USB wifi adapter/ dongle

[Disconnected_cu]

I've got Sky Superfast Broadband (phone + broadband) and currently have to connect to the Sky hub using a network cable.

I believe I can get a USB WiFi adapter or dongle for my computer which should allow me to connect to the Sky hub wirelessly. Can anybody advise specifically what I need to get so I don't buy the wrong thing (the computer is an old Windows 7 PC)?

Thanks.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

 (the computer is an old Windows 7 PC)?

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I'd observe that it's extremely unwise to let Windows 7 anywhere near the internet, as it's horribly unprotected after five years without Microsoft updates.

If you really want to do so, and accept the potential consequences, I'd suggest looking for a secondhand 802.11n WiFi USB, because that will at least have drivers available for what's now an antique operating system.

[Disconnected_cu]

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

 (the computer is an old Windows 7 PC)?

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I'd observe that it's extremely unwise to let Windows 7 anywhere near the internet, as it's horribly unprotected after five years without Microsoft updates.

If you really want to do so, and accept the potential consequences, I'd suggest looking for a secondhand 802.11n WiFi USB, because that will at least have drivers available for what's now an antique operating system.

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Thanks for the information - I'll look into getting one of those.

Can I expect Sky to pay for this, given that they have not provided me with the equipment I need to for a 'wired-in' connection to their hub (other than by moving my PC to the entrance hall of my house as a temporary, emergency measure)?

[TimmyBGood]

@Disconnected_cu 

Sky definitely won't pay, but you're only looking at a few pounds in eBay.

[Disconnected_cu]

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

 (the computer is an old Windows 7 PC)?

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I'd observe that it's extremely unwise to let Windows 7 anywhere near the internet, as it's horribly unprotected after five years without Microsoft updates.

If you really want to do so, and accept the potential consequences, I'd suggest looking for a secondhand 802.11n WiFi USB, because that will at least have drivers available for what's now an antique operating system.

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Accepting your warning about Windows 7 vulnerabilities, if I were to upgrade to Windows 10 or 11, would that change the USB WiFi dongle/adapter you would recommend I buy?

Thanks.

[GD1]

@Disconnected_cu  Any decent wifi adapter will be able to provide 2.4 or 5Ghz wifi bands regardless of OS.

Sadly Sky will not refund you for needing a dongle for wifi connections due to the age of your hardware.

Depending on the age of your hardware it may not be able to ustilise the higher speeds gigabit broadband offers.

If your PC network port is a 10/100/1000 network port then that would be all that is needed. 

[Disconnected_cu]

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@GD1 wrote:

@Disconnected_cu  Any decent wifi adapter will be able to provide 2.4 or 5Ghz wifi bands regardless of OS.

Sadly Sky will not refund you for needing a dongle for wifi connections due to the age of your hardware.

Depending on the age of your hardware it may not be able to ustilise the higher speeds gigabit broadband offers.

If your PC network port is a 10/100/1000 network port then that would be all that is needed. 

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I did do a bit of investigation previously into USB Wifi devices and found something saying a WiFi 'dongle' and 'adapter' are in fact different things with different capabilities (although the terms are often used interchangeably). Thats why I wanted to ask for advice before spending any money (especially if Sky wont pay towards the costs of customers without existing WiFi capability, which seems a bit harsh to me and is not a problem I've encountered from other broadband providers).

If anybody could recommend a specific device they know will work for for my needs (such as the "secondhand 802.11n WiFi USB"), that would help reassure me. Sorry, I'm not very well up on WiFi technologies.

[JimM1]

@Disconnected_cu Something like this and if you can get a remote cable bridge may help for positioning.

USB WiFi Adapter for PC, WiFi 5 Adapter 1300Mbps 5G/2.4G Dual Band WiFi Dongle Wireless Network Adap...

USB 3.0 Type-A Male to Female Extension Dock Station Docking Cable 0.8m : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & ...

[jamesn123]

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

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(especially if Sky wont pay towards the costs of customers without existing WiFi capability, which seems a bit harsh to me and is not a problem I've encountered from other broadband providers).

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I am confused as to why you think an ISP that is providing modern day fibre optic speeds should provide a router which would intentionally have to lower its speed output to all devices just because you are using hardware and OS that has been EOL for over 5yrs?

Using Windows 7 on the internet is a terrible idea & you would be hard pressed to even find a browser that supports it now, I think Firefox is the only mainstream one left...? Upgrading even to Windows 10 would be unwise because that goes EOL in October of this year. Go to Windows 11, Mac or Linux. 

[Disconnected_cu]

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@JimM1 wrote:

@Disconnected_cu Something like this and if you can get a remote cable bridge may help for positioning.

USB WiFi Adapter for PC, WiFi 5 Adapter 1300Mbps 5G/2.4G Dual Band WiFi Dongle Wireless Network Adap...

USB 3.0 Type-A Male to Female Extension Dock Station Docking Cable 0.8m : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & ...

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Thanks for the information - I'll look into these.

[Disconnected_cu]

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I am confused as to why you think an ISP that is providing modern day fibre optic speeds should provide a router which would intentionally have to lower its speed output to all devices just because you are using hardware and OS that has been EOL for over 5yrs?

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Not sure that speed comes into it.

The issue was that my computer does not have WiFi capability,  so I need a 'wired-in' network connection, which I've always had in the past (including from Sky).

When I switched to Sky last month, all of a sudden my master phone socket stopped working and the faceplate had to be replaced by an engineer. In addition, the equipment sent by Sky allowed only for wireless network connectivity. Hence I'm having to obtain extra equipment not supplied by Sky to either (a) connect wirelessly to the Sky hub, or (b) allow a wired-in connection via the new master phone socket faceplate (with RJ11 connection) - so I need an extra long ADSL/VDSL cable or an extra long network cable.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

In addition, the equipment sent by Sky allowed only for wireless network connectivity. 

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Both current Sky Hub models have four ethernet ports, of which one will be in use for the connection to the ONT where the broadband is arriving over FTTP.

The Q Hub (which becomes obsolescent this year and is typically used for ADSL and FTTC) has two ethernet ports.

[jamesn123]

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

Not sure that speed comes into it.

The issue was that my computer does not have WiFi capability,  so I need a 'wired-in' network connection, which I've always had in the past (including from Sky).

When I switched to Sky last month, all of a sudden my master phone socket stopped working and the faceplate had to be replaced by an engineer. In addition, the equipment sent by Sky allowed only for wireless network connectivity. Hence I'm having to obtain extra equipment not supplied by Sky to either (a) connect wirelessly to the Sky hub, or (b) allow a wired-in connection via the new master phone socket faceplate (with RJ11 connection) - so I need an extra long ADSL/VDSL cable or an extra long network cable.

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Speed comes into it because Sky would have to have their router support older generations of wireless technology e.g. 802.11g. The maximum data rate of 802.11g is 54 Mbps & when devices on the same network communicate using different standards, the router would need to reduce its speed to accommodate the slowest device which impacts the performance of faster devices. Sky would be getting killed in the media if they were selling 1000mbps packages but then had their router support only 54mbps on the 2.4ghz frequency because people are using end of life hardware.

Additionally all Sky hubs have ethernet capability so I am not sure what you mean by Sky have sent is only for wireless networking?

[TimmyBGood]

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

 (b) allow a wired-in connection via the new master phone socket faceplate (with RJ11 connection) 

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That cannot work for a direct data connection from PC to internet: this ceased with the end of dial-up.

Internal phone extension cabling cannot carry data from Hub to PC because a phone pair is entirely inadequate for ethernet signalling.

[Disconnected_cu]

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

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@Disconnected_cu wrote:

 (b) allow a wired-in connection via the new master phone socket faceplate (with RJ11 connection) 

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That cannot work for a direct data connection from PC to internet: this ceased with the end of dial-up.

Internal phone extension cabling cannot carry data from Hub to PC because a phone pair is entirely inadequate for ethernet signalling.

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You must be reading things into my description which are not there. The setup I'm currently using for accessing the Internet involves a DSL cable from the master phone socket (RJ11 connection) to the Sky hub, and then a network cable from the Sky hub to the PC. So as I said previously, "a wired-in connection via the new master phone socket faceplate (with RJ11 connection) ".