Forgive me if this has been discussed before but I searched through many threads that were either too technical for my understanding or did not directly relate to my question.

I recently signed with Swisscom for their basic tv and internet package. When I saw they wanted 199 CHF for a wireless modem, I decided to just take the standard wired one (non-wifi) and to buy my own wirless modem for a much cheaper price from the likes of digitec.ch etc.

However after reading some other threads it would seem it is not so simple and I may have made a bad choice.

Can someone please clarify whether or not I can simply by a new wireless modem and plug it and connect to the internet (if so which type?) or do I have to now go out and buy the Swisscom wirless modem?

Can I add some kind of adapter to my current Swisscom modem to make it send a wirless signal instead of buying the Swisscom or other branded wifi modem?

I would really like to use wi-fi as i have several wireless devices that are pretty redundant at home without it.

I would appreciate any help or advice that could be offered.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

A broadband ( not ADSL / DSL ) wireless router would do the job, as would a dedicated Wireless Access Poit ( WAP ).

This broadband wireless modem serves wireless clients eg your laptop, and wired ones eg a desktop computer. The broadband wireless modem connects to the LAN port of your Swisscom gateway modem using a standard Ethernet cable.

An example would be this:

Linksys WRT160NL

http://en.toppreise.ch/prod_175075.html

Thanks for the reply. So I understand from this then that I will still get tv from my Swisscom wired modem but the wireless router I plug into it works seperately.

Is it difficult to set up or does it require special passwords (such as from Swisscom)? Is it a secure wireless connection with the devices you mentioned?

Thanks,

Steve

Converting your current wired internet connection to wireless using a broadband wireless router should not be too difficult and does not Swisscom to be notified. One can do it in as little as 30 minutes including setting up wireless network security settings.

Once you have obtained the device, and if you run into problems, ask on here ( first provide the exact model number for members in the know to reference elsewhere ). The forum has many competent members who regularly hang out and wouldn't mind polishing their skills.

Yes, the router works seperately. You simply plug the router into your modem via the ethernet cable provided (either with the modem, or the router), and plug the power cable into the wall.

Setting up a basic network is very simple and straightforward- you can follow the directions included with the router, and on an Apple or Windows PC, everything is done for you. It should not require any special passwords from Swisscom.

As to the secure connection, you must set that up yourself. Most routers come with instructions on how to turn on WEP/WPA security. If you need some more help, google "set up wireless security" to find a few websites dedicated to the subject. I highly recommend you secure your network, because anyone may access a non-secure network and possibly violate your privacy or worse.

Thanks for the help. I had a look in Fnac yesterday and saw a CISCO wireless router for 40 CHF capable of up to 300mbs. Hopefully this one will be good enough to use on my tablet/laptop/PS3. I'll purchase it and give it a go.

Cheers,

Steve

Sounds good - all the best.

If the OP is still looking for wifi router here is one original from SWISSCOM. By experience I know that is much easier to set up one of those than one you bought from a shop. Just plugging in and it will obtain all settings directly from Swisscom. At least mine does it every time after I have to reset it for some reason.

The wireless router that is available from Swisscom I have found to be very good, much better than those offered by ISP's in the UK (in my experience). Setup is next to nothing and I've never experienced any issues. But yes it isn't cheap.......