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How can I connect my old laptop to my wi-fi network?
Dear Michael, I want to get rid of the cables running from my router to my laptop, but my computer is old and doesn’t have wi-fi. Do I need to buy a new laptop or is there some sort of adapter that I can buy?
Siobhan, via email on 20 December 2010 (Updated: Tuesday 04 January, 2011)
Our Broadband Expert says...
Hooking an old laptop or PC up to your wireless broadband network is very simple - all you need is a USB wi-fi adaptor, which you might be able to get from your provider, online or from a high street retailer.
In just five simple steps, you can connect your old computer to your wireless internet connection.
Disconnect your laptop
Remove the ethernet cable that is currently connecting your laptop to the internet. Do not plug your USB adaptor in yet.
Insert the installation CD
Insert the installation CD that came with your USB wireless adaptor and follow the on-screen instructions until the software has been installed.
Plug in the USB adaptor
You can now plug your USB wireless adaptor into one of the free USB ports on the side of your computer. The adaptor will search for available wireless networks within range, bringing up a list for you to choose from.
Enter your password
Find your own wi-fi network from the list of available connections, and if you have a set up a password to protect your network, enter this now so that you can get online.
Wi-fi security
It’s always a good idea to set up a WEP (Wireless Equivalent Privacy) or WPA (Wi-fi Protected Access) key to stop people piggybacking or hacking your connection.
The most secure form of password is WPA, but some older hardware might only work with a WEP key - either way, any sort of password is far better than leaving your broadband connection completely unsecured.
When choosing your wireless key, try to pick something that will be hard to crack. Many people use the same password for various different accounts, making it far easier to hack into their personal email, computer and broadband connection.
Use our free WEP and WPA key generators to create, secure, hard-to-crack passwords - but make sure you write the password down somewhere in case you want to connect new devices in the future.
Automatic WEP Encryption Keys (Press F5 or Refresh)
| Encryption Type | Encryption Length | Encryption Key |
|---|---|---|
| WEP | 64bit | 36FFF33DDE |
| WEP | 128bit | 4F884A883A811CAAD99DEEF4F0 |
| WEP | 256bit | C41BD7885F4FC4B44F6D5F5A1F8DF2844ADE7D83DD1B0EE2FBEAEB79A3 |
Automatic WPA Encryption Keys (Press F5 or Refresh)
| Encryption Type | Encryption Length | Encryption Key |
|---|---|---|
| WPA | 64bit | yXO%1Keu |
| WPA | 128bit | PbBo1ufHTT,ffHvk |
| WPA | 256bit | R3!DsaCqPZuVZZBLt%3AHyw!71l9vAg/ |
| WPA | 504bit | LVPPDjLFep68#EckgRkkt,nFOc!uUiW18QmTJHy+6&yYL57ZtUltU3KU8!$AAc4 |
NB Best buy tables are always current.
Examples in the text of the article are correct at time of publication.
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