BT Internet connection with Vista Home Premium

[Bongobill]

Hi

Just bought a Sony Laptop with Vista Home Premium - 'like the laptop, still deciding about the OS!

I have a BT broadband account and Home Hub. With XP, BT Desktop Help allowed easy set up and a password / connection box

With Vista, I'm struggling to create a dedicated connection - I have to faff around disconnecting then reconnecting the wifi link, then selecting internet explorer with the BT internet home address - which can't be right!

I'd be grateful if anyone could advise how to do a proper BT Broadband setup - or when BT Desktop help might support Vista?

Thanks

Mike

[rajeshb]

hi matt,
i guess u can answer my query too.
I've found a wireless connection and am using it with my vaio..it's a unsecured internet connection and also don't know to whom it belongs to.
what are the risks associated with using such connections?

regards

[Thalamus.]

what are the risks associated with using such connections?

Hi rajeshb,

welcome to Club VAIO..

The worst case I guess would be prosecution..

Stealing Wifi (piggybacking) is an offence in the UK under the Communications Act 2003. If an unauthorized access is made to a computer running on the unsecured network, it is an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.

Whether this is legal in your area you would need to check but as technology advances I would expect this to either already be illegal or will become illegal in your area.

Further reading can be found HERE

[ronhol]

I have a VGN-NR32S/S (Sony Model PCG-7131M) and using a BT Broadband Home Hub which my desktop computer is connected using the USB and using it now for this topic, everything working OK, I also have a Ethernet (yellow) connection not used, is this the one I can plug into the Network (Ethernet) port on my new Sony Laptop? and do I have to install the BT connection disc first on the new Sony Laptop? or just plug in.
All mixed up newbie

[dk00]

Hi Matt and all,

I have similar problems with WiFi and the BTHub when streaming audio from iTunes or Airfoil (another app using the AirTunes dll) to my Airport Express. I got the VGN-AW11Z/B with Vista Home Premium SP1 (and all updates from Microsoft so far). There's no sleep/wakeup problem, it reconnects fine. However, when streaming audio, the WiFi connection gets jammed after some time; it's not a simple timeout as the "time-to-jam" varies from a few mins to hours. At that point, the wireless connection cannot be used by any app (IE7, Outlook, etc) but the net icon shows "connected". Only a manual disconnect/reconnect fixes the problem.

The BTHub uses the default encryption (WEP) at which it was originally setup, I've had no problems streaming from non-Vista laptops in the past (even my old Win2000 Dell laptop with Linksys behaves better!). I don't know who's to blame: Vista (suspect due to other instability issues - shame this beautiful/powerful machine doesn't come with XP), BT, or the Intel WiFi chips (I've changed from mixed-band mode to 2.4GHz but the problem remains). I wouldn't suspect iTunes 8 (AirTunes) very much; given the wider iTunes user population, I would have seen something on Google or the BT forums. I also doubt it's the encryption protocol (as suggested), WEP is supposed to be the most lightweight of all, but I'll try it out.

Any ideas/workaround greatly appreciated. I'm thinking of returning the laptop for a full refund, as this and another (pure-Vista) glitch have made the whole experience almost unbearable.

Cheers.

[dk00]

I have a VGN-NR32S/S (Sony Model PCG-7131M) and using a BT Broadband Home Hub which my desktop computer is connected using the USB and using it now for this topic, everything working OK, I also have a Ethernet (yellow) connection not used, is this the one I can plug into the Network (Ethernet) port on my new Sony Laptop? and do I have to install the BT connection disc first on the new Sony Laptop? or just plug in.
All mixed up newbie

You can use the ethernet (wired) connection, or the wireless (wifi) connection (no cables - setup already described earlier in this thread).

Do NOT install the BT disc, unless you like "crapware". I made the mistake a long time ago on an older laptop and I ended up with a few useless programs that would autostart, a yahoo toolbar on my IE and some other mangled settings related to my Yahoo Plus paid account. Just point your browser to "http://api.home" or the address earlier in this thread. You have full control of your BTHub thru the browser.

[Pleamar]

Hi everybody. I had a lot of problems with my Wifi, but I only installed this driver and all was right.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17227

It´s very useful, if you speak Spanish you can read this:

http://liradipleamar.blogspot.com/2009/07/problemas-con-vaio-e-internet.html

I hope this information is helpful to you.