Registered: Feb 2004
Location: in colorado somewhere!
Posts: 25592

I'm new at this wireless internerd thing so like when you take your laptop with you and you want the internerd..uh..this is a broad question...how does one connect when your away from home?
The laptop has a wireless card with like a red light and a green light that you would never know it's there until it's on.

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Registered: Apr 2002
Location: At Home
Posts: 4056

Enable the WiFi card, it should have a util that shows you available networks, highlight and click connect if you see there is an unsecured network or if you are in a WiFi Hotspot get the WEP key from the provider/café and connect.
Alternatively, research 802.11 or consult your WiFi cards manual.

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Registered: Sep 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by FuhQall
or if you are in a WiFi Hotspot get the WEP key from the provider/café and connect.

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: library
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That varies from place to place, a lot of cafes have free hotspots.

-m

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Registered: Apr 2002
Location: At Home
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quote:

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Originally posted by skalie
..... that usually costs, or not?

Tried to connect to a MacDonalds wifi once, needed an account ( €40 a month )

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Registered: Sep 2001
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Probably a way stupid question, but can you get an adsl package without having a landline?

A more difficult issue, is the right time to go looking for a telephone that I can connect to a laptop, mainly for email, but also for occasional web surfing and FTP'ing? International access would be nice, and ideally prepay.

Thirdly, how's thing down in the Dutch everglades? Still trying to flog T-shirts on the side of the road?

http://www.tele2mobiel.nl/ have some pretty good prepay deals as it goes.

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Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:

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Originally posted by skalie
Probably a way stupid question, but can you get an adsl package without having a landline?

A more difficult issue, is the right time to go looking for a telephone that I can connect to a laptop, mainly for email, but also for occasional web surfing and FTP'ing? International access would be nice, and ideally prepay.

Thirdly, how's thing down in the Dutch everglades? Still trying to flog T-shirts on the side of the road?

http://www.tele2mobiel.nl/ have some pretty good prepay deals as it goes.

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Registered: Sep 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by FuhQall
Ask a friend to install a modem and RAS on their pc at home, set it to run callback and pay him, you will be able to use any phone that interfaces with a laptop like a modem.

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Registered: Sep 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by skalie
Internet cafe's it will be then, any idea if they have their ports open for FTP?

( I could go and ask one I guess )

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I did, ended up trying to explain the old File Transport Protocol to a Morrocan.

"Can I access the internet here with a laptop?"

"Yes"

"Can I FTP?"

"What FTP?"

"I need to make website, I make website on laptop, I want send to internet. I need port open"

( I'm making waving motions with my arms, not sure if thats helping at all )

"Ah, special cable?"

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
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Anyone know whether MIMO is worthwhile? Using my router with MIMO would mean getting MIMO devices for the laptops (and how would macs like that, given that they already have an inbuilt airport thing)?

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location: UK
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Don't spend money on MIMO hardware until the standard has been finalised.

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Registered: Aug 2001
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I got a Netgear MIMO router (with internal aerials) just as a 802.11g device to help resolve a range problem. Knowing that I might need a USB connector for the laptop in question if that didn't solve the problem. As it happens, it seems to have solved the problem just as a 802.11g router, so that's OK. Difference in price wasn't huge, and I read that the MIMO standard (I guess that you're talking about the 802.11n thing?) might not be finalised, and served by new products, for some time. So this will do for now (immediate problem needed solving).

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Registered: Nov 2000
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MIMO tends to be abused by wireless manufacturers as it's a fairly generic concept(I believe even the "Super G" stuff qualifies as MIMO). The MIMO used in 11n is considerably more complicated(and interesting) but hasn't been fully agreed on yet(draft for the final version was accepted sometime this month). There are some pre-11n routers out there that will work if you have a matching wireless card but little in the way of guarantees that it'll work with the real standard.

I'm also not entirely convinced that 11n is something you want to use in a laptop unless the increased range is needed. The very nature of the technology requires a significant jump in power drain and I've seen little to indicate that it will degrade gracefully as you get closer to the AP to reduce power costs.

I guess if you're still living in a cave, and don't have ethernet patching throughout the house, having a fast wireless network is nice. But not as nice as gigabit ethernet(or as fast).

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Registered: Aug 2001
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The thought I had is that with the laptop in this one room, it's plugged in to the power, so if the faux MIMO dealy is needed there in terms of range, I could buy it without too many worries about power. In the rest of the house, the normal airport works fine on 802.11g, so the MIMO dealy could be unplugged. As I only just replaced my trusty 802.11b router with this one, I shall be OK without meeting the final 802.11n standard, when it finally comes out. Having internal arials at a variety of angles was what interested me about this more than anything else; I didn't (and don't) know if they are only used for this MIMO business that requires conforming Netgear cards that I don't have, but wanted to see whether I could hit this one room, and it seems not too bad. If it doesn't work well enough, I'll move the router to the guess room, which is better situated to reach all the rooms, anyhow. And if all else fails, get the MIMO USB dealy for this one mac laptop.

I only thought about cabling up the whole house once the drywall had gone on. But security would be the main issue anyhow; I don't need gigabit speeds or even close, given that nearly all of the time the wireless network is only being used to share the internet connection, which is 2 megabits/s at most.

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location: UK
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Amusingly ethernet patching would actually help you with this problem(it'd make it fairly trivial to create a wireless fabric throughout the house with some cheap wireless bridges). Does the Netgear MIMO actually offer increased range or just bandwidth increases? ie. it's purely a channel bonder

I did read an article a while ago on how to figure out the best position and channel for your wireless AP/router by taking into account building materials, crosstalk from household appliances and their position in the house relative to the AP, but for the world of me I can't seem to find it. I suppose if you were really curious you could probably do the maths stuff yourself(it didn't look all that complicated and the frequency bits were fairly basic) with the only difficult part being collecting the noise figures for the various appliances.

edit: I just realised my posts have been somewhat skalie unfriendly. Sorry dude.

Last edited by macker on 01-31-2006 at 09:49 PM

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Registered: Aug 2001
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If you have Netgear MIMO at both ends, significantly increased range (they say). I was, to first order, just after the small increase that 802.11g gives over 802.11b, but was hedging my bets because I could always get the MIMO USB adapter if standard 802.11g range wasn't enough. Or, of course, I could use a repeater as you say.

The original positioning problem was partly to do with having to orient the arial to serve a number of locations, but also the crappiness of the old 802.11b router. Speed isn't so much a problem as continuous connectivity, as the laptop in question is mostly connecting to a remote machine via SSH, and it appears, thus far, that the signal is strong enough to hold a connection. It isn't just distance, as you say, but geometry; the house is wooden (as are most around here) but there is more between router and laptop than would be the case for other potential router locations, so I can just move the router to the guest room, in all probability, if need be.

Don't apologise to skalie, man.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: in colorado somewhere!
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...so just turn on that laptop and see if theres a signal then connect if there is?

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Registered: Aug 2001
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And if you have the password, if one is required for that network, or it might require a credit card if you're, say, in Barnes and Noble (because the bastards make you PAY). I don't know of any free wireless around here apart from maybe on the campus (but I might need a NETID for that). Of course, I don't know how many free wireless networks are floating around where you are.

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Registered: Sep 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by Large Filipino
...so just turn on that laptop and see if theres a signal then connect if there is?

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Registered: Aug 2001
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That's every morning.

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Registered: Apr 2002
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He does not have to worry about horse porn on his laptop, it's too small.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: in colorado somewhere!
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Most people keep their routers unsecured anyway cause when it works then that's oh kay so most wouldn't know how to put horsey porn in their anyway.....how does one...never mind.

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