Ipad or Samsung Tab? Router Problems?

[ARCOgraphite]

My wife wants an Ipad or similar for her B-day. I havent set up a wireless net in the house yet. I Have a motorola cable modem from comcast. Trying to talk her into a mini laptop (~14") or a killer Notebook. She has shown interest in the new Samsung Tab - but will not use the telephone. Q1) if she gets the ipad (wifi only) how do I load the wireless security key onto the device with no read write USB port? Q2) Does Comcast care about me hanging a Router hanging off their rented cable modem? Should I optionally get a modem/router in a "one box solution" and just tell comcast the MAC Address?

Thanks guys and gals, PC mac is not my forte (oil neither!!!

 

[Dave Sherman]

I have an ipad. Bear in mind the ipad still needs a PC or a Mac to sync up with, in fact, I was surprised that's the first thing you have to do when you take it out of the box. You first have to install iTunes on your computer, plug in the USB cable, and it has to sync up. Mine also downloaded a new operating system, which took about 30 minutes to install. Despite that hurdle, it's great. I have the 3G version, so it can use 3G when wifi isn't available. You don't use any hardware for the wifi keys. It's a number you key in, which the ipad will ask for when you try to connect to a secured network. When you set up the wireless router you can usually pick a key number, or have it generate one.

I don't think your provider will complain about the router; when I had cable modem service with Time Warner, they didn't care. My DSL provider now doesn't care, but it would still be good to put a key on the wireless side. You don't want all your neighbors freeloading on your service.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
if she gets the ipad (wifi only) how do I load the wireless security key onto the device with no read write USB port?

You type it in.

Quote:

Q2) Does Comcast care about me hanging a Router hanging off their rented cable modem?

No. Many people do it. That is basically what you need to be able to run any sort of home network (wired or wireless) anyway.

Quote:

Should I optionally get a modem/router in a "one box solution" and just tell comcast the MAC Address?

You could, but in my experience, these "all-in-one" boxes aren't particularly good at anything. You'll get better performance if you keep the two separate.

By the way, my wife has an iPad (wi-fi) and a netbook, and she uses them both. For web-browsing, reading books, and checking FB, she uses the iPad. For other things that are more typing-intensive or sites that require Flash, she uses the netbook.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Thanks for the replies! I'm still a bit confused about the security - maybe I'm thinking of a level that isnt required for home networking. The One whre you have the PC assign a code and you load it onto a thumbdrive dongle and upload it into router thru the unit's USB?!
After lunch today, a younger woman at work just showed me her ipad that she got for her birthday and it is pretty shiny/slick. I got to toucgh it - very responsive an resizes fast. Just what the girls want. I suppose my mini laptop idea just isnt "gee whiz" enough.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I got to toucgh it - very responsive an resizes fast. Just what the girls want.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Ooopps!

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Thanks for the replies! I'm still a bit confused about the security - maybe I'm thinking of a level that isnt required for home networking. The One whre you have the PC assign a code and you load it onto a thumbdrive dongle and upload it into router thru the unit's USB?!
After lunch today, a younger woman at work just showed me her ipad that she got for her birthday and it is pretty shiny/slick. I got to toucgh it - very responsive an resizes fast. Just what the girls want. I suppose my mini laptop idea just isnt "gee whiz" enough.


thats just the easy way to do it

you can also go into the router see what the wireless security key is and manually type it in.

the thumbdrive thing is just for convenience.

depending on what type of router you have
you would do something similar to

opening internet explorer on a connected computer
typing in the routers address
(usually 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 ...or similar)

put in username and password of router
example username:admin password:admin
is the default it varies by brand.

then go into the wireless section and find the security
key for the wireless and manually type it into
the ipad etc.

IF you post your exactly model and brand of router
I could be more specific on instructions if its on default settings.