Please help a newbie with Broadband!!

[dw89]

Hi Guys n Gals,

Found this site when doing some googling yesterday and thought you may be able to help me out of my madness!

At the moment I have a very slow BT Dial-up connection to the net and have been thinking about getting Broadband. My question is probably a very simple one....normally I have access to the net via my BT dial-up connection and a separate work PPP connection...if I get Broadband I obviously have no connection numbers to dial so how do I get access to my work LAN? Do I still have to use dial-up? Sorry but apart from knowing it is a lot quicker I know nothing about BB!

Also, just a quickie, if I setup a wireless network at home (PC and laptop) I realise I can be on the net on the laptop when the PC is connected to the Net via BB but can I do the same if I still had Dial-up? (i.e. PC connected and then use laptop for net access).

Apologies if these are trivial but all my work is big Apps..never even installed Windows before! Many thanks in advance.

Dave

[Nemesis]

If you connect to work via VPN, then there will be no difference to how you connect now, the Internet connection method (BB or Dialup) are merely transports for the VPN tunnel.

[dw89]

yes, but can I use BB to call any number if you like or only for the BT VPN...I'm guessing not! Basically I don't want to keep having to pay to access my work VPN hence my questions about BB. Thanks v much.

Dave

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by dw89

Hi Guys n Gals,

...normally I have access to the net via my BT dial-up connection and a separate work PPP connection...if I get Broadband I obviously have no connection numbers to dial so how do I get access to my work LAN? Do I still have to use dial-up?

If I read correctly, you have a dial-up connection for work? If you go to BB you will need to ask your IT dept whether they have a 'VPN gateway'. If they do, you will get some software that allows you to connect to the work LAN through the BB internet. If not, you will probably still have to dial up to get your email .

Also, just a quickie, if I setup a wireless network at home (PC and laptop) I realise I can be on the net on the laptop when the PC is connected to the Net via BB but can I do the same if I still had Dial-up? (i.e. PC connected and then use laptop for net access).

Yes, but! If you have BB and want wireless, you are best getting a Wireless router (separate box to share your BB connection). That won't work with dial-up, but you 'could' get a wireless card for the PC and setup an 'Ad-hoc' wireless link between PC/laptop and then use ICS to share your dialup. However, I wouldn't recommend this! Much better to go BB with a router to share the connection.

HTH

[dw89]

If I read correctly, you have a dial-up connection for work? If you go to BB you will need to ask your IT dept whether they have a 'VPN gateway'. If they do, you will get some software that allows you to connect to the work LAN through the BB internet. If not, you will probably still have to dial up to get your email .

Many thanks, very helpful If they do have a VPN gateway what software would I need and where could I get it from??

Many thanks again!!

Dave

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by dw89

Many thanks, very helpful If they do have a VPN gateway what software would I need and where could I get it from??

Many thanks again!!

Dave

It depends on the gateway they are using - it may have it's own software client or it may use the built-in Windows VPN client. Either way your IT guys will be able to advise/configure.