We have new internet in our house, and the provider sent us a new modem. However, it struggles with connection upstairs in our house (it’s not big, and the walls are traditional council house thin).

We have our old modem that worked fine from the old provider- can I use this one or does it have to be the one given to us?

unless you’ve switched from cable to a BT phoen line you’ll be fine. You just need to set the ‘modem’ part of the router to talk to your new ISP.

Is that a complicated job?

Unless you have a sky ADSL router as they are locked down with firmware to not allow you to reconfigure. And they dont give you the network password either so you cant setup a new router 🙁

not really – if you have the instructions (or can find on google) for the ‘old’ modem you shoudl be abel to get details from your new ISP that will let you fill in the relevant boxes.

Are you confusing “modem” with “wireless”?

Most ISP provide a router (with a buit in firewll and modem) which may also be a wireless access point to allow you to access the internet wirelessly.
Are you saying that since you changed ISP’s your wireless connection is rubbish around your house?

What if the old router isn’t proprietary and was just bought separately?

We had a perfectly good Netgear router, but have just changed ISP (sort of: Pipex to TalkTalk*) and I’d rather keep it (as it allows wifi connection by my Blackberry – new one doesn’t, which is spoiling on the bog surfing).

*I know, but it’s free.

You can usually use a generic wireless ADSL router/modem with a different ISP, or re-use one from your old ISP. However many ISPs dont like it and might not offer you support on the non-standard kit.

If you can configure it with the new ISP id and password then there should be no reason why it wouldnt work.

I suspect ISP’s lock things down to reduce support.

molgrips – sounds sensible.

I can get all the support I need…. 😉

Ok.

First, by “modem” you mean “router.” I don’t mean to be pedantic, but I’m easily confused; it’s like going to the garage and calling your distributor a ‘rotor arm’.

Second, what do you mean by “struggles with connection” – are you talking about wireless PCs / laptops connecting to the router, or the router holding a stable ADSL connection? Very different problems with very different solutions.

Third, broadly speaking, you don’t need to use the ISP-supplied router unless there’s a specific reason to do so (which I’ll come to in a sec). You should just be able to change the username and password in the WAN Settings config page on your Netgear and double-check that the other settings on that page haven’t changed.

There’s caveats to this. If your router doesn’t support features on your new connection (for example, if the old one is ADSL1 and the new connection is ADSL2+), you’ll not be able to use it (well, you might but at a reduced functionality). If TalkTalk don’t supply you with the ADSL username and password, you can’t use it without hackery and possibly breaching contract (Sky do this, the credentials are hard-coded into the router). If you ever need to ring support, be prepared to swap in their router for troubleshooting purposes.

(sorry, mixing up OurMan’s post and the OP – replace “Netgear” and “TalkTalk” where appropriate)

there is normally a set up guide on your ISP support pages telling you how to set up your old route.

First, by “modem” you mean “router.” I don’t mean to be pedantic, but I’m easily confused; it’s like going to the garage and calling your distributor a ‘rotor arm’.

Rubbish if its an ADSL connection you need a modem, it may be built into a combined modem router. Something has to do the CAP or DMT modulation and that is the modem (short for modulator/demodulator)

Bazer

He’s talking about the lil box with the blinking lights..

It’s actually three devices in one. A wireless access point, which lets you connect wirelessly; a router, which manages traffic between different computers and websites etc, and an ADSL modem which connects your network to the phone line.

HTH 🙂

scottyjohn – Member

Unless you have a sky ADSL router as they are locked down with firmware to not allow you to reconfigure. And they dont give you the network password either so you cant setup a new router

username admin, password sky. It’s just a netgear router, nowt special about it other than the change in default password / branding

a router, which manages traffic between different networks computers and websites etc

Routers traditionally work at layer 3 of the OSI model.

First, by “modem” you mean “router.” I don’t mean to be pedantic, but I’m easily confused; it’s like going to the garage and calling your distributor a ‘rotor arm’.

Nope, router is above. A modem “demodulates” the incoming signal changing the signal from analogue (which is the method of transfering it across an analogue telephone system) to digital which is understood by computer equipment such as a router/PC

again O2 also do this I believe.

Might be an idea telling us who your previous supplier was and what model the wireless router/modem is ?