I have no idea where to begin! Do I need to call the phone company? Or the cable company? Or someone else? And, do I need a router? What gets plugged into the router?

See… I am clueless!

A little advice is much appreciated… and any recommendations as to who the best provider/router is would help, too!

Thanks!
In addition:

OK.. thanks! This is a good start! I’m starting to see a little bit clearer now.

I do not have any kind of internet at home right now, so I’ll need to start from scratch with a new ISP. In your opinion(s), which is better, cable or DSL?

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The Google-Verizon deal: is it the end of the Internet as we know it? This deal has some up in arms over how these two Internet powerhouses want the World Wide Web to work. The deal includes “premium services” that would require an additional fee that will give unrestricted, high speed access to your favorite Web Pages, while everything else could be accessed only on the regular open network. Net neutrality campaigner, Jason Rosenbaum highlights a huge loophole in the deal that would mean wireless Internet wouldn’t apply with this form of net neutrality and he discusses how the FCC has the power to block this evil deal.

This technique provides you with 100% free wireless internet service by connecting your cellphone or PDA to your computer via bluetooth or usb. For more free stuff visit www.pookyfish.co.cc You don’t need an internet service plan on your phone for this to work either, It just uses your phone as a dial-up modem instead. So as far as your phone is concerned, your just making another call.

I’ve had really fast internet speed for the past 5 years with no change in ISP. About a week ago, my speed dropped to unreasonably low speeds. I know that I do not have any viruses or anything like that because I scan my system regularly. Please help as it is very frustrating waiting for pages to load for minutes.

So right now I’m using at&t dsl and my fastest speed is 149 kb/s and my friend’s ISP gives him 2 mb/s. I don’t know what he uses, buy I want to know which one is pretty much around that speed or more, and is not too expensive.

i own a business and have 5 static ip address assigned to me from my isp.

i have three business computers hook up to the router via ethernet which use obviously 3 of the 5 available ips.

i was wondering if there was anyway the router can be configured to let the other two ips be "free" over the wireless network?

and by "free" i mean that you wouldnt have to configure the ip settings on the computer itself. a person can come in the room, see the network, enter the network password, and be online.

i have a netopia router if that helps out

just wondering.
thanks

My ISP is AT&T DSL. My internet connection keeps dropping out randomly…it comes back up after a few minutes then drops out again. This happens over and over again throughout the day. I have a 2wire modem/router, the DSL signal blinks green every time my connection drops. There are times when I can get a good connection for several hours at a time, but not often.

I’ve tried everything…unplugging and replugging the modem, tried several different phone cords, tried rebooting the modem, tried connecting without a DSL filter and without the phones plugged in… nothing works. I had several AT&T tech guys come; they said everything was fine – phone line and cords all had strong signals, then shortly after they leave, my connection would start dropping out again. Anyone know how to fix this?
I even tried replacing the modem (my previous modem was an older 2wire model). This has been happening for a long time, but a lot more frequently for the past week.

I currently have a regular internet connection and would like to go wireless. My isp has a plan of some sorts for a month you can get wireless. Instead of paying this extra a month can i just buy my own wireless router and connect it to my modem somehow and get wireless? Thanks.
Also any suggestions on what type of Router I should invest in?

I have wireless internet and am concerned with other people using my isp. How do I, or CAN I, block all outside access to my wireless modem?