USB Broadband Card > PC > Router?

B

btraviswright

New Member
Hello, all!

I have an odd configuration problem and wanted to run it by everyone before I spent a whole lot of money.

I currently have a Broadband Wireless card which is a USB device. Is it possible to plug the USB device into my computer, connect that computer to a wireless router which would create a wireless network in my home for other laptops to connect to?

I've networked before, but this is the first time that I'm using the USB device/laptop as a "replacement" for a cable modem. Obviously the computer must be on and connected to the USB device for the router to transmit data.

By the way, the computer with the USB modem would be running Windows Vista Home Premium.

Is this possible?

Thanks!:)
 

My Computer

System One

Hi btraviswright,

In theory, this should be possible. However, the use of USB in this context raises some important issues. Firstly, driver issues. Are there any Vista drivers available for this device? Secondly, speed. The maximum speed for such a system will be limited to the slowest in the network, which in this case will be the USB connection speed (most, if not all, USB modems only work at the old 1.1 standard). Thirdly, you will be relying on an additional computer, in this case a laptop, to provide your connection - if this fails either through overheating or some other hardware/software glitch/fault then you lose connectivity.
My advice is not to go down this route, but instead get a router that has a suitable modem already built-in and connect via that instead. That way, you will get a more reliable connection AND you will free the laptop up for other jobs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
    Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
    Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
    Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
    WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
    Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
    WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
    Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
Wow, Fast reply! Thank you!

I've been using the USB device for a while now -- it is a 2.0 device and the drivers work great. I just needed the sharing capability. Good point about resting the entire home network on a single computer that may fail. :-)
 

My Computer

System One

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