Probably a stupid question

Am I right in thinking there's no way to have a laptop connected to the internet without a phone line? I was thinking about buying my brother one for crimbo but he doesn't have a phone line. I'm guessing there's no way around it...



...Please help...




Jam it back in, in the dark.

THere is always....wireless!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

You can connect a laptop to the internet in two ways, aside from dial-up.
There are ethernet connections, which still require the computer to be manually plugged in. There are also, as mortis said, wireless options. A lot of laptops these days even have built-in wireless cards with preset configurations, so you don't need to buy anything extra, or install anything more than what they have already installed.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "crimbo," but if you mean a university, most of the buildings there probably have wireless. Wireless is all over all my campus, as is data ports all over walls for people to plug their ethernet connections into.

If not, then there's always libraries, coffee shops, McDonald's.... and other businesses that offer wireless to its customers.

Also, you mentioned connecting a phone line to a lab top. You must be using a really old labtop then. I'd be surprised if any of the newer ones even have a dial-up modem in them. Like packrat said, all of the newer ones should have a built in wireless card and an ethernet card. (You plug your ethernet cable into it and the other end into a data port, like the ones on the walls in my university buildings.)

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

"Crimbo" is British slang for Christmas.

I was speaking idiomatically.

As I guessed, I was being incredibly fucking stupid. Of course laptops can connect wirelessly; thats why people buy laptops, not normal desktop PC's!

Originally Posted by Ulysses

"Crimbo" is British slang for Christmas.

British slang? I thought it was universal! Bah humbug...

Originally Posted by Joe Wiewel

Also, you mentioned connecting a phone line to a lab top. You must be using a really old labtop then.

Never used one in my life. Why did you assume I had?

Anyway, to clarify, my bro lives in his own house but doesn't have an active phone line (it would be an added waste of money seeing as he doesn't earn much). So I wondered whether a laptop would solve that problem. And it does. Yip yip yippee

Now the problem is getting one before christmas...

PS. Cheers for the answers.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Just know all of your options.

There are a handfull of different ways to get online that are available to the consumer.

The first major way is with a hardline. This includes telephone lines, cable lines, and filber optic lines.

Telephone lines offer two options: dial-up modem access, and Digital Subscriber's Line access. We all know about dial up. You need a modem, an access number, and lots of patience. Speeds are slow as molassas (56 Kilobits per second) and you are not 'always on'.

DSL, or more typically ADSL, is a faster option over the phone line. You need a DSL modem, and if you plan on using plain telephone services you may need additional inline ferrite filters. Filters are dirt cheap, so they aren't a cost concern. DSL is faster than dial-up, with typical downstream (downloading) speeds reaching 768 Kilobits per second. Upstream (uploading) speeds are worse, typically something like 128 Kilobits per second. The performance of DSL is also highly dependant on how far away you are from a switching station. The further you are, the slower your speeds will be.

If coaxial cable service is available, you can use a Cable Modem. Cable is much faster than DSL, with speeds exceeding 10 Megabits per second downstream, and 2 megabits per second upstream. Many cable providers offer self-installation kits. All you need is to purchase is a cable modem.

Finally, you can subscribe to a Fiber Optic Service line. There are two types of FIOS: To-the-curb, and copper last-mile. To-the-curb fiber is true FIOS, with the service line being installed directly to the home, just like telephone and cable. Last-mile is a cheaper, but slower alternative. Fiber is run to a switching station, and the existing copper telephone cables run to the home. Last-mile services match slower cable services in terms of performance--the copper phone line is a limiter. To-the-curb downstream speeds can exceed 50 Megabites per second, with upstream hitting 5 megabits.

The second major way of getting online is wireless. This includes municipal wireless networks, and 3G cellular networks.

Some cities offer 802.11b wireless access for free in certain urban areas. All you need is an 802.11b compatible wireless card, which comes in either PCMCIA, USB, or ExpressCard format. You simply pop the adaptor in, install the drivers, and you will have internet access. If there is no open municipal network around, you can sometimes hijack someone else's open or poorly secured wireless network. The 802.11b spec allows for a maximum 11 Megabit transfer rate, but realistically speeds will be much slower than that--especially if this is a free municipal network.

Cellular networks offer their own nationwide wireless access via 2.5G or 3G wireless technologies. There are quite a few different technologies out there, but the most common are probably GPRS, EDGE, and 1xEV-DO. To subscribe to these services, you need to contact a cellular provider, and they will send you an appropriate adaptor card, likely PCMCIA. This card behaves just like the wireless card I mentioned above. GPRS is an older standard, with speeds topping out at around 20 Kilobits per second--slower than dial-up. EDGE reaches 230 Kilobits per second, brigning it closer to DSL in terms of performance. 1xEV-DO is closer to true broadband, with speeds reaching 4.9 Megabits per second.

FELIPE NO

I'd like to mention (o god please don't kill me guys) that if you don't have a wireless card for your laptop you can purchase a wireless USB adapter which pretty much acts as your wireless card.

We use them for our company laptops and they haven't failed us yet.

Of course these only work if there's a wireless network floating around you can leech off of or something.

If I am inaccurate with this, someone please correct me. I never post in here. ;_;

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Nah, you are spot on Sassafrass. Those actually can be much more convenient than PCMCIA solutions as well. =)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by ElectricSheep

Just know all of your options.

There are a handfull of different ways to get online that are available to the consumer.

The first major way is with blah blah blah...

Er, thanks for your input but I did say I had my question answered:

Originally Posted by Jamma

Of course laptops can connect wirelessly; thats why people buy laptops, not normal desktop PC's!

...So I didn't need any of that info. And like I said before:

Originally Posted by Jamma again

Anyway, to clarify, my bro lives in his own house but doesn't have an active phone line (it would be an added waste of money seeing as he doesn't earn much). So I wondered whether a laptop would solve that problem. And it does.

So I had two options; wireless or nothing.

And I've chosen nothing. Why, you ask? Because I've bought him an Xbox 360 instead. Sorted.

Cheers again peeps. Strangely enough you did help me make a decision

This thread can be closed now.

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