Another tech question - really need help a.s.a.p.

[stypee]

Try to follow me on this because its kind of hard to explain:

Magic Jack just introduced the Magic Jack Plus - it allows you to use the gizmo without having to actually plug it into your computer. You simply plug it into your router and via an ethernet cable through the router and I think an outlet and it works (check the site for hook up explanation)

Now here's what I'm trying to figure out:

I use Magic Jack on my comp. and I must say, despite the occasionally flaws it really was a great investment..

What I would like to do with the Magic Jack Plus is get a wireless router for my apartment and have it bounce of my landlord's router upstairs - is that possible?

So, I would get a router but it would not be connected to his main hub, it would just be a basic wireless router with nothing else. I would simply plug it into the wall and have try to bounce the signal off his router upstairs. Magic Jack Plus has this thingy in it (again, see website to describe "thingy") that is supposed to act like a computer so it doesn't have to be attached to the computer via the router.

Is this possible? Can anyone suggest, in idiot language, how I could do this - cheaply? If I can do this can you suggest what I would need and what type of equipment I can cheaply buy?

I am trying to desperatly save enough money as I can and this magic jack thing really has helped a lot with that. I barely use my cell anymore which is great - its only costing me 20 bucks a month to use my cell - it costs like 30 bucks A YEAR to use magic jack - no monthly charges - its a great deal and it works FAIRLY well.

Thanks in advance

sir stypee

[mkiker2089]

short answer, it ain't easy
short advice, 20 bucks a month is too much to have a cell phone. Tracfone can be kept active for 5 a month, but that's not including using it.

longer answer-
It's not going to be easy. You can't just catch his signal and bounce it. You may be able to get a router that will act as a repeater. It will have to log in however so you need the password. You could also get a wireless bridge, which will cost about 100 dollars and is designed to do just that, but again it has to log in to his router. Any wireless repeater is also going to run into interference issues since you are starting to fill the same bandwidth with more devices. You could turn out the wireless repeating function on some routers and have it act as a bridge, but those routers aren't the cheapest ones so we are back at the 50-100 dollar level.

If your landlord is willing to give you free internet the best option is to drill a hole in the floor and run a cat5 cable from his router to your apartment and the hook up a second router with it's own SSID and password. Going from wired to wireless to wireless repeater is going to introduce all sorts of problems for the magic jack which I'm told will drop calls because it's a- double nated and b- having to deal with extra latency

[stypee]

Mk-

This appears to be all that I would need:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YL ... 00_details

I bought it this morning and according to everything described sounds quite simple.

I don't know if my landlord even uses a password - anyone can access this internet line - it has no password at all... As for tapping into his router, I don't see that being that complex either, I think he would be cool with it - I hope.

I've used the regular magic jack for close to a year. Yes, it does have a few flaws and it can be, aggravating. I've gotten to figure out how to fix the bugs and its been working out quite well and its simple issues really. They said they made some improvements with all the problems from the original model - I guess I'll see... I do feel they are very sneaky and quite scam like with their confusing sign up and payment options - its a bit confusing... I find it worth it.

As for my phone, I'm using Assurion - its designed for people in my situation - on disablity and medicare - it works out as long as I don't go over my minutes monthly, than its sneaky. I'm rarely using it anyway.

So what do you think of the router? Would it work out as simple as I think it will?

[Dan Mancini]

I'm not clear on what you mean by "I would simply plug it into the wall," but if you plan to plug it into an electrical outlet and then piggyback off of your landlord's wireless signal, a Wireless N Router ain't gonna do that. The router is designed to transmit wireless signals. It needs an ethernet connection and must be provisioned on your landlord's ISP's network to do that.

You're trying to make a router act like an adapter. It won't. And no adapter that I'm aware of will have a USB port for the MagicJack (I'm assuming MagicJack is a USB device; I have no clue).

[stypee]

I'm not clear on what you mean by "I would simply plug it into the wall," but if you plan to plug it into an electrical outlet and then piggyback off of your landlord's wireless signal, a Wireless N Router ain't gonna do that. The router is designed to transmit wireless signals. It needs an ethernet connection and must be provisioned on your landlord's ISP's network to do that.

You're trying to make a router act like an adapter. It won't. And no adapter that I'm aware of will have a USB port for the MagicJack (I'm assuming MagicJack is a USB device; I have no clue).

The magic jack plus actually plugs into the wall via a wall adapter and than it plugs into the router via an ethernet cable and than you use a typical phone cord...

here is the site link:

http://magicjack.com/plus-v05/

I really need to know if I can get this to work or if it will work

[Dan Mancini]

Got it. I think you actually need something like THIS.

It's possible that the router you linked to could be configured as an access point, but it'd probably be simpler to just buy an access point.

[stypee]

Dan

Thanks so much for your help..

Would the unit I already bought be okay?

It's just the model below the one you linked to me - same company and everyhing...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YL ... 00_details

[stypee]

One other thing -

My landlord doesn't even have a password to his internet - anyone bonehead can hook up to it. When I first moved here all I had to do was turn the computer on, search for the connection and there it was. I even have my wireless printer hooked up with no configuration required, just a simple scan to find it on my computer... You think I could just plug it in and have to not deal with his stuff?

[Dan Mancini]

Would the unit I already bought be okay?

No. What you bought is a router. What I linked is an access point with wireless distribution services, which means it has a mode specifically designed to expand an existing wireless network without a wired connection. Whether it will be easy or even possible to configure without direct access to your landlord's router is anyone's guess. You may have to go to the router's IP and mess with its configuration in order to get it to work. Or, if it really is a completely unsecured network, you may be able to do everything through the access point setup.

[mkiker2089]

The sticking point, as Dan said, is what they are designed for. 99 percent of home users just have a router. A router plugs directly into a modem and sends the signal out. Routers, being designed to plug into a modem, don't get wireless signals but instead rely on getting a wired signal and making it wireless. Will what you bought work. Yes, very good in fact IF you run cat5 from your landlords router like I suggested. However if the landlord is just leaving the router open out of stupidity and not because he's intentionally giving you wifi then that won't work.

A wireless repeater (and some routers but you'll need to read the manual) can get a wifi signal and re-send it.

[stypee]

The sticking point, as Dan said, is what they are designed for. 99 percent of home users just have a router. A router plugs directly into a modem and sends the signal out. Routers, being designed to plug into a modem, don't get wireless signals but instead rely on getting a wired signal and making it wireless. Will what you bought work. Yes, very good in fact IF you run cat5 from your landlords router like I suggested. However if the landlord is just leaving the router open out of stupidity and not because he's intentionally giving you wifi then that won't work.

A wireless repeater (and some routers but you'll need to read the manual) can get a wifi signal and re-send it.

Now I'm confused.. what the hell is CAT5?

My landlord is running a VERY unsecured network. Like I said, all I had to do when I moved in was turn the computer on and that was it, I was online. You can hook anything up in this house without some sort of password - for example, my wireless printer, I just turned it on, had the computer search for the signal and there it was. Even when I turned it on without my computer configuring it the printer had the signal in a few seconds.. I'm going by the assumption it would work the same way. I hate the idea of having to go through all his crap, he'd make me crazy not to mention he understands nothing.. I imagine if there was one, he doesn't even have the dam configuration.. I looked carefully into it as far as having to hook it up to a modem and it says it doesn't have to be - the router/repeater that is - I bought the one Dan said would work... We had this other issue where we were having problems having to reset the modem since it is upstairs. My landlord owns property of the island so he stays there sometimes giving my roommate and I no access to the upstairs, we had to sneak into his place once to do a reset... He came up with this idea to set up a modem down here so if it needed to be reset we could do so - I can't see how that could possibly work because the main hub of everything is upstairs.

I don't want to even go into the problems he is giving me over the heat this winter and using the freaking washer and dryer twice a week..

oh, sorry, went off the subject there for a moment.