Hope someone can help. Ordered broadband from Talk Talk - ended up with a modem - no-one said I needed a telephone line. Paid for that. Then phoned and told them I couldn't use it as I had no telephone socket in that room. They said I needed a wireless router but after trying to fix it last night you still have to connect it to a telephone socket before going wireless. Can anyone help? I cannot lift the whole computer system up two flights of stairs where the main telephone socket is. I have two cordless telephones downstairs.

Yes that is true. To setup a wireless router, you first have to connect it via an Ethernet cable to your computer, setup the wireless settings and then you can go wireless.

Sometimes it is possible to setup a wireless router without actually physically connecting to it. For example, the wireless security key needed to connect to the network was on the back of my BT Home Hub, so I entered that in to connect to the network and then changed the key to my own. No problems. But it all depends on your router and how your setting up.

The best solution if you need to connect your computer to the router physically is get yourself a telephone extension reel. Connect that to your main socket and then move the router next to your computer temporarily while you set it up, obviously connecting it to the extension reel. They aren't too expensive. I've seen a 20M extension cable at Amazon for £6 and you can get a 10M for the same price at Argos.

If you want to tell me more about how your setting up, what you are doing/not doing and what isn't working, I can try and help you set it up without buying a telephone extension cable.

Hi Owen,

Many thanks for the information. I think the most sensible thing to do is buy a telephone extention and then it should be simple. I am getting fed up of trailing to the library to go on-line. Once again, THANK YOU!

Your welcome, let me know how you get on setting it up. Remember to try and estimate how many metres you will need before you go out and buy one. Good luck.

Many thanks for your help - the telephone extension did the trick so I am now sending this from my own computer instead of the library. I don't know your user name so hope you get this message.