Some help, please?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Walter R.
  • Start date Start date
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Walter R.

I have a generic desktop computer/monitor, Intel 1.5 GH, Windows XP Pro SP2.
I need to travel to other cities. I will be staying in inexpensive motels.

At home I use a cable modem to connect to the internet. Can I take my
desktop computer along and hook it up to the telephone at a motel somehow to
connect with the internet? I guess I would need to install a telephone modem
in my computer? How would I get an internet connection? Should I invest in
a cheap laptop? Would a laptop be better than a desktop?

If this question is too basic, can someone please refer me to the
appropriate newsgroup?

I don't quite know where to start. Can someone point me in the right
direction.

Thank you.
 
Walter R. said:
I have a generic desktop computer/monitor, Intel 1.5 GH, Windows XP Pro SP2.
I need to travel to other cities. I will be staying in inexpensive motels.

At home I use a cable modem to connect to the internet. Can I take my
desktop computer along and hook it up to the telephone at a motel somehow to
connect with the internet? I guess I would need to install a telephone modem
in my computer? How would I get an internet connection? Should I invest in
a cheap laptop? Would a laptop be better than a desktop?

If this question is too basic, can someone please refer me to the
appropriate newsgroup?

I don't quite know where to start. Can someone point me in the right
direction.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Whether you use a laptop or a desktop is purely a question
of convenience and portability. Both types of machines are
capable of making a dial-up connection to the Internet. An
external modem would be your least expensive option. It
plugs into the serial port of your desktop or laptop. Here is
what I recommend:
- Find an ISP that lets you make a dial-up connection for
the cost of a local call from anywhere in the country.
- Get an external modem (or use the internal modem if
available).
- Test the connection at home, well before you go on your
trip.
- Make the necessary arrangements so that you can receive
and send EMail from your dial-up account.
- While travelling, ask in each hotel what they charge for
your type of phone call. Some hotels treat telephones
as a lucrative stream of extra income.

BTW: To attract the attention of the best newsgroup experts,
compose a meaningful Subject line for your posts, e.g. "Need
help with roaming dial-up connection".
 
Most phone systems do not use analog phone lines anymore. If the particular
motel/hotel provides an analog line to the rooms, a modem will work, but
modern PBX devices use digital lines. On the other hand, virtually every
motel now provides wireless Internet as an included service when you take a
room. I'd look at buying a wireless NIC. If you want one that will work with
both the desktop and laptop, you could get an external USB adapter. But for
the extra 50 bucks or so, I'd get a USB for the desktop and a PCMCIA for the
laptop (if the laptop doesn't already have wireless capability built-in).
Make sure you disable "Client for Microsoft Networks" and "File and Print
Sharing" on the Wireless adapters. in my experience, Built-in ("Centrino")
works the best, PCMCIA cards second, and externals are the flakiest.

....kurt
 
If I buy a laptop with a wireless connection, how would I find a so-called
hotspot? Do I have to open up my laptop whenever I am looking for a hotspot?
In front of every Starbucks?

Sorry to be so ignorant in this here 21st century.
 
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