Wi-Fi in the UK - Advice about roaming Broadband, please

[Robusto]

Gentlemen

I know the DAWG uses wi-fi on a stick for his laptop, but I'm not conversant with the systems.

My laptop very often sets up here at home to BTOpenzone wi-fi, but I have wireless in the house so just click on to my own system. It has irritated me to have the external wi-fi present and sometimes blocking my own domestic wireless Broadband system, but I can see the possible benefit of wi-fi now.

I can't get a wireless signal in my smoke shack at the bottom of my garden and reckon that if I got a wi-fi dongle (sic?) that I'd be able to use it down there. And anywhere else, if necessary.

If any of you chaps use wi-fi for your laptop(s), could you tell me of providers you would recommend, please?

I use Orange for my mobile and wonder if a wi-fi package might tie in with them.

I'm being a bit lazy as I could research this myself, but would prefer BOTL preferences and opinions first.

I'm also looking for an inexpensive deal because I think the monthly cost of our Broadband, TV Broadband service and contract mobiles is already OTT.

Communications are EXPENSIVE in the UK!
But I love them.

I do have proper writing to do apart from the cigar sex clinic stuff on here - and I want to do it in my man shack! :)

Many thanks.
Bryan

[Boss Hog]

Hi Bryan

How far's your man cave away from the house? my first option would be to suggest you invest in a new wireless router with a decent range on it. for example a basic belkin g series can reach up to 400ft. That way you would be able to use your domestic LAN. I'm guessing your with BT? Do you have a home hub? black or white? not that it matters as they are both crap but the white one is worst and has a crap range. positioning of your router within your house can have an effect sometimes to.

As you are already a orange customer, you might want to look at this link. They do a usb type stick which you just plug in to your laptop and you have instant internet anywhere you like. you proabably get it cheap as a orange customer anyway
http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband

Finally the latest scariest futuristic invention is to use Broadband over your electricity wall sockets. yep you heard me! you can actually run a broadband internet / network connection via your plugs. you simply buy a set of adapters to which you plug in the wall and then plug in your laptop. There are a variety of products on the market for this, of which the best one has just jumped out of my head. I know a few people that use this method that have home offices at the end of the garden etc.
Need anything else let me know.

Mark

[cohibaIV]

Bryan

Since I started commuting to London last month, my company kindly got me a Orange USB 3G card for internet access...and all I can say is 'it's bloody brill!!!' Use it all the time on the train for work and play..:rock: (Like now)

Don't know how much it costs with it being works, but you see them being sold by all the mobile companys now and not for that much either...:cool:

GET ONE MATE...:cowboyic9:

[nicwing]

Robusto

Do you have mains power in your shack?

I had exactly this problem in my Cybershed and I now use Ethernet over power.

Let me know if you have mains power and I will post more details.

[Robusto]

Hi Boss / Dale / Nic

I have mains in my shack and was going to look into the plug-in thing, but I'd heard it is very expensive. Is that so, Nic?

Boss - I agree. I have a white router AND a black router. Both seem to have a puny range, and the black (better) one doesn't reach down there. It's not very far to the shack. Maybe 20 to 25 metres.

The walls of my house are rock solid. It was bombed in WW2. When rebuilt, they made it a sort of Fort Knox. I have massive problems hanging pictures for starters, so I imagine signals for wireless must be affected.

Dale - That wireless thing sounds spot on, and Boss - I will be investigating that Orange link, therefore.

All of this will be looked at from Monday when I start two weeks off.

Great pointers, men. Thank you, brothers.

[Stevieboy]

Robusto - Nic's idea is probably the easiest way to go...in fact it's a piece of piss to set-up and relatively cheap as well - AMAZON (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Max-Value-Mbps-Home-Double/dp/B000TV7FJ4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1238700428&sr=1-6) . One plug connects to the PC then is plugged into a dosmestic wallsocket in your PC's room. The 2nd plug is then plugged into the mains in your man-cave and connected to the laptop via ethernet

I have the 200MB version for streaming hi-def to my XBox and it works perfectly

[Robusto]

Stevieboy - Cheers.

Only ?40! I thought they were about ?100!

I may be sorted very soon. :cowboyic9:

[nicwing]

Robusto
Just one word of warning, Ethernet over power is great, extremely easy to set up and has the added advantage that it's fast and secure (no one hacking in to your wireless signal) however... In order for it to work all your power sockets must be on the same ring main.

If you have to change the power around it can be an expensive option!

Mine works brilliantly, no signal loss or drop outs when someone farts down the road.

[Stevieboy]

Robusto
In order for it to work all your power sockets must be on the same ring main.

Good point Nic!

Robusto - do you have a mate you can borrow a set of plugs from to try it out?

[Robusto]

Good suggestion, Stevieboy. I'm not sure, actually, but I'll tout around.

The power down to the shack is wired up to the mains ring. I'll contact my builder to see if it is - but I'll just get a couple of those plugs, try them and bung them on eBay if they don't work. It's not too dramatic a mistake at that cost.

[nicwing]

Good suggestion, Stevieboy. I'm not sure, actually, but I'll tout around.

The power down to the shack is wired up to the mains ring. I'll contact my builder to see if it is - but I'll just get a couple of those plugs, try them and bung them on eBay if they don't work. It's not too dramatic a mistake at that cost.

I think we should change the name of this forum to the Brains Trust, ask us another!

Great new piccy Bry, great guffawing Kentman batman!

[Robusto]

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h304/elton1984/Petit%20Edmundo%20Shack%20Apr09/ABCD0004.jpg?t=1238711010

I persuaded a non-smoking bud to try my Petit Edmundo this afternoon. He took one draw, turned purple and nearly died.
I reacted with appropriate sympathy.

[Stevieboy]

Good suggestion, Stevieboy. I'm not sure, actually, but I'll tout around.

The power down to the shack is wired up to the mains ring. I'll contact my builder to see if it is - but I'll just get a couple of those plugs, try them and bung them on eBay if they don't work. It's not too dramatic a mistake at that cost.

An unscrupulous sort of cove might....ahem......buy them from PC World or somesuch then.....ahem.....return them aand claim they don't work :rolleyes::rolleyes:...but I'm sure we're all gentlemen of high moral fibre on the UKCF :41:

[Stevieboy]

I persuaded a non-smoking bud to try my Petit Edmundo this afternoon. He took one draw, turned purple and nearly died.
I reacted with appropriate sympathy.

I get my wife to try a puff now and again and she does the same. I absolutely piss myself laffing...so cruel but them's the breaks

[Robusto]

Fuck me! I should have thought of that Stevieboy!
I'm Comet's greatest rebounder at present.
I'm sure they can cope with IT JUST FELL APART one more time.
Excellent, my friend. Thank you! :smoke:

[Robusto]

I get my wife to try a puff now and again and she does the same. I absolutely piss myself laffing...so cruel but them's the breaks

This is boys' joy.
Cuban Jackass.
Utter stupidity.
Fabulous. :biggrin1:

[Stevieboy]

I'm Comet's greatest rebounder at present.


Is this the dog/laptop episode from last night! Have to admit the image of the dog running about with a laptop dragging along behind it made me crack up. Hell I can barely type for laughing......:biggrin1::biggrin1::biggrin1: Sorry for the lack of sympathy :rolleyes:

[nicwing]

I get my wife to try a puff now and again and she does the same. I absolutely piss myself laffing...so cruel but them's the breaks

Your lady wife puffing on your stogie - fnarr fnarr!

[Stevieboy]

Your lady wife puffing on your stogie - fnarr fnarr!
If only mate...if only :p

[Robusto]

I punished my dawg so much he shrunk and went schizoid.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h304/elton1984/ABCD0010-9.jpg?t=1238711862

These beauties belong to masterorock who occasionally posts on the forum. Beautiful dogs.

Here's my evil laptop destroyer.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h304/elton1984/n671008625_233270_3530.jpg?t=1238712027

[Stevieboy]

Lovely beast Bry. I'm more of a cat person TBH, but if the kids begged me to get a dog it would definitely be a Labrador..no question.

[Robusto]

We got our rescue dog when our ginger cat died. Labs are really intelligent, and ours is very calm. He has never even growled. We all cooed at Andy's puppies up there, but I think we'd stick to adult dogs if we had to replace Max eventually.

Why not have both, Stevieboy?

[Ramon]

Great pics of the dogs there, we've got two black labs :smile:

[Mr Moore]

I punished my dawg so much he shrunk and went schizoid.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h304/elton1984/ABCD0010-9.jpg?t=1238711862

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h304/elton1984/n671008625_233270_3530.jpg?t=1238712027
Bryan
Im diggin the trousers and shoes man !!
The bottom half of ya looks like its come straight out of an episode of star trek. Givin it the olde captain kirk..
I mean it in a good way..

De man gots de styles.

[Robusto]

I couldn't agree more, MM!

I've been off for two days visiting my students in Work Experience so I put on a bizarre hybrid of clothes. I actually got trapped in a multimillionaire's office at a swish company for an hour and was quite worried.

Those are Matalan trousers for ?14. I whiff em up and chuck em. I wear them to work because it's easy. The boots - I love. They are a bit Simon Dee, but only because my dog has had a go at the stretch elastic.

This is the first year that I've taken to wearing a suit at work. All the other blokes do so so I went lemming. It has been liberating because I don't have to think about what to wear. Adolf twigged this, yes?

I just swoosh around the drama studio in whatever extemporisation as a model for George at Asda.

I'm happy enough - and I STOP FOR TWO WEEKS AT 1400 TODAY!!!

Have you ever watched Polystyrene with Divine? Filmed by John Waters? An absolute favourite. :smoke:

I do go in to work in my stetson. I do try to be hip in this conventional calling. I do try to be down with the kidz.

The stetson bit is true. If they can make documentaries about Wellworths (last night zzzzzzzzzz), they can come here to film Captain FanPlastic whenever.

[Mr Moore]

quote ; I just swoosh around the drama studio in whatever extemporisation as a model for George at Asda. un-quote.

LOL.
Just noticed the guitars on the wall, nice.
I used to have a martin OM 21, had a real earthy sound, a finger
pickers dream, it was nice for the old delta !

[Robusto]

I love Martins! Beautiful guitars.
Do you still play, MM?

[Ramon]

I just noticed the boots Robusto, are they Loakes by any chance, the 190/290? The reason I ask is I have a pair, and I wear them all the time, really comfortable, and they last as well. I've had this pair for years, only had to have them soled once, the heels have been done quite a few times. Going to get another pair now, as these are what I prefer to wear out of all my shoes, and they go with anything.

Though for real quality you should try Church's, an old english company now owned by Prada. I have a pair of their custom grade shoes made with calf skin, very soft. They also do chelsea boots, in brown, black and suede, but not cheap at ?350.

[Robusto]

I just noticed the boots Robusto, are they Loakes by any chance, the 190/290? The reason I ask is I have a pair, and I wear them all the time, really comfortable, and they last as well. I've had this pair for years, only had to have them soled once, the heels have been done quite a few times. Going to get another pair now, as these are what I prefer to wear out of all my shoes, and they go with anything.

I have had them for years, Ram, and have got back into wearing them all the time. They are, like yours, supremely comfortable. Amazingly so for driving. I find I can buy a mid to long trouser and the end floats a bit above the heel.

Also when I grunge my sustain pedal on the floor in the band, I don't have to go bare-footed. I can up and down fine in these heels.

I seriously want to buy some cowboy boots but reckon I should go over there to the States to pick them. The US post whacks a huge amount on for posting a boxed Stetson to the UK.

Please remember the boots are in the picture as if winking lens-ily towards a back of the bus shot. Reverse the trou, and you'll get me straight on yet somehow strangely backwards approaching a full on.

[Robusto]

I've just signed up to BT-FON as there are hotspots around my house on a lovely map. I'm hoping the signals in the neighbourhood will work my laptop in my cabin. It costs nothing if you are a fully-fledged BT Home Hubber.

I spoke to Orange and I can have a dongle if I cough up another ?16 or ?25 per month. I won't be joining them as it's from my purse, not work's.

I'll touch plugs on the way home.

Miserable and foggy in SE Kent. I'm out of here in 45 and will soon be kissing out more steam. :cowboyic9:

[Mr Moore]

I love Martins! Beautiful guitars.
Do you still play, MM?


Not so much now, I still have a classical and a acoustic, but don't play that much anymore...

[Boss Hog]

If only mate...if only :p

I've been there, tried it myself. worked well until she got my double cutters out and threatend to convert me to jewish and light the end.

[Stevieboy]

I've been there, tried it myself. worked well until she got my double cutters out and threatend to convert me to jewish and light the end.
Ouch!