Can you help me set up a wi-fi hotspot?

[Brabus E73]

Hello all, I just joined today and am happy to be here. This seems like a great community to be a part of for my recent purchase of a 3ds and New Leaf! I'm a long-time fan of Animal Crossing and was really into WW. Missed out on City-Folk due to being on the 360 but I totally caved and bought a 3ds just for NL ^,^!

Well, I hope this is an ok place to ask this question, cuz I'm havin' some troubles. My current home setup isn't wireless and I've tried troubleshooting it for a couple years now. Basically, our internet was setup a loooong time ago and NOBODY has the info required to get into the system to unlock the router and whatnot to create a wireless environment (brilliant, right?). I've been on a hard line this whole time and getting NL has finally pushed me to really try to solve this again.

I'm one of those suckers that bought the Nintendo wi-fi usb hubs ever so long ago for my DS Lite, and back then, it worked great. Well...after some reseach and aimless googling, I've learned that this little guy it totally incompatible with a Windows 7 64bit machine. Bummer. So... my question is this:

Is it possible to set up a wireless hotspot by buying a USB wi fi hub from any other brand? I'm not too up-to-date on what's out there in the realm of possibilities, and I really don't want to cough up $50+ for a new router...and going to a coffee shop to play online isn't ideal LOL.


Any thoughts? I appreciate the help!

 

[ben_nyc]

Hi Brabus! Yes, but bear in mind, these USB wireless hotspots are not that reliable. A couple of questions:

1. Do you share this Internet w/ another family?

2. Make sure you research these USB Hotspots on Amazon & Newegg. Sometimes reviews from actual buyers & not critics are more accurate.

3. Would you own a smart phone? You can create a portable hotspot off of your data connection!

4. A router is much more reliable than these USB Hotspots- as router tech has evolved offering faster (& more stable) data thorough-put & safer firewall protections, the same cannot be said for the USB variant.

If you have any other questions, just ask Brabus!

 

[Midoriya]

Hi Brabus! Yes, but bear in mind, these USB wireless hotspots are not that reliable. A couple of questions:

1. Do you share this Internet w/ another family?

2. Make sure you research these USB Hotspots on Amazon & Newegg. Sometimes reviews from actual buyers & not critics are more accurate.

3. Would you own a smart phone? You can create a portable hotspot off of your data connection!

4. A router is much more reliable than these USB Hotspots- as router tech has evolved offering faster (& more stable) data thorough-put & safer firewall protections, the same cannot be said for the USB variant.

If you have any other questions, just ask Brabus!

Actually, I tried doing wifi on AC:NL with my phone as the hotspot before, and it doesn't work. You need to have an up-to-date router and a good internet connection from it.


EDIT: If you just want to use the internet though, then the phone works.

 

[ben_nyc]

Actually, I tried doing wifi on AC:NL with my phone as the hotspot before, and it doesn't work. You need to have an up-to-date router and a good internet connection from it.

I guess it depends on your phone's hardware & your reception. My Note 2 performs fine as do my friend's Iphone.

 

[Aquadirt]

If you have windows 7, and a laptop with built in wifi, its ridiculously easy.

 

[Brabus E73]

Hi Brabus! Yes, but bear in mind, these USB wireless hotspots are not that reliable. A couple of questions:

1. Do you share this Internet w/ another family?

2. Make sure you research these USB Hotspots on Amazon & Newegg. Sometimes reviews from actual buyers & not critics are more accurate.

3. Would you own a smart phone? You can create a portable hotspot off of your data connection!

4. A router is much more reliable than these USB Hotspots- as router tech has evolved offering faster (& more stable) data thorough-put & safer firewall protections, the same cannot be said for the USB variant.

If you have any other questions, just ask Brabus!

Man, you're awesome. Thank you! To follow-up, here's what I got for ya:

1. I only share the internet with two other members in the house, and they are both on hard lines like myself. Two connections are desktops and one is an Xbox 360.

2. Good call. Hadn't even considered the "real-person" aspect of it. Any brands that come to your mind?

3. I do, but it is the ever-so-ancient Iphone 4 and I missed my chance to jailbreak it. That would've been sweet though.

4. Ya, I kinda figured. Maybe after payday I'll check it out.

This may be a silly question but without any of the login info to my internet provider, won't I still have some trouble setting up a new router? We have comcast but like I mentioned earlier I really goofed by not saving any of that info years ago.

Again, I appreciate your help!

If you have windows 7, and a laptop with built in wifi, its ridiculously easy.

I have 7, but it isn't a notebook. It's an HP Touchsmart all-in-one desktop. I only have it because it was given to me when I was in a bind, which I'm lucky to have even gotten. It's also 64bit unfortunately.

 

[Midoriya]

I guess it depends on your phone's hardware & your reception. My Note 2 performs fine as do my friend's Iphone.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, so it should be able to handle wifi. I don't know why yours does any different, my phone is really new and up-to-date.

EDIT: Plus I didn't just find that out, someone told me that too. Samsung has released the Samsung Galaxy S4, but that really shouldn't have anything to do with it.

 

[ben_nyc]

2. Good call. Hadn't even considered the "real-person" aspect of it. Any brands that come to your mind?

4. Ya, I kinda figured. Maybe after payday I'll check it out.

This may be a silly question but without any of the login info to my internet provider, won't I still have some trouble setting up a new router? We have comcast but like I mentioned earlier I really goofed by not saving any of that info years ago.

Brabus, Netgear & Asus are good brands if you're looking into Networking equipment. Your last point is a good one. Hardlines are the BEST connections- stable speed & a stable connection. But, for wireless devices like the 3DS you'll need Wifi or a Hotspot.

Okay, do you have a personal Acct. w/ Comcast? As in did you pay extra for the additional hardlines or does Each line carry a Separate Bill/Acct.? The usual setup goes like this:

The Comcast agent will run a line from a Hub that's connected to a tree probably across from your residence. That single Hardline/Ethernet Cable is drilled into one of your rooms to which they'll give you a Cable modem which has a Single or Multiple Ethernet Ports to Hardline other PCs/devices. BUT, many of us attach a Wireless Router from that Modem & then USING the ports on the router to connect our devices. As an additional benefit, the Wireless router will also broadcast its capabilities to devices that can connect through WIfi. In this situation, don't worry about your providers login info. Routers today will have some very simple software to setup a private wireless network. What you NEED to write down is the Wireless router login/PW info & the Wifi Key for your Wireless Network.

My friend had a case where his landlord gave him a free hardline from his router BUT, this meant no Wifi because the router was old. If this is your case, you're stuck.

One final point- Many ISPs are battling over customers & if you can recall how LONG you've been w/ Comcast, they will send you their latest modem which can be Wifi ready, thus you shouldn't have to buy anything. Just buzz them & state your satisfaction of their service but you noticed how old your modem is compared to the models you've seen on TV.

Best of luck, Brabus!

 

[Brabus E73]

Brabus, Netgear & Asus are good brands if you're looking into Networking equipment. Your last point is a good one. Hardlines are the BEST connections- stable speed & a stable connection. But, for wireless devices like the 3DS you'll need Wifi or a Hotspot.

Okay, do you have a personal Acct. w/ Comcast? As in did you pay extra for the additional hardlines or does Each line carry a Separate Bill/Acct.? The usual setup goes like this:

The Comcast agent will run a line from a Hub that's connected to a tree probably across from your residence. That single Hardline/Ethernet Cable is drilled into one of your rooms to which they'll give you a Cable modem which has a Single or Multiple Ethernet Ports to Hardline other PCs/devices. BUT, many of us attach a Wireless Router from that Modem & then USING the ports on the router to connect our devices. As an additional benefit, the Wireless router will also broadcast its capabilities to devices that can connect through WIfi. In this situation, don't worry about your providers login info. Routers today will have some very simple software to setup a private wireless network. What you NEED to write down is the Wireless router login/PW info & the Wifi Key for your Wireless Network.

My friend had a case where his landlord gave him a free hardline from his router BUT, this meant no Wifi because the router was old. If this is your case, you're stuck.

One final point- Many ISPs are battling over customers & if you can recall how LONG you've been w/ Comcast, they will send you their latest modem which can be Wifi ready, thus you shouldn't have to buy anything. Just buzz them & state your satisfaction of their service but you noticed how old your modem is compared to the models you've seen on TV.

Best of luck, Brabus!

Interesting. I'll have to do some investigating and try to work on getting the software for my Linksys again, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do any sort of forgot username/password stuff since its been so long and the email address is no longer active. What a mess lol. I'll have to check out what comcast says about providing a wireless router.

Thanks again for all your help, Ben. I appreciate you putting the time into your posts!

 

[Brabus E73]

Well, I sure feel like a fool...I didn't realize I could create a hotspot through my Macbook Pro. Has anyone else used that as a source to play your 3DS online? Is it strong enough of a connection? I'm stuck at work otherwise I'd try it

 

[Brabus E73]

Still not too sure what I'm supposed to say here but I'll try both...

Lock thread

Close thread

 

[Jas0n]

Still not too sure what I'm supposed to say here but I'll try both...

Lock thread

Close thread

You can just report your own thread and ask for it to be locked and closed. The report option is that little exclamation mark in the bottom left corner of a post.

 

[Brabus E73]

You can just report your own thread and ask for it to be locked and closed. The report option is that little exclamation mark in the bottom left corner of a post.

Thanks Jas0n!

- - - Post Merge - - -

You can just report your own thread and ask for it to be locked and closed. The report option is that little exclamation mark in the bottom left corner of a post.

I know you've been on TBT a while, but is that what I'm supposed to do? There's a "note" at the bottom that makes me think I'd be violating a rule :/

 

[Jas0n]

Thanks Jas0n!

- - - Post Merge - - -



I know you've been on TBT a while, but is that what I'm supposed to do? There's a "note" at the bottom that makes me think I'd be violating a rule :/

That note is just a standard message from the vBulletin forum software. The staff just find it easier to sort through threads if there's a report for them.

 

[Brabus E73]

That note is just a standard message from the vBulletin forum software. The staff just find it easier to sort through threads if there's a report for them.

Ok, great. Just wanted to make sure. Thanks for your help, Jas0n!