A little more wireless router help needed (please)
 

Well, I seem to be progressing. I have 3 computers online now and can do most things at each computer. I'm still using Outlook Express to read my mail. It seems if I reply from one computer, that is the only computer that receives additional replies. I assume (remember, I'm a neophyte) that each computer is giving out a different IP (I don't even know what that stands for, I just read about things and try to figure out how they apply to me).

So, even if I'm wrong about that, how do I place all 3 on the same level so that anything can be done from anywhere? I guess this is called a network? Up until recently, I thought little about what networks actually do in a residential situation. I mean, doesn't one of the computers become a server and I have to log on to it before I can read mail and receive mail from any of the 3?

You IT guys probably get a kick out of us old guys that didn't grow up with this stuff. Hell, I didn't ever see a calculator until I was in my 20's! So, don't laugh when I tell you it has taken me 6 months to get this far. Of course, the first router I bought (a D-link) didn't ever work right. At least the NetGear I have now started working with not too much effort and installation.

You just need to set them all up w/ the same pop server account(check w/ you isp for the address). Then when you download mail you usually have a choice of removing it from the server or leaving it.

If the same message is to be down loaded to multiple computers leave it on the server. But then you will have to manually erase it at some future date.

Tell you what. This part of what I do for a living. (Make other people's problems go away.) If the computers are on the internet you can call me at work tomorrow and I can set them up in a couple minutes.

I'll send you a PM with my contact info.

IMAP was designed for this.

Actually you have the option of having them deleted after X number days.
In Outlook click on Tools->Accounts (open the Tools, then click on "Accounts" on that menu).

You'll get a dialog something like this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1117072372.jpg

Click on the Properties button and you'll get a dialog like this:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1117072459.jpg

Now click on the Advanced tab (at the top of the dialog, far right) and you'll get this dialog which allows you to change the numbers of days your mail remains on the server after you read it:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1117072582.jpg

-Chris

How about posting the process for the rest of us, thanks.:)

Why move this? I can't understand what they are talking about here any better than I can understand the wiring diagram on my car to fix the fog lights.

"how do I place all 3 on the same level so that anything can be done from anywhere? I guess this is called a network?"

Are trying share resources between the computers? I'm talking printers, folders.....

All of your computers are getting an address from the wireless router. Because they are all getting address from the same DHCP scope, you are on the same subnet already. In English? All of your computers are on the same street, its just a question of finding out where your neighbors are.

We need to know what operating system is on the computers. If its XP, then you will have to make changes to the Windows Firewall to allow your computers to connect. Hmmmmmm...kind of making come assumtions here.....can you let us know if these are XP computers, and if service pack 2 is installed? Right click on 'My Computer' in the start menu, and select properties. The dialog box the comes up should tell the OS and service pack level.

Zeke - none of your computers are really in charge of any of the others. What that "basically" means is that you don't have to log into a "server" to get on the network.

In a typical business network you log into a "server" to authenticate to resources on the network and the computer itself. Resources can be anything from printers, internet access to file shares.

All you have is multiple computers sharing the same internet connection. If you're sharing some resources that complicates things only slightly.

No real authentication is needed between the computers if they don't share anything (like printers or files) between themselves.

They are all by themselves and they don't interact with eachother or depend on eachother for anything.

If you're using Windows XP/2000 the "log in" process is simply a local authentication to get access to the computer itself. If you're on Windows 9X it means about the same but is much less sophisticated.

The "IP address" is the internet protocol address; that's is literally your computer's address on the network just like your address on your street. It is used so that other computers know where your computer is so that when you go to a web page or a mail server and ask for something it knows via your IP address how to get it back to you.

As far as the mail thing is concerned - they should all be able to access the same mailbox (maybe not at the same exact time if your ISP does not permit multiple logins though) just fine. The settings in the mail clients just need to be the same accross the board. The instructions given before cover that well enough.

Let me know if I wasn't clear.

POP sucks, use IMAP

Chris Bennet already covered it quite well. Only detail is I might bump it to 5 days.

It is kind of like the mailbox at your house. If someone checks the mail and then takes it then the next person finds an empty box. What we do when we are sharing the mail is to leave it in the box so everyone gets a chance to look at it before it is removed.


Hey Zeke!
You confused yet?

You don't need to really understand any of the jargon. Just try to describe what you are trying to do and we will try to get you a solution.

If it is simply to share email on 3 computers then Chris's description has you covered. Only thing I would add is to set it up on one computer.

Once you have it correct you can "Export" it using the export button that you can see on Chris's first picture. If you save that to a floppy you can "Import" it on the other 2 computers.

If it is still a problem give me a call.

Zeke, after you get the mail sorted, remember to set up a backup.

When your hard drive fails and you lose everything, is too late.

My bacon was saved by my backup in the last 12 months. My wife let me know that, if I'd lost all the digital pics we'd taken of the kids over the past 4 years, I would be killed.

Milt, take your router back and get a Belkin Wireless G or Pre-N if the computers are fairly far apart from your internet source.

In the span of say 5-10 minutes (really) I've set up 2 Mac Powerbooks, 2 old Dell towers with Belkin USB wireless adapters, a Mac tower with adapter, 2 wireless PC notebooks, 2 more old Dell towers wired to a Belkin Wireless G router configured as an access point and a Belkin wireless print server on an HP laser printer.

Everything was plug and play. Amazing!!

prior to this, I spent 5, yes 5 total hours on the phone with Linksys (India and very hard to understand) trying to get their components to work and they NEVER did.

I chose Linsys since they were picked up by Cisco, the undisputed leader in networking, although Jupiter is doing a lot to catch up.

Anyway, good advice here, but for a hardware recommendation that really works, go with Belkin.