faqs help wireless Virgin Media
Wireless, also know as "WiFi" or "Wireless networking", simply means Broadband without the wires that normally connect your computer to your cable modem.
The wire is replaced by a "router" that uses radio waves (much like a cordless phone) to communicate with your computer, allowing you to access your Broadband connection anywhere in your home.
The two terms are often used interchangeably but they are not the same. In simple terms, wireless home networking means linking computers or other digital devices together to take advantage of a shared Broadband connection. When multiple PCs are all connected you can share files without transferring them to disc, play shared games and even share one printer.
Wireless Broadband simply means accessing Broadband wirelessly from your house whether you have a home network or not.
In order to use our wireless Broadband your computer must be WiFi-enabled i.e. it must have a wireless network card.
If you are not sure if you have one built-in you can check by opening the 'Control Panel', then 'Network Connections'. Here you should see a Wireless Network Connection listed as shown below:
If you do not have a WiFi enabled computer, you can purchase a wireless USB adapter or a wireless card that will enable you to use wireless Broadband. These are available when you purchase our wireless product for £20.
A wireless USB (universal service bus) adapter connects to your PC with a USB port and is used to establish wireless connectivity between your PC and wireless router.
A wireless laptop card (also known as PCMCIA card) is also used to establish wireless connectivity, but is specifically designed for laptop computers.
Note that you can use a wireless USB adapter for a laptop computer as long as it has a free USB port.
Wireless Broadband allows you to enjoy broadband anywhere in your home, or why not try the garden. How about downloading recipes in the kitchen or checking the news in the comfort of your bedroom?
With wireless Broadband your PC or laptop is no longer tied to where your modem is situated, so you can move them to the most convenient place in your home.
In most cases, the range of a wireless network is approximately 30 metres. However, there are several factors that can affect the range of your wireless network:
Factors such as the thickness of walls, the presence of electrical equipment and the actual positioning of the wireless kit will all affect its performance.
The most common problems are caused by things like mobile phones, fax machines, microwaves and any type of radio transmitting devices such as baby monitors. Even data being transmitted via Bluetooth could cause interference.
You can connect up to 10 computers wirelessly or up to 4 digital devices (games consoles, printers, etc) via ethernet using the 4 ethernet ports on the back of the wireless router.
Please note that the more devices you connect to your wireless router the more the speed of your Broadband may be effected. This is because the wireless router is using the same Broadband connection to connect all the computers and devices. Our 20Mb Broadband service is the best to share among multiple computers.
Yes, you can connect other devices to your wireless network. They must be wireless enabled e.g. have an installed 11Mbps (802.11) or 54Mbps (802.11g) wireless adapter, or have a built-in wireless network card. If attempting to connect additional devices to your network then use your network name as the SSID and your network password as "passphrase".
Yes, wireless Broadband is fast and you can get 20Mb on it.
Please note however, that speeds may be effected by a number of factors such as the spec of your PC, type of wireless card/adapter used, distance between PC and wireless router, thickness of the walls, interference from neighbouring wireless networks in the vicinity and so on. All of this may result in varying Broadband speeds.
For tips on how to improve performance of your wireless broadband visit wireless troubleshooting.
Wireless Manager is a software application that simplifies the initial set-up and configuration of your wireless router and manages the connection and security of your wireless network. It‘s installed from a CD that comes with your wireless router. You should run this on every computer you want to connect to your wireless network.
The Windows XP Home Networking wizard is a tool that can be used to configure your computer for networking. Using this wizard is not necessary and is not recommended for setting up your Virgin Media Wireless Broadband. To configure your computer and set up your wireless network, please run the Wireless Set-up CD provided in the package and follow the on-screen instructions.
Yes, Virgin Media Wireless Broadband uses the latest wireless encryption technology called WPA-PSK. Your wireless router is pre-configured with WPA-PSK as a default.
As part of your set up procedure you are prompted to select a password to secure your wireless network. This will prevent other people accessing your connection without your permission.
Some anti-virus programs may block access to Wireless Manager (the software that sets-up and manages the connectivity and security of your wireless network) and prevents it from setting-up a wireless network or functioning correctly. You may need to temporarily disable your anti-virus program to set-up your wireless network and then re-enable it.
It is recommended that you "allow" or "permit" access to Wireless Manager whenever prompted by your anti-virus program.
Please note that Wireless Manager is fully compatible with PCguard – Virgin Broadband’s own PC security product.
Yes, PCguard is fully compatible with wireless Broadband and there is no need to make any changes to it.
Wireless Broadband will be free for all new customers on Size: L and Size XL. For all our existing customers and new size: M customers you will be able to purchase a wireless router for £40.
There will be no additional charge per month for wireless.
