Thompson Speedtouch 300 on Vista (Orange)

Possibly need some pointers on this if any available..

Sis bought new Dell PC, came loaded with Vista.
She's with Wannadoo/Freeserve now Orange it seems ( ).
Can't get the 300 to connect to the net.
Googled about and found everyone's in the same boat.
Fortunately, Thompson have now got the drivers on their site and first impressions is all's good.

Just wondering if anyone has gone through this and come out the other end smiling, as I've to drive over there tomorrow with these drivers on my USB stick and no net connection if there's a prob - unless I take my Linux lappy and fart about with that..!

Cheers for any pointers.

[DocDutch]

get a decent modem/router...easeir and the dell probably has wlan anyways

????

Yeah, I know a router would fix all problems. If you read my original post though, I was asking if anyone had gone down this exact route and had any luck.

I'm trying to make a good job out of a bad, but I don't want to spend any more money, neither does she. I know there's a workaround with the current set-up and wondered if anyone could tell me if they'd done it with no probs or come across any hitches.
Thanks for the input but...

if you have drivers for it and vista whats the problem? if reviews say they work then they should

No problem Zing. I just wondered if anyone had done the process and come across any hitches before I drive out with no net connection.
All in my first post mate.
S'cool - I'll tackle it. Just thought someone might have a pointer or too.
Man, hard work here these days.
Kinda wish I hadn't bothered now.

[Lord Nikon]

Originally Posted by kryogenik

Possibly need some pointers on this if any available..

I'll see what I can do, I have some experience heh

Sis bought new Dell PC, came loaded with Vista.
She's with Wannadoo/Freeserve now Orange it seems ( ).
Can't get the 300 to connect to the net.
Googled about and found everyone's in the same boat.

This is quite common, Vista is such a pain when it comes to drivers, the thing is the Thomson Speedtouch modems were never very good, the old green cobra head speedtouch used to crack it's own PCB when it got warm... I went through 8 in a month on a BT connection.

Fortunately, Thompson have now got the drivers on their site and first impressions is all's good.

You're lucky then

Just wondering if anyone has gone through this and come out the other end smiling, as I've to drive over there tomorrow with these drivers on my USB stick and no net connection if there's a prob - unless I take my Linux lappy and fart about with that..!

Cheers for any pointers.

First and probably the best pointer you have already had suggested to you, pick up an ADSL modem / router and use that. From the moment it's set up it's driver and operating system independent. You can connect her new and old computers to the net at the same time through it, transfer files between the two machines, and hook up your laptop when you visit. It doesn't require system resources on anything like the same scale USB connections do, and should be a lot smoother and easier once it's setup.

I know it's not what you were hoping to hear but it really does make for an easier life in the long term. This way, if you setup the system with a wireless connection and WPA security then your sister could change machines at will without needing any more assistance. Vista for example would find the connection as soon as it's turned on, you don't need any settings in the computers or anything. It will simply work.

The choice is yours, but personally I prefer the router path as it's much lower maintainance long term.


Side note - for instances like this I have my laptop setup to be able to access the net through my mobile phone when needed. If you need any pointers on doing that, just ask...

Cheers fella.
I'll have a go with these drivers and see what happens. Having always been either dial-up or ethernet to an STB, I've not much experience withcable modems or routers. If it's a nog-go, I'll nip to PC World and have done with it.
Lappy's got Ubuntu on it - can't see me getting it to work with my phone in time to be honest. I expect I'll have no bother getting it to work with the Speedtouch though.

Cheers.

[Lord Nikon]

Originally Posted by kryogenik

Cheers fella.
I'll have a go with these drivers and see what happens. Having always been either dial-up or ethernet to an STB, I've not much experience withcable modems or routers. If it's a nog-go, I'll nip to PC World and have done with it.
Lappy's got Ubuntu on it - can't see me getting it to work with my phone in time to be honest. I expect I'll have no bother getting it to work with the Speedtouch though.

Cheers.

If the lappy has bluetooth and the phone does then use the com port assigned to the phone as a standard bluetooth modem, dial string is *99***1#
username / password - duplicate what is in the phone

Originally Posted by Lord Nikon

If the lappy has bluetooth and the phone does then use the com port assigned to the phone as a standard bluetooth modem, dial string is *99***1#
username / password - duplicate what is in the phone

It doesn't, but I have a dongle.
I've connected phones as modems before now, but this has Ubuntu on it and I wouldn't know where to start with that.
I doubt I'll be trying this in any case, but ta.

Installed today and up and running.

For the sake of any Google results, I'ts imperative that the speedtouch is removed from device manager in Vista and not just add/remove programs in Control Panel, as it asks if you'd like to remove the driver too, which is veeeeeeery necessary if it's been previously installed.
It took a 3rd attempt at an install to work that out!
But the new Vista drivers (it's an exe install) work great for the Thompson Speedtouch 300 on Vista.