have some smart ideas though..

[daveeb]

Hi Sam, i haven't tried the desktop that has wireless capability when SSID is turned off. I don't suppose it's such a big issue really as the network is secured i'll probably leave things as they are (ie working ok  ).   Sorry yet another question, If I access the internet from a pc with both a wired and wireless connection enabled will it cause a conflict or will it default to the wired connection 

ps  very good result, we battered them 1-0 

[Simon]

I don't think it's necessary to turn off SSID, but what you should do is rename it to something only you can recognise, so that your machine can identify the network.  If you have WPA security enabled, with the maximum 63 character key, your network should be secure.  You should also change the default password on the router, if you haven't already done so, Dave. 

[Simon]

Just seen your second question, you should be able to access the internet from the wired (Ethernet) PC, and up to 3 other networked wired or wireless PCs, depending on the capability of the router.  You can access the Internet with more than one PC at a time, but I think the connection speed would be shared between the networked PCs, so if one is doing a heavy download, it might affect the connection speed of the other.

[daveeb]

Hi Simon, yes you're right about changing the default name (which i've done) I didn't realise you could change the default password...i'm on to it .  Regarding the second question, what i meant was if i go online with a pc that is connected via an ethernet cable and also has wireless connection enabled then which connection will be used and will there be a conflict ? (as for the number of connections allowed the router will do 4 wired and/or an unspecified number of wireless on a pro rata basis)

[Simon]

Sorry, I'm a bit confused - you have one PC with a wired and a wireless connection together?  Why?     The main PC (nearest the router) is usually connected by Ethernet (wired), and the wireless connections are for the other networked PCs.  Have I misunderstood?

[sam]

ps  very good result, we battered them 1-0 

excellent result :-D

[sam]

Hi Simon, yes you're right about changing the default name (which i've done) I didn't realise you could change the default password...i'm on to it .  Regarding the second question, what i meant was if i go online with a pc that is connected via an ethernet cable and also has wireless connection enabled then which connection will be used and will there be a conflict ? (as for the number of connections allowed the router will do 4 wired and/or an unspecified number of wireless on a pro rata basis)

it shouldn't - I just tried it here and it worked fine, though I was running ubuntu and not windows... I dont think it should - the computer should figure out which one to use.

[Sandra]

You should be able to disable the wi fi one easily enough using the icons on the taskbar, if there are any conflicts, as the ethernet will be faster and more trouble free.

SSID shouldnt matter if you tell your laptop or whatever to use any available networks as most of the time it will connect to your own.

[daveeb]

Hi Sandra  There's no problem disabling the wireless card, i was just curious.  Simon before yesterday I hadn't used wireless at all but once I got the lappy up and running I decided to test the wireless card in my (wired) desktop.  It was then i wondered if I needed to disable the wired connection before I tried the wireless one. 

Tried the SSID again, definitely no connection when disabled. Seems like it may be an unwanted linksys feature 

[Simon]

That explains it, Dave.