laptop question for dummy!?

Question

Before I ask please don't laugh and please don't tell me that the laptop is a dinosaur.
A frend of mine has given my son a laptop, it is a Toshiba780 and pentium 2. It has an internal modem (dial up) and runs windows 98. My question is that my son would like to use the laptop on broadband internet,is this possible? I know absolutely zilch about pc's and laptops, I hava a pc which is on Tiscali Broadband and would like to know if my son can have a modem fitted that enables broadband or ADSL or whatever it is that we use.

Not that I know what I'm talking about but I looked at the properties of modem and it said -"standard pcmcia card modem " and "Toshiba internal V.90 modem" what does that mean?

Ok so my head is hurting now :), I have a router in the house, this plugs into a phone socket then into usb on pc, on laptop there is both a port that looks like phone socket but wider and 2 usb ports, so do I install router installation disk into laptop, then get a connector and plug router into laptop?
I am soooo sorry to be so thick!!

Answer 1

Ok ADSL access works with a router the box with the lights :) network UTP cable from router to sons Ethernet port on PC looks just like the routers where your is plugged in, then set his network to TCP/IP all automatic settings and also internet and forget about the dailup modem its very slow, hope this helps

Answer 2

ok, so a few things.

your son doesn't need a modem. if you are on dsl you already have a DSL modem in the house. if that DSL modem only has a place to connect to one PC, your would need to buy a multiport router that would sit between your DSL modem and your desktop. (router plugs into modem, desktop plugs into router.) then you could plug the laptop into the router, if the laptop has a network port on it. a network port looks like a phone jack, but it's wider. and network cables, "cat 5" or category 5 or ethernet, look like phone cables, but the plugs on the ends are wider. Phone plugs are called RJ11, and network plugs are called RJ45.

if you don't have a network port on the laptop, do you have USB? there are cables that are USB on one end and RJ45 (network) plug on the other.

if you don't have USB, you could find a network card for the computer's PC Card or PCMCIA slot, a slot about as wide as a credit card, and about 1/4 inch high.

Or, you could get a wireless router, and a wireless card for the laptop (PC Card or PCMCIA) and that should work. you just need to make sure any card you get has drivers for windows 98. (if you have a local electronics store that deals in used or surplus equipment, they could help you.) the wireless router idea is less hassle in the long run, and only marginally more expensive....

edit:
PS, scyon makes a good point about 98 being out of support....

Answer 3

It's possible, but you'll need to buy something else. You need to buy a PCMCIA Ethernet adapter that'll fit into the PC. That should allow that to hook up to your existing broadband router (provided you did get one, and you have a spare Ethernet port!)

EDIT: From what you're describing, if that port on the notebook is wider than a phone jack, it COULD be an Ethernet port. So it's network ready except you need an Ethernet cable. The problem is your DSL connection. From what you described, phone jack to device to USB to computer, it's a USB-based DSL modem, NOT A ROUTER. Which means you can't interface it with anything except your PC, since you don't have a local area network in your house. To share the connection, you have to replace your existing USB modem with an Ethernet interface modem (or spend extra and buy a router that can talk to USB based modem, which is very rare) AND get a "broadband router", which will "share" your DSL connection with other computers. The router will also act as a firewall against outside attacks. Your PC will then connect to the router via Ethernet, as will the laptop.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, Microsoft no longer support Windows 98 and simply hooking a computer with that OS onto the Internet is a good way to get it taken over by viruses and other malware.

If you can get a compatible PCMCIA Ethernet card for the laptop you can hook it up to a network, which can then get onto the Internet. You'd either hook the laptop into a router, or into a switch if you already have a router.

This unfortunately still doesn't deal with the issue of the OS on laptop. Theoretically you could install puppy linux on it ( http://www.puppylinux.org/ ), which isn't likely to be taken over by bad guys on the Internet. Although I haven't used it personally, I've heard good things about it on older computers. YMMV.

Sam L.
Customer Service
Solid Documents, LLC
[e-mail]
http://www.soliddocuments.com

Answer 5

i do highly reccommed that you buy your son new a laptop or pc because this is very very old computer specs.

However you get your son online would be to use a router or a wireless router which you can buy from pcworld for as little as £35 which is quite cheap. Once you have brought this you will plug in your internet connection into the back of the router after that you use a network cable in the of the slots and connect that to the main pc in the household. Then to enble your son to get online he can either use a network cable or a wireless network card however this laptop he has may not have the slots because it is so old.

So i highly recommed you buy im a cheap laptop which can get around £200 which would have a build in WIFI so he can connect striaght to the a wireless router and use a normal router using a network cable.

Answer 6

If this is the Toshiba Tecra 780 than there is no ethernet port, you will have to go with usb or Pcmcia (cardbus) to expand to an ethernet port.