<p>I know nothing about how to provide wifi at home for our DD, who will need it this coming year for schoolwork. We have an AT&T DSL-connected PC desktop. I don’t even know the first step in how to get wifi at the lowest cost humanly possible for her new MacBook Air. Something about using a “router”? Any advice (in lay, low-tech language)? — Sign me, Late Adopter. </p>
<p>Here’s my suggestion: buy an Apple Airport Express because it is so simple. It’s a router. There are many. The key thing is you get one that is dual band and which supports the latest wifi standard (at least “n” - it started with a, b then g) and modern security. I assume all but the cheapest will do the latter two but many are still single band. I’ve had DSL. They run it into a little box somewhere. You connect the box to the router and plug that in. The MacBook sees it and you name your wireless network - or use the list of letters but it’s easier to remember a name - and set a password. That’s about it.</p>
<p>If you want to connect your computer directly and connect to the DSL box then you need something with more connection ports. That could be a full Apple Airport or some other brand. The full size Apple Airport, which is now called Airport Extreme, has more ports and supports an even faster wireless standard (that you likely can’t use with your computer). So now the standards are a, b, g, n and ac. You need n at least and that is backwards compatible with any slower things that use a, b or g. </p>
<p>These all work. Some take more work to set up than others, which is why I mentioned the Apple stuff. The Airport Extreme has a bunch of capabilities beyond what you need. The Airport Express is actually a good buy because it’s true dual band. You have to read the sides of router boxes to realize cheap ones aren’t.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“https://www.apple.com/compare-wifi-models/]Here[/url”>Mac - Apple]Here[/url</a>] is an Apple page that has their models. </p>
<p>@Lergnom - HUGE thanks. You’ve given me a big start. I didn’t even know what terminology to use. Many thanks!</p>
<p>Call AT&T. …or go into an AT&T store. </p>
<p>Any wireless router would work. I have a Netgear that took all of 5 minutes to set up.</p>
<p>Have your daughter set it up. Most teenagers are very skilled at doing this. Plus, it’s a life skill she will need later on.</p>
<p>Our DSL provider just had us switch to an updated modem that was also a router, so check with AT&T first.</p>
<p>If you do get a DSL/Cable modem with a built-in router, make sure the encryption standard they use is wpa2 AES.<br>
Personally, I prefer to have my cable/dsl modem separate from the router not only for greater control/configuration flexibility on my end, but also so there’s less points of failure due to increasing complexity of an electronic device which runs 24/7. </p>
<p>Just putting that out there as some older neighbors with such routers were still being set up by several ISPs to use the obsolete and less secure WEP wireless encryption standard. </p>
<p>Only justification to be using WEP is if you’re still using old obsolete wireless cards from the late '90s/extreme early '00s. </p>
<p>I’m with thumper on this! Kids are very resourceful when the need comes. Let her figure out what needs to be done, and definitely do not pass up the potential “freebies” from the ATT store.</p>
<p>Check with ATT. I had an ATT/DSL connection for years with my own router, but I got faster speeds and a reduced rate by switching to ATT U-Verse for internet – and ATT supplied the combination modem/router for that. They send it to your house with very clear instructions. It’s pretty simple. ATT is almost always offering some new deal or another so if you haven’t changed your system in a while you really should check their web site and see what the current offerings are. </p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Yes, that is why the OP needs to head to an AT&T store. They will see if her address is Uverse-friendly or, if not, set her up with DSL with a wireless Gateway router/modem box combo. </p>
<p>An AT&T employee should be able to help you a LOT.</p>
<p>If her address is Uverse friendly, the speed choices will be super. That too comes with a router/modem combo. </p>
<p>Also, when AT&T comes to your home to set it up, the person will go thru it all with you. </p>
<p>You don’t NEED to have DSL through ATT to have a wireless router. You can have a wireless cable modem.</p>
<p>It sounds like AT&T is her current internet provider, which is why I suggested she visit the AT&T store to become wireless. </p>
<p>She may have find that they can offer her better options.</p>
<p>Agreeing with talking to AT&T, if indeed they’re your current internet provider. We had a “generic” router that had problems and found that our provider (which is Comcast) would “go there” because they didn’t support it. We ended up getting a router through Comcast for free. And when we upgraded, we ended up with a cable modem that had everything built in. Particularly if you’re not tech savvy, having a device that your carrier can support makes things much easier if you need help.</p>
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<p>Way to go in answering someone who posted … “I don’t even know the first step in how to get wifi at the lowest cost humanly possible for her new MacBook Air. Something about using a “router”? Any advice (in lay, low-tech language)?”</p>
<p>I am sure she is dying to have to deal with increasing complexity and ready to maximize her encryption standards!</p>
<p>The reality is that this might appear as a very simple request for most people who have dealt with routers and all that shebang. In theory, one should direct to the latest and best, but the reality is that this poster has received solid advice to start with ATT and perhaps receive an updated DSL modem that comes with a basic wireless setup. After all, it might be entirely free – even if pays to chceck the fine lines of leased equipment. </p>
<p>As far as buying an Apple device, while it might make a connection to a MacBook appear to be seamless, chances are that the OP will also been thrown in a different world the moment she has to deal with Apple and its “simpler methods.” Fwiw, people who are not too familiar with iTunes and the automatic upgrades that are standard with Apple routers might find the switch perplexing. As usual, it has everything to do with the environment is more comfortable. I deal with both on a daily basis, and for many, the Apple realm is hardly simpler. And that does not even account with the fact that Apple does NOT care to solve problems that plague a number of its clients. While solutions to “normal” problems are solved by the collective widsdom of users, it does not happen as smoothly with Apple where its own “tech” forum have problems that are unsolved for months and years on end. Fwiw, good luck with making that MacBook Air share a wireless printer in a PC connected world. And surviving the software updates launched by the Cupertino geniuses. </p>
<p>In the end, since this is not a “power user” chances are that her best bet is simple to ask for a better DSL router or buy a reasonably priced router for a lot less than 50 bucks. Doubtful that the price of an Airport Express is justifiable, and neither is having to jump into the Apple deep end. </p>
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<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>You may want to reread my prior post…specifically the part about older neighbors finding out their Cable/DSL setup service personnel were setting up their dsl/cable modem/router combo device to use the extremely obsolete and insecure WEP wireless encryption standards as late as a few months back. </p>
<p>Pretty odd and IMO, unconscionable considering WEP has been obsolete since 2004-5 when the FBI found it could easily be cracked even with a home PC from the mid-'90s. It is also unnecessary as all wireless cards/integrated WIFI device/routers sold in the last decade have the capabilities for the much more secure WPA2 AES encryption. </p>
<p>Also, there’s sometimes a need to balance communicating in layperson’s terms and not oversimplifying/ignoring overly technical aspects when it is important. </p>
<p>Doing the latter was one of the reasons those older neighbors were misled by ignorant or lazy service personnel who wanted to set up those modem/router combos mindlessly from the script which still assumed WEP was the standard for wireless encryption security. </p>
<p>Wow. I had no idea it would be relatively easy and affordable. Thank you, all! Sigh: All these months (years) without home wifi because of my dumb assumptions. I will remain a newbie with this stuff and a lot goes over my head, but I am concerned about “security” and will research more now that I have key-words to use. I’ll also ask the AT&T and (in Sept) her school IT people about it. — And, yes, the idea would be to give this job to the DD after I learn about it. Apparently having home wifi means she could Skype more with her boyfriend. So, she’ll be very motivated to get this done. 
— P.S. We don’t even have cable TV. And, “streaming”? What the huh? (Still, I love technology.)</p>
<p>You could go into Best Buy and talk to a blue shirt there. You will probably get all the help you need. My dad (who is 86 and has an AT&T internet plan of some kind) did that, and was able to set it up. I will say that every time he ever calls AT&T themselves for anything, it is a complete nightmare. Heck, send your D to the store and she will probably set it up for you. :)</p>
<p>@dyisu13 – you really don’t have to worry about the security issues – it’s all built into the newer routers. The one that ATT Uverse provides comes with a numerical password printed on the side – other brands come with installation software that runs on your computer and give you an opportunity to set the password. It’s essentially plug-and-play these days. The only issue that requires any thought is deciding where to place the router in your house (a potential problem if you have a big house - obviously, the farther the computer is from the router, the weaker the signal – so , centrally located is best. But obviously the router needs to go in a spot where there is a wired connection available- so for ATT that would mean a phone jack. </p>
<p>“If you do get a DSL/Cable modem with a built-in router, make sure the encryption standard they use is wpa2 AES.
Personally, I prefer to have my cable/dsl modem separate from the router not only for greater control/configuration flexibility on my end, but also so there’s less points of failure due to increasing complexity of an electronic device which runs 24/7.”</p>
<p>You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. The poster SAID, as clear as could be, that she’s a newbie to all of this, and you gave her a bunch of jargon that she’s not going to understand. </p>
<p>Do you computer-people not get that this comes across to someone who is a newbie as “If you do get a pwoaipwooppioaupfoienl;skj;fL with a pjlgovmkpwerkn;, make sure the psdfupogw983473 they use is nvfopiupsour?”</p>
<p>Unbelievable. </p>