After a cross-country trip in which I was unable to link up my laptop because I had no wireless capability, and the hotels and airport lounges (and even bookstores) all seemed to wireless-network-enabled, I am considering the purchase of a wireless-network adaptor to plug into one of my laptop's USB ports.
Any suggestions/warnings/stories?
I agree with Spehro; A wireless PCMCIA card is the way to go. I added one to my wife's PC laptop, which was then able to interwork with my initial Linksys wireless router, and currently with my Apple Wireless Base Station. The PCMCIA card is so well supported that it is able to print, not only to my wireless Print Server, but also to the USB printer connected to the Apple Base Station (I'm Macintosh, she is PC).
After Market support is very important, and the PCMCIA cards are well supported. I've always found the PC easier to set-up than the Mac, and I've been Mac person for many years.
FWIW, Sitting in my car in the downtown Portland, Or area I can always find a Wireless Net that will let me in without a password - Nice user-friendly people abound. I logged into a Hotel's wireless net and discovered the pirates want $6.00 per day to use it.
Don
Spehro,
In WiFi in hotels, is your connection to the Internet still via a browser, or do you have true network accessibility?
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
$6 is CHEAP. Last hotel I was at wanted $9.95 per day for an ethernet connection.
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
It should've been Richard Dinon that was arrested for being such a loser as to have an unsecured network. He probably regularly gets viruses too ;-)
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Story:
Went to a meeting with a friend. He had his laptop up and a stock ticker running, in a resturant that does _not_ have wireless. On cross-examination it turns out that he has a card and account from Verizon -- he gets coverage anywhere there's Verizon digital. Probably not at wideband rates, but hey...
-- ------------------------------------------- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
I bought a dirt-cheap PCMCIA wireless adapter in HK in March for C.'s older Win98 laptop and it has worked just fine everywhere we tried it. The salesgeek recommended the PCMCIA version over the USB version (identical price) because of lower power consumption (I don't remember the numbers, but it was substantial, a watt or two IIRC). Nice and fast in a Holiday Inn last week (you have to get an access code from the desk). The card said the hotel would supply some kind of adapter if you didn't have one (presumably with an ethernet plug). In a B&B a couple of weeks ago, I didn't bother to connect to the in-house wireless network, but was able to marginally connect to some other network depending on which room I was in and the orientation of the 'puter.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
-- "it\'s the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Interesting link, but the results aren't in.
If the owner wants to keep the network private, all it takes is to require a password, or access could be limited to certain DHCPs; he has *complete* control of it In my opinion, an open wireless network (such as mine) is an invitation to "come on in."
Don
They might not, but it is a good chance for some people to try high-rate service, so maybe I should bill comcast for advertising their service.
I occasionally check to see if anyone is on my LAN, and have never found a neighbor. The other half of the story is.... My home is on the south bank of a river which has a small park on the north bank, with a large lounging deck. My "open" network is for the laptoppers who are enjoying the big outdoors while they work/play.
Don
The charge laveled against Benjamin Smith was akin to theft of services but what got his arrested was acting creepy:
Yup. Before they go making laws about unauthorized access, they should require manufacturers of wireless gear to make their install procedures include a mandatory screen that specifies legit users via Media Access Control filtering.
You can't proceed with the install until a box has been clicked to specify a finite level of security
**OR** a box has been clicked that says YES, I UNDERSTAND THAT I'M LEAVING MY NETWORK OPEN TO ANY BOZO WHO WANTS TO ACCESS IT--AND THAT'S OK BY ME.
I tend to agree, though using and open WiFi connection to the Internet may be considered theft of services. I'm sure your cable company wouldn't like you setting up such a network for the whole neighborhood.
-- Keith
As well as browser stuff, such as webmail, I downloaded Free Agent and read some newsgroups via a free Italian NNTP server, so I guess it's pretty complete. I didn't try POP3 as the webmail was pretty snappy.
Not sure exactly what the sequence is when you are authenticated-- I assume it limits when you can send/receive to a local login page until it verfies your password, and then it opens up the network to your IP address. I didn't have to type any Holiday Inn URL, yet the login page came up by itself, so maybe it sent the page in response to a request to look at another (Google, in this case) page.
Of course you do have to go in and select the network (this one installs an icon in the Control Panel for settings) before anything happens.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
-- "it\'s the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Hello Spehro,
They also tend not to break so easily because they are about 80% tucked inside when in the PCMCIA slot. Just imagine someone pushing a stack of data books aside and into a USB stick. Ka-crunch.
Regards, Joerg
You may want to rethink that:
-- -CH Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.
Agreed, as this article shows that there might be some liability for a person leaving their network open, but still, 5 years in prison vs. $6-$10, not really worth it....
-- -CH Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.
Forgot to paste the URL:
-- -CH
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