Help with connecting router to PC with unusable NIC port

Dana, thank you for your help and the starting site.

I went to that site and eventually got to this site where I think the driver download module is for the AE1200 adapter
linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=148511
I downloaded it. But I also see another module mentioned two paragraphs after the driver download on that same screen which is setup software; I have no idea what this is or if it is needed for installing the AE1200 adapter. What do you think? It reads:
AE1200 WINDOWS SETUP SOFTWARE
Ver.2.1.0.6
Latest Date: 11/21/2011
Download 30.9 MB
Release Notes

NOTE: After downloading the driver, you need to load the file to your adapter to improve its functionality. For instructions on how to update the driver of your Linksys adapter, click here.

(Back to me)
My adapter is due to arrive today and I will try to install it using the driver I downloaded and the instructions given here for Windows 7.

www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=142798#Installing_the_driver

Would I start the install by physically plugging in the adapter?

Hi laverne,

You got a wireless adapter. So, the Router will hook up to your Internet connection. This is usually a wire connection to the outlet on the wall. I assume the router has wireless connection also. Somewhere on the router will be in formation...serial #, model # and Wi-Fi Password. Copy the password & model # down. After the router is up and running then use Windows 7 Network & Sharing Center to set up a new Wireless connection. The signal from the router usually is identified by the model number of the router. Select it and enter the router's Wi-Fi Password and it should connect up. Since it will be wireless there will be no wire or cable that connects to the laptop. The router should come with instructions that says basically what I have said above. The router will have lights on it that come on or change color...the instructions will state what they mean. If the router has problems connecting to the Internet (this is your ISP connection), call your ISP for any special instructions that may be unique to that ISP's connection. Some ISP's (such as AT&T) configure their connections and frequencies so different that the only routers that will work are the ones they sell.

Hi laverne,

Your confusion comes from a mixture of old and new technologies. I'll try to explain.

Note: In explaining below I will use the words wire or cable, but they will mean the same to you. FYI: A wire is screwed to a connection point while a cable uses a connector to snap into a connection point.

The Internet comes to you from your ISP. They connect to you by connecting a wire to a connection box on the outside of the house/apartment. Wiring in the walls/attic of your house connect the outside connection box to one or more rooms inside your house. These connection points in each room end on the wall and are called "jacks". These jacks have the same size face plates as electric outlets, but the connector hole is different. These wall jacks is where you connect to access the Internet or the "plug into the wall" portion of any connection instructions.

Now, this is where it gets confusing because there are many different ways to connect your equipment to that wall jack and those different ways are based upon what equipment you have. Understanding what a modem, Ethernet, and a router do goes a long way in understanding the necessary connections.

Modem/Ethernet - A modem and Ethernet (also called a network adapter) do exactly the same thing.....they "translate" the ISP signal to display the data on your PC. Almost no one uses a modem any more because Ethernet can "translate" data way faster than a modem (results in quicker data display) and everyone wants faster. In the old days the modem was external so the setup was a cable from the wall to the modem and a second cable from the modem to the PC. Then PCs started having the modem installed inside the PC and thus changed the setup to just one cable from the wall to the modem connector on the PC. Users liked this so when Ethernet came out manufacturers placed them inside the PC. All of the setups for a modem to the wall jack or Ethernet (network adapter) to the wall jack is set up for only that one PC.

Router - A router is a device to expand that one wall connection to several wall connections. Think of a router as an extension cord to an electric outlet that allow 3 or 4 things to use that one wall outlet. The router also keeps straight which PC gets what data when more than one PC is using that same wall jack and the same wire that leads back to your ISP. Hence the name router because it "routes" separate transmissions to separate PCs/devices. Since most people have more than one PC/device they want connected to the Internet, they want a router. Thus in older days the set up would be a cable from the wall to the router and a cable from the router to the Ethernet connection on the PC. The router would have 3 to 5 connection points allowing 3 - 5 PCs to hook up to the router each with its separate cable to that PC or device.

Now wireless connection has come along. It is called wireless because it transmits using radio waves rather than electric current. Electric current requires a direct wire connection to transfer the electric current, but radio waves don't need wires to transfer the data. Thus if you make any of the above connections wireless, then you don't need a cable between that connection.

Your specific set up would be a cable from the wall to the router. The connection from your router to the PC will be wireless since both the network adapter plugged into your PC and the router allows wireless connections. This means there will be no wire from the adapter on your PC to the router.

The instructions "Connect an Ethernet cable to your computer's network adapter" is for a wired connection that dos not apply to your wireless set up. Many set ups today allow for both wired (cable) and wireless (no cable). In the future there probably won't be any wired connections as everything is going wireless. New houses today are being set up wireless so there are no wall outlets for connection to your ISP connection which means no wall plug and no cable to your router.

I hope this makes understanding all these possible connections easier so you can understand your specific set up as to where cables connect and why there is no cable connection where there used to be one.

Dana, I have to reread your long post and try to digest it. Thank you for your patience. All sorts of thoughts are running through my mind like,

When I get my new router, are you saying that I merely have to turn off my desktop computer and turn off the modem -- and connect the cable from the modem to the internet port of the router and plug the router into the electric socket. Then turn on the computer and the modem. And then the wireless connection will magically show on the desktop computer SOMEWHERE because it has that AE1200 wireless device already set up?

I'll keep reading...

Hi Dana,

Let me give you the bottom line first:
SUCCESS. Both my desktop computer and my laptop are online. What a great feeling. I did the whole setup without using the laptop and its wired RJ45 port. The wireless adapter in the Optiplex780 desktop handled everything, as you said it would. After I plugged in the router and connected it to the modem, I had to remove and reinsert the AE1200 wireless adapter to get it to activate, that is, to look for wireless connections. After that, I could see my wireless network NETGEAR84 and it was all downhill from there!!

Again, my most sincere thanks for your patience with me. You must have wanted to knock my head against a wall ;-)

Dana, I'll tell you what my problem was -- and I just didn't know how to ask the right question. After I installed the AE1200 wireless adapter on my desktop computer, I kept looking at the Internet icon in the Notification area (bottom right) and it kept saying "No connection. No connections available." So, I tried rebooting -- same messages showed. What I needed to know is how to activate the wireless adapter so it would look for a network. I knew that the adapter would never find my new connection (when it was set up) because it just wasn't looking for it. That's where my hangup was. I thought -- well maybe I better install the router using the wired Internet using my laptop. Then maybe I could somehow get the desktop computer working.

Oh, the solution was so easy -- I just needed to unplug the wireless adapter from the USB port and reinsert it to get it to "activate." That's what I didn't know how to ask. Once I did that, I could see how it all would work together.

At any rate, all's well….
You are so helpful, Dana. Thank you for being so stoical ;-)
Laverne