Use Cable Modem to Create Home Hotspot??

Carl n Susan wrote:
Most of the cable providers today (Comcast, Time-Warner, AT&T, etc.) will provide modems which are also a wireless router - all part of your cable equipment.

X 2 Most providers will rent/lease a Modem in conjunction with service. Otherwise, purchase one outright that your provider recommends.

Get a wireless router. As stated above, they are pretty much plug and play. Plug it in, turn on your laptop, click the wireless connection icon (bottom right corner of your computer), find the name of your new router, enter the password (they are all pre-set now from the factory), and you're in business.

One thing we've learned this last year (because our router got hit by lightning and we were forced to get a new one), if you have multiple devices running at the same time, get a little "beefier" router.

We run 3 laptops, 1 television with internet (Netflix or Hulu or internet), and my son has a couple gaming consoles that run off wireless internet too. We had problems with freezing. When we got the latest router, (Best Buy), they explained our routers were not designed to carry that much capacity. So we got a beefier one. Cost a little more, but we've not had any freezes since.

By the way, there's nothing so nice as surfing RV.net from a 65 inch flat screen ....

Thanks everyone. The wireless router thing is beginning to make sense to me now. I have had one, plugged into the desktop that died. I thought it had to be plugged into a computer. Then I realized; the desktop has died, you are still getting a signal to the laptop in another room-----don't need the desktop! Sometimes I'm brilliant, but it is really slow coming!

Option 1: Contact cable company and ask for a WIRELESS cable modem/router

Option 2: (how I did it) Install a simple wireless router, D-Link, NetGear, Linksys/Cisco, or most any brand other than BELKIN, I do not recommend a BELKIN. due to the way they program it. (I have a BELKIN now, It will eventually be replaced with something else).

rvten wrote:
Install a wireless router.
Than you can run your lap tops, iPads and cell phones off of it.

yep, $89 can work wonders.
bumpy

If you wander on down to Worst Buy, some young geek will show you at least a dozen wireless routers. Installation is pretty simple. Don't buy the cheapest, but you don't need the fanciest one, either.

I've had good luck with LinkSys and with Cisco routers. D-Link, not so much. (Others likely will disagree.)

What you will be doing is setting up a wireless network. Simple to do. Buy a wireless router, put a network cable into the cable modem output and that goes into the wireless router. Most wireless routers also have several wired ports that you can hard wire to if you want to connect via wired network. The router will have full directions to walk you through its set up. Set a password so that no one outside your home can access your network and you are all set. Some routers come with a USB port that will give you shared wireless storage with a USB stick drive. Add your printer into the network and you can both print wirelessly.

Routers are cheap, plug and play. My modem does not have a connecter , being only about 4x4 inches. I used a good quality splitter, one line to modem/ tv and the other direct to the wless router. I taped the router to the front window so the guy across the street can use it.

Most of the cable providers today (Comcast, Time-Warner, AT&T, etc.) will provide modems which are also a wireless router - all part of your cable equipment.

Purchase a wireless router and hook the cable modem up to it. It will provide WIFI for both your laptops. It will also make it possible for you to connect with any other wifi devices such as smart phones. Just do a search on wireless routers and you'll find a ton of them for less than $100. When you set up the router, make sure you enable the security features in order to keep deadbeats from accessing your service for free.