davyk31 Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 My mum has a laptop and broadband via a BT Home Hub. My Dad has an old desktop machine currently using a dialup connection through Freeserve. I want to add the broadband to his machine. I have bought a wireless USB stick for his machine and assume it will be easy enough to connect to the Homehub through this. Question really is about his email. Will he still be connecting to Freeserve for his mail as he is now or is it best to add an email address to mum's BT broadband account for him. If this is the best route how do I do this. All help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark_90 Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Unfortunately you are going to come across a problem with his old email. Checking the account won't be a problem, however if you connect to BT but try to send email through Freeserve, Freeserve will most likely block it as it isn't originating from one of their connections. The best thing you can do is to set him an email address up with BT. Unfortunately I'm not with BT so I can't help there, but I imagine there'll be an online control panel where you can set up a new mailbox for him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Question really is about his email. Will he still be connecting to Freeserve for his mail as he is now or is it best to add an email address to mum's BT broadband account for him. Fetching mail from the Freeserve POP server shouldn't be a problem - it should work just the same as it does now (provided that server addresses, account names and passwords are all configured correctly). Sending mail will be a little more awkward - Freeserve won't allow mail to be sent via their server while the connection is with BT ... unless they allow authenticated connections to their SMTP server. This is how I'm working - my broadband connection is with a local Philippines service provider, my incoming and outgoing mail is still with Freedom2Surf in the UK. If Freeserve won't allow outgoing mail, then that can still be sent via the BT SMTP server, but with his Freeserve address specified as the 'From' address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacake Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 If Freeserve won't allow outgoing mail, then that can still be sent via the BT SMTP server, but with his Freeserve address specified as the 'From' address. I do this, but BT are switching to a new system where you have to validate every non-BT address you're going to use with them before they'll accept mail with a non-BT sender. They actually introduced this without telling anyone (even their support staff) a couple of months ago, and the only documentation of a solution was buried in the support pages for yahoo.com in the US. After many complaints they rolled it back temporarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Haha - good old BT! There are many reasons why I've never recommended anyone to use BT as their ISP! However, my advice still stands - just that the freeserve address would have to be 'validated'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 If Freeserve won't allow outgoing mail, then that can still be sent via the BT SMTP server, but with his Freeserve address specified as the 'From' address. I don't think this will work in the long run, as Anti-spam measures will check the senders domain against the sending IP block and it won't match. (Domain Keys and SPF both could block or warn of this) Although not in wide use more and more ISP's and mail servers are checking these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted July 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Thanks for all the replies. As he hardly uses his email and probably could easily give a new email address to anyone he knows it may be best in the long run to setup another email address for him on mums account. Is this easy to do and can anyone give me some hints on how to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacake Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 In that case I'd recommend setting up an e-mail account separate from their ISP (so they can change ISP without having to change e-mail address again). I'd also recommend skipping BT in any case for e-mail. They have a nasty habit of silently dropping a large proportion of incoming e-mails or delaying them for hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted July 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Ok an update on this one........ Was round at my Dads today with a new wireless USB adaptor. Got that installed ok and it found Mum's BT home hub no problem. Questrion is now how to make it connect to this for internet and email. Currently the machine uses a dialup connection so I went into internet properties and told it never to dial a connection. What do I need to change to make it find the internet and use Mums BT account. I have set up an email address for Dad within her BT account so if the machine can connect to the Web via BT the email bit should then be easy. Machine is quite old and using Windows 98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 You shouldn't need to set anything up assuming the Wireless has picked up ok. ADSL is 'always on' so shouldn't need any additional settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted July 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 You shouldn't need to set anything up assuming the Wireless has picked up ok. ADSL is 'always on' so shouldn't need any additional settings. But surely the system needs to know what ISP etc it is trying to use. If it has the old Freeserve login info which i then disable does it not then need details of the BT account. When I went to add a new account it always seemed to assume I was connecting via a modem and phone line. The other option was LAN but I assumed this was not the one to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danksy Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 You need to go into network connections and click the option never dial a connection, or otherwise dial only if network connection is not present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted July 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Thanks but had already told it never to dial a conection. When you go to setup a new connection it asks for telephone numbers for the ISP etc as if it was still only wanting to use dialup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Can you fire IE up and get to the web ok without doing anything else? you don't need any DUN (dialup network) settings at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Nope, when I bring up IE it just tries to do something and then shows site not found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 This problem might have something to do with the fact that it's running on Windows 98 maybe? It's so long since I used 98 that I can't remember if there might be any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 The other option was LAN but I assumed this was not the one to use. That is the correct option .... you will be accessing the Internet via a LAN. (Wireless is still a Local Area Network) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Run WINIPCFG Make sure the unit is picking up a valid IP address and more importantly a default gateway. May be worth double checking to make sure there's no proxy server set in IE too - unlikely but possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyk31 Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Run WINIPCFGMake sure the unit is picking up a valid IP address and more importantly a default gateway. May be worth double checking to make sure there's no proxy server set in IE too - unlikely but possible. Can you give me a bit more detail on what to do, I have some PC knowledge. So I run WINIPCFG at the Dos prompt? How do I know if it is picking up a valid IP address and default gateway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Start menu, then run, then type in WINIPCFG. This will give you your IP Address configuration - it should have an IP Address, subnet mask and a default gateway detaild. I can't remember whether it shows the DNS or not? This way you will be able to see whether it's picking up the right IP address from your router or not or whether it's just using a local 169.whatever address. You should be able to compare it to the working unit - it'll be IPCONFIG on that one from a DOS prompt. My guess is it's not getting the right IP Address info - possibly not connecting to the wireless network properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Sorry, another thought occurred to me. You've plugged in the wireless adapter, you can see the home-hub wireless network - you've connected to it right? You should need a key or somesort for the security? Not sure if the home-hubs are WEP or whatever but you'll need to enter the appropriate key for the home hub? Perhaps some of the others can advise what the default is likely to be for the home hubs Likely be marked on the unit or the like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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