Re: Ask EU numpty-level computer/internet
- From: "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 12:49:51 +0000
In message <7l3egeF3aogckU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Sebastian Lisken <Sebastian.Lisken@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
Jane Vernon <spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Can anyrat reassure me that a £20 USB wireless dongle would be all our
friend would need to buy to be able to connect her Freecycle computer to
the internet?
If she finds the right thing to connect to - i.e. some WiFi access
point - then in theory that should indeed be all she needs. However ...
Well, for dialup, she'll need a MoDem - which will connect to the computer via USB or a serial port (the old computer will almost certainly have a serial port or two; if it's _very_ old it might have come with a mouse that uses the serial port, but if it has a PS/2 connector - round, often green, next to the keyboard connector, preferable to USB as there are often not many of those on such an old machine), she can substitute a PS/2 mouse. Or an internal MoDem, which is tidier anyway (but check that the drivers for it are available for the operating system in use).
But these days I wouldn't recommend dialup use. OK for email (until some bozo sends you a huge attachment), but not really websurfing - most web page designers these days, sadly, seem to assume you've got broadband, and of course anything with video is out of the question. Also, and apologies for making assumptions, someone using a freecycle computer will probably be penny-conscious, and using dialup one is always aware of the pennies ticking away; this in my opinion is the thing most likely to stop someone using the web (along with, nowadays, the tedium). And, for a reasonable amount of use, broadband can be no more expensive. (Can I put in for a mention of "jpgilliver" if she goes for PlusNet? If she's on a suitable exchange, they're among the cheapest, have UK-only call-centres, and haven't given me much trouble.)
For broadband, she'll need some device that connects to the internet, and a way of connecting the computer to it. The device is a router/ADSL MoDem (be wary - you _can_ get routers, especially wireless ones, that _don't_ include the ADSL MoDem part), and the way of connecting to it is either wireless or wired. A wireless router is more convenient, and has the advantage that you can put it near the master telephone socket, which will often make it work better (in extreme cases, work at all). To connect wirelessly to the router, the computer will need either a wireless card or a wireless USB dongle. To connect to the router by wire, the computer will need a network card (or, again, a USB-to-network dongle).
Most ISPs will provide the ADSL Modem/router when you sign up (in cases that don't have a minimum signup period, there's usually something to the effect that if you leave within 6 or 12 months, you have to pay for the equipment); some provide a choice of wireless or wired, some provide wireless at a few pounds extra, and some provide only a wireless one. (And a few - especially the ones with no minimum contract - don't provide any, though they also tend to pass on the connection charge BT impose on them for fiddling with your line at the exchange to make broadband work, or at least to oblige you to pay it if you leave in a short time.)
If offered both for the same price (or free), I'd go for the wireless one - though I would say best to make sure it has at least one wired socket on it too: this can help in case of problems, and (though in this case would need a friend with a portable PC with a network socket) can make things easier to set up in the first place.
She will probably be using Windows 98.
Hmm. I know why. That somewhat restricts the choice of hardware: most wireless dongles you can get now probably don't have support for '98 out-of-the-box if at all; wireless cards probably similar though slightly more likely; network cards (for wired connection) more likely, and/or may work without drivers, and USB-to-ethernet I'm not sure.
I would strongly advise against that. (I know John Gilliver would not
but that doesn't change my opinion.) Neither Windows 98 nor the
browser versions you can still get for 98 these days are recent
Hmm. I'm not actually a die-hard 98 enthusiast (I'd agree it has to be 98SE - second edition - though); I just don't agree that anyone using it has to change for the sake of it. For a new user, though, I'd go for XP if it's possible (translation: if you can obtain a disc/licence, and the computer can manage it, or be made to: I think the most important aspect of that is to have at least .5, better 1, G of RAM). I say this because (a) things are a lot _easier_, (b) support will be easier to find. (Including from the ISPs: as another has said, they provide the connection and don't really mind what you connect to it, but they also do try to help their users somewhat [sometimes on an 0844/0871 or even premium number, sometimes not], but they often don't have the staff who know about 98, and/or have a policy of not supporting it).
In fact, for a new user, I'd probably recommend Vista or Windows 7 - not because _I_ like them, but because I'd want the user to be introduced to the way of thinking that's likely to be around longest. But I know that's not on here - a freecycle computer won't hack Vista or 7, and the licences are expensive anyway. If it's someone I was expecting to support myself a lot, I'd probably recommend XP.
enough. She'd be too vulnerable - sitting behind a router would
protect her from the kind of attacks that involve people connecting
from outside while you basically do nothing. But there are other
things you can catch by visiting a malicious website.
I can't argue with the security aspects, though I didn't catch anything up to the point I stopped using it for internet access - but then I'm a moderately savvy user. As for the OS and browser itself, the last version of Firefox (2.something) that works on '98 out-of-the-box (you _can_ install 3.x using some sort of XP-emulator hack, but I wouldn't want to support anyone through that!) will manage _most_ of the internet.
I certainly wouldn't argue against a Linux installation, I just wouldn't be able to support the user myself (my knowledge in that area being mostly of Unix, from 30 years or so ago, when it was all command-line and very like DOS [which I'm sure tried to imitate it]).
Without trying to evangelise, if it is to be that computer I would
investigate if there is a Linux distribution that could be run on it,
but that would need to be reasonably modern too (if only for the sake
of user friendliness) and I'd suspect that such a Linux version would
also be too much for this computer.
Sebastian
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **
"I'm a self-made man, but I think if I had to do it over again, I'd call in
someone else." - Roland Young
.
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