Wi-Fi Questions

[jtn]

I recently purchased a new IBM T40 laptop with a built in wi-fi card. My question is how do I use it? I heard that Starbucks was putting wi-fi transmitters in thier stores. If I can find a transmitter how do I connect? Do i need to pay a fee? How do I connect to my email from my ISP? How can I find a point of connectivity if the local Starbucks does not have one? (As an aside we only have ONE [1] Starbucks in town. I know this seems hard to believe but it is true)

As with any new toy I am itching to try it out.

JT

 

[looch]

Right click the Network applet in Control Panel and select properties. You should see your wireless card connection in there, probably with a big red X through it. Enable it and check to make sure that under TCP/IP properties "Obtain an IP Address Automatically" is selected.

Disclaimer #1: The instructions I gave may not be word for word as I don't have a machine in front of me.

Disclaimer #2: I wouldn't be turing on my wireless card anywhere in public without first reading and understanding everything there is to know about how to secure it.

 

[glennmac]

Well, the toyjoy of the thing doesn't depend on going to Starbucks. What you want to do is buy a wireless "access point" or "router" for your home. There are a variety on the market, some now under $100. Here is a link to one vendor's line access points and routers: J&R access point products

You plug the access point into your cable modem or DSL line. Your laptop, via the card in it, can then commununicate wirelessly to the access point and then onto the web via the modem. So you can wander all around, wirelessly, while being connected to the net. You can have many wireless computers all connected to the same wireless access point (thereby creating your own home wireless "network").

The wireless range between your laptop and the access point depends on the type of access point you buy, where you place it, what kind of antenna it has, what kind of antenna your wirelesss card has, and what the physical structure of your environment is (buildings, walls, metal, concrete, wood, etc.)

I am now in my bedroom communicating to my Apple wireless access point in my home office about 40 feet away through three walls. I can go outside about 500 feet away and sit outdoors by and get good signal. With good antennas, you can get even better range.

You can even get the signal from your neighbor's wireless access point via a program sometimes called a "stumbler". I can get my neighbor's signal via Macstumbler. This is a bigtime game to some kids and hackers: wireless access roaming ("WAR"). They drive around with laptops, pick up signals from other people's wireless access points, and then log onto the internet for free through these other people's modems. You protect yourself from this via encryption.

Get an access point. It is wonderful to walk around with a laptop without being tethered to a wire. And, yes, many restaurants, airports, and other public facilities have been installing access points for use with wireless-enabled laptops.

Warning: as with all computer stuff, setting up your wireless access point the first time can be frustrating for the non-techie.

 

[shado]

I believe there's the big important point that's being missed here. Starbucks is more than likely going to charge you ADMISSION to access their connection since there will be a login & password to get on the net. That's what they are in business for, just like the Feringees with their 'Rules of Aquisition.' A home network still has to 'pay-to-play' for the connection in some fashion, but the beauty here is, since many computers can link up via wireless, a small nearby group can share the high cost of a cable/DSL connection, but if too much bandwidth per month is being used, the ISP may make you move up a tier to their 'business class,' and that costs double-jeapordy. But a decent firewall protected unit may help cut down on the remote hackers somewhat. You can usually access your own email account throught the ISP's website, or have a free email account on Yahoo or Hotmail, just go to their website for access from any net-enabled computer. Here in my shanty town, they provide FREE wireless access while watching the local baseball team bat around the leather, hoping you'll also buy their overpriced dogs & beer, that's' the American way!
shado

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Your comments about range were of interest to me. We're building next door to my daughter and her family. The barn/shop will be between the houses, probably 200' from one and 300' from the other. The kids are using dial-up because it's too far out for cable or DSL, and they can't afford the Direct PC satellite on their own. So, I figured I'd put a satellite link on the barn, then hook everything up - 2 desktop computers in each house and 1 in the barn, and a laptop or two. But, I'd heard that the speed drops way down with increased distance from a wireless access point, anything beyond 100' not worth doing. I haven't been able to find the kind of info I wanted on antennas and such to increase the distance.

So, I figured I'd hard wire it between the buildings as long as I was digging trenches for other utilities, anyway. From what I've heard, the hard wire is good for the 300' without any boosters. Then, I think I can go ahead and put a wireless point in my house so I can wander around with a laptop or reposition the desktops.

But, if I thought I could reliably get the range and speed with an all wireless setup, it would save a lot of digging to the kid's house and be more cost effective than the wire. What I need is a down-to-earth, spoon-feed it to me, step-by-step, buy "this" and "that", sort of advice for the wireless that's just as plain speaking as TBN is for all the other stuff.

 

[kubotasaurus]

Just as a heads-up on that mention of satellite access. I tried DirecWay and ended up returning it. Download was great (over 1Mbps), but upload was pathetic (50-60kbps). Also it did not work with my company VPN (despite being told it would).

The other thing is if the kids play online games then satellite is no good as it takes too long to make the round trip to and from the satellite and the games won't work right.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I think multiple walls hurt me worse than distance. I will take my laptop outside in a minute and tell you what the drop is for 200-300 ft.

I am pretty sure I will do better at the distance with only one wall in between than with 4-5 walls from one side of the house to the other.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

OK, it does seem that the signal gets weaker pretty quick as the distance gets longer. The other problem I see is if the ground is not totally level the signal can't travel in a straight line. This was very evident as I went down in a slight dip and the signal died. Hard wiring might be a better solution if I needed to do this on my property and maybe yours as well.

You can always put the wireless router in the barn and hard wire the two desktops to it by running cable and still use the wireless feature witht he laptop from the surrounding are, deck, pool, etc. This way you have the security of knowing the hardwire is there and still have the wireless capability when needed.

I have 3 machines and two are wired and the laptop is wireless so I can go out on the deck or to the pool. The entire setup is easy and pretty cheap.

I am not a network engineer so I will leave the step by step to one of our more learned members, but trust me it is easy.

 

[jtn]

Ironically, after I started this thread my computer detected a wireless signal right here at home. Apparently it was not secure so I did not try to use it. I can not imagine where it comes from as my nearest neighbor is about 500' away and I do not think any of them know anything about setting up wireless.

JT

 

[jlemon]

A standard dipole antenna (those little rubber 4' things attached to the access point) usually has a range of 500' or so. The signal strength does drop as distance falls off, and the speed decreases accordingly. Also, since the signal is in the microwave region, it doesn't travel well at all through metal; I can stand in front of my window in the barn and pickup a signal, then move 3 feet to the left and not get anything due to the steel siding.

Most equipment is rated at 11Mb/s. At max range, you might only get 2-5Mb/s. You might think this is awful, but keep in mind that dialup is only 56kb/s, DSL is typically 768kb/s, and cable modems are usually 1-2Mb/s. So the wireless speed is most likely not going to be your limiting factor.

For long distance hookups, you can just buy a antenna and cable, and use that in place of stock dipole. A point-to-point directional dish will cost about $60, and can cover a couple of miles with line of sight easily. Note that this is radio line of sight, not visual line of sight - you'll need adequate clearance for the fresnel zone on the point to point link. You can also get a omnidirectional antenna as well. I'm tempted to buy one of these and mount it on top of my silo, but that would probably be overkill as well as being a wonderful lightning attractor. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif