Wow...I am really stupid

sponger

So for the last couple of years I've been living with these roommates in this three story house.

Each of us inhabit a separate floor.

There's been this drama the whole entire time because of the wireless internet connection. The router has been on the third floor in a locked room.

I'm sure most of you know that wireless internet connections can result in a lot of drama.

Well, today I just discovered that each of the cable connections in each room of the house has an internet signal running through it.

And of course this means that we can all just buy our own modems and say fuck having to run off of a stinking wireless signal from a different floor.

Ever since I knew what an internet connection was, it had been to my knowledge that only a designated room in the house was given an internet signal by the cable man.

2 years and a boatload of drama before I realized that such was not the case in this house or for possibly any house for that matter these days.

Am I stupid?

Jeanie

Sorry spongy, I don't even understand what you just said, so you're smarter than me.

South of Seattle

Not stupid. I guess you just weren't concerned enough before to actually try it

norm

i'll admit i'm a little wasted but here's how i understand it...



you and your roomates are equally paying for hi speed cable and are routing the signal wirelessly....now you notice that the signal is in each room.....well yes it is.....if you have cable the internet signal will go wherever you have tv signal

even if you have a modem in each room, you will still be sharing the same signal



i think

in_hiding79

No offense, but wtf?

Are you using someone else's access point?

brain of c

go padres.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

If you drop another modem on that line, it's going to want it's own IP address from the ISP.

Is the ISP providing more than one IP address on this line? I'm doubting it, but if you got one kicking around try it.

otherwise....probably a waste of time and money...

Depending on the router, you could easily break into the wireless link an about a minute with a bit of easily downloadable software providing it's only 128 bit encryption....however your computer will be visible on the network if anyone looks.

sponger

ok yes I was being somewhat vague in my OP.

Well, the router is a wireless G. The roommate in whose room the router is located is not into using the internet that much, so she's never felt the need to upgrade to, say, a wireless N router even though the rest of the world pretty much already has.

The problem with a wireless G is that the signal doesn't exactly go through different floors very well.

So, the third roommate and I have been sort of passively grumbling about it all this time. We all work at all different hours of the day, and so communication isn't that well established between the three of us.

And the roommate in whose room the router is located is RARELY home, and she keeps her door locked, so arranging for me to get in there and start upgrading shit for her has been a challenge even after 2 years.

Anyhow...from my experiences in other houses, even though there may be cable connections all over the house, only one of them provides an internet signal. Is that not correct? That's what the cable guys have been telling me.

So, the fact that every cable connection in this house has an internet signal is surprising, and upon finding this out, I immediately arranged to have the modem and router moved into my room, where it now resides.

I was going to suggest to my roommates that they buy their own modems, but now that rolandtd20kdrummer has informed that it is not likely to work due to IP address conflicts, I guess I will not be making that suggestion.

Right now I have my Wired network card in my PC and I'm hooked up the router via a wire, which is exponentially better than a wireless G signal at full strength.

I think what I'll end up doing is buying a Wireless N Router so that my roommates can enjoy a much better signal than that which is provided by a wireless G.

Thanks for looking.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

sponger wrote:

ok yes I was being somewhat vague in my OP.

Well, the router is a wireless G. The roommate in whose room the router is located is not into using the internet that much, so she's never felt the need to upgrade to, say, a wireless N router even though the rest of the world pretty much already has.

The problem with a wireless G is that the signal doesn't exactly go through different floors very well.

So, the third roommate and I have been sort of passively grumbling about it all this time. We all work at all different hours of the day, and so communication isn't that well established between the three of us.

And the roommate in whose room the router is located is RARELY home, and she keeps her door locked, so arranging for me to get in there and start upgrading shit for her has been a challenge even after 2 years.

Anyhow...from my experiences in other houses, even though there may be cable connections all over the house, only one of them provides an internet signal. Is that not correct? That's what the cable guys have been telling me.

So, the fact that every cable connection in this house has an internet signal is surprising, and upon finding this out, I immediately arranged to have the modem and router moved into my room, where it now resides.

I was going to suggest to my roommates that they buy their own modems, but now that rolandtd20kdrummer has informed that it is not likely to work due to IP address conflicts, I guess I will not be making that suggestion.

Right now I have my Wired network card in my PC and I'm hooked up the router via a wire, which is exponentially better than a wireless G signal at full strength.

I think what I'll end up doing is buying a Wireless N Router so that my roommates can enjoy a much better signal than that which is provided by a wireless G.

Thanks for looking.

Depends if each cable run is separate and goes to unique cable connections at the cable company junction box , or whether they all split off the same line and connect to a single point at the box. If separate, the ISP would treat each line as a unique customer connection. Might as well just call em, and sign up in this case, as the guy is going to have to unlock the black box and fiddle with the line that runs to your room. Cold call the ISP and ask if they can allocate 2 IP's on one line for nominal fee to do exactly what you want to do with you modem. Your roommate would have to be in on it though, and talk to them to enable it, and it would go on her bill though. It would be cheaper than getting a whole other line as each line is capped for a certain bandwidth anyways.

Alternatively some router brands have signal boost addons you can upgrade to, and the newer routers (most) just have with stronger reception. You can also get signal repeaters can interface and bounce the existing router signal where you need it as long as there's power to plug it in. Bit more of a grey area signal wise sometimes though (reliability...one more point of failure). A newer router with better range is preferable to a repeater setup from my experience.

Alternatively again, I think dlink (or linksys) sells some massive ass antennas that can blast reception miles away if needed, and pretty much any combination therein. I had to setup a large warehouse like this once.

I'd give the ISP a call, and see if they can toss you another IP for like another $10 a month or something.