really basic networking question

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I have a Linksys router. When I was running Windows 7 on my desktop I installed Cisco Connect on that desktop. Subsequent to that, I connected a couple of TVs wirelessly to that router.

Recently, I bought a new laptop to run Windows 7 SP1 on, and got rid of my desktop.

When I migrated over to the laptop I didn’t install Cisco Connect because I thought it might foul up my wireless connections to the TVs etc.

That’s really my question: Should I install Cisco Connect on my new laptop; and, if so, will I have to go through the process of reconnecting all my devices that now run off the Linksys router?

Thanks, as always, for your help.

Dick

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Why did you install Cisco Connect to begin with? If you don’t have a good reason to install it then don’t bother.

--Joe

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Cisco connect was the software I needed to install to hook up my Linksys (Cisco) router, back when I installed the router on my Desktop.

Dick

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There is almost always a way to use a browser to configure a router. Often supplied software that you install is to ease the configuration. If everything is working fine there is no need to install the software.

--Joe

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As Joe states, usually you can do without router specific software. All routers have a web based interface and it’s not hard to get to it and configure the router from there. So, about the need for the software in the new laptop, I would say definitely no.

I would, alternatively, invest in controlling the router from the web interface, get the manual if you need to – it should have the default admin password. I do hope the software allowed you to change the admin password and now is a good time to do it, from the web interface, if you haven’t yet.

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Connection software is always the first thing I uninstall on any machine; Windows is quite capable of handling wireless connections (or any other type, come to that) it all by itself. And as has been said, you only need a web browser to configure the router itself.

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