Laptop Computer Questions?

[guava]

think of it like a CD radio. Unless people protect their networks, they are 'broadcasting' in the open. If ten people broadcast on a cb and your listening to the right channel, you can hear them and talk to them.



Your wireless card listens automatically to the right channel. You just have to start talking. Sometimes you have to hit the connect button but mostly it will work automatically.

 

[ProMac1K]

But you can't just hit connect with the settings that you currently have put in, right? Doesn't something have to be configured, just like setting up your LAN connection? Run through a wizard? That's why I thought a program was necessary, like a decoder or scrambler. So are you saying that if i'm in a remote area where there is a wireless connection, that I should see it on my list of connections?



Thanks

 

[guava]

an example

#ad




This is what my computer shows when I look at 'all wireless connections'. I just click on the one I want and then hit the connect button.



Unless the owner of the wireless access point has specifically changed something to make his network more secure, there is no settings. Since most of us are lazy, we just take the router out of the box and plug it in, not changing the settings.



I should add that its illegal to use someone elses connections like that... I'm not opposed to it but FYI. When the neighbor keeps his cats off my deck, I'll stop gaming over his connection.

 

[ProMac1K]

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=19242&width=2



Is this the same page, and does that show that I am setup?



I understand that it is not legal to jump into any other persons connection. That's not my full intention, but this should also work for what I need when I move. Really, all of us with wireless (ethernet) out here are on one main connection. I know of at least two other houses out in this area in the three mile range that are on the same connection. We all get the connection from one signal, but we did pay for the receiver and we do pay a monthly fee. Last night the connection, as tested off of an internet site, ranged from 113 kbps down to in the 40's for kbps. That just shows that one persons connection affects all of the others out here running wireless (ethernet) from the one signal. Our signal originally comes from a school at a town about 15-20 miles southeast of here, then jumps about 10 miles north to an elevator or farmers coop I think, then comes like 10 miles west-southwest to here. Besides that, it goes to a lot of other houses too. We're out at the end of the line here, pretty much. Supposed to be a 100 Mbps speed all of the time, as says on the connection status that must be programmed that way because it never changes. But I don't know about Mbps, how does that convert to Kbps?

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Your confusion TMaas is that you are talking about two seperate things. The wireless internet connection that you have are your ISP (internet service provider) - you need to have their receiver and antenna to use that signal. That is just your "access point" to the internet. Other people will have a DSL modem, cable modem, satellite connection, or a simply dial up modem. What is being discussed here in an 802. 11 wireless network - commonly referred to as WiFi. For that you have a router that connects to your access point and relays the signal to 802. 11 equipped devices as well as usually having several hardwired ethernet ports. From reading above it looks like you have an ethernet router and are using a twisted pair cable connection to connect to it. So when you are at home you are plugging a cable into your laptop to access the net. Looking at your network configuration your laptop does have an 802. 11 network card in it but you aren't using it. If you bought a wireless router and replaced your existing ethernet router with that you would be able to use the internet within about 300 feet of that router. As said above, your wireless connection will automatically recognize most 802. 11 connections - because most people are lazy (or simply don't know how) to set their router up so that people can't just sign right on. If you do get a wireless router I'd suggest you either take the time to learn how to setup the security on the router and your laptop to stop people from stealing your connection.



Your 100 mbps connection is between you and your router - that is a standard 100baseT connection. 1 mbps is 1000 kbps btw. Your wireless (802. 11) connection would be either 11 mbps or 54 mbps depending on whether it's 802. 11b or 802. 11g. It really doesn't make a difference because your actual net connection is only . 1 mbps so you'd never see the difference.

 

[ProMac1K]

I understand all about my connection. I just couldn't understand how the computer could recognize a remote connection that isn't configured on your system. I disabled the wireless connection, for now, it was enabled. Thanks for that speed lesson. I'm use to seeing the 56Kbps there when we had dialup, didn't understand what 100Mbps was until I read up about internet. Used to think that they programmed it in there to make you think you're getting a faster speed than you really are. 0. 1Mbps seems slow, and I thought the number 54Mbps was slow. :-laf Why can't they just stay with Kbps? Is Mbps only used for device speeds, and Kbps for connection speeds?

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

K stands for kilo - 1,000

M stands for mega - 1,000,000



bps is bits per second so 100 kbps is 100,000 bits per second. 1 mbps is 1,000 kbps or 1,000,000 bps. The same notations are used for memory. Next up is G for giga (1,000,000,000). Standard notations.

 

[ProMac1K]

Thanks Steve

 

[R-N-R]

TMaas, if you use Outlook, find out about e-mail relaying before your trip.

 

[Royk]

As long as this thread has been hijacked into a wireless hotspot tutorial, let me post this question:



I just bought a laptop recently to take with me when I go on a 3 week vacation to Maine this summer to check email and websurf. It came with a D-Link wireless network card. I bought a USB 802. 11g wireless thingy for my desktop and have the desktop and laptop talking to each other on an ad-hoc wireless home network, which works well, other than I can't access the internet from the laptop. My desktop is on dialup to my ISP, with no router, which is why I went ad-hoc.



My question is is how do I set up the laptop to see wireless hotspots? I've put it on my console in the truck and driven to some supposed hotspots but get nothing. I'm running (Ugh) Windows ME on the laptop, which I'm not too familiar with. I can not find anything resembling that screenshot posted by guava on either my XP or ME machines. Do you open "My Network Places" when you are looking for a hotspot and the connection just shows up?



I'll leave it at that for now and refine my questions later.



Roy

 

[guava]

As long as this thread has been hijacked into a wireless hotspot tutorial, let me post this question:



I just bought a laptop recently to take with me when I go on a 3 week vacation to Maine this summer to check email and websurf. It came with a D-Link wireless network card. I bought a USB 802. 11g wireless thingy for my desktop and have the desktop and laptop talking to each other on an ad-hoc wireless home network, which works well, other than I can't access the internet from the laptop. My desktop is on dialup to my ISP, with no router, which is why I went ad-hoc.



My question is is how do I set up the laptop to see wireless hotspots? I've put it on my console in the truck and driven to some supposed hotspots but get nothing. I'm running (Ugh) Windows ME on the laptop, which I'm not too familiar with. I can not find anything resembling that screenshot posted by guava on either my XP or ME machines. Do you open "My Network Places" when you are looking for a hotspot and the connection just shows up?



I'll leave it at that for now and refine my questions later.



Roy

First, let me get something off my chest... . Windows ME Sucks... . like driving a '03 6 liter Powerstroke... . Uncle bill won't even support it... you'd be better off reverting back to 98.



So... D-link usually comes with its own software and wants you to use their software to manage all wireless connections rather than let windows do it. There is a setting in the network configurations, probably under the advanced tab that talks about that... the software is called the 'D-link Air Utility' and should be in the start menu.



You should be able to set the 'dial-up connection' to be a shared connection and then to share it through the ad-hoc connection.



One problem you will find is that with ME, everything is hard to figure out. Once you upgrade or downgrade, about 95% of all the problems will go away... .

 

[ProMac1K]

In response to your last question, yes I think that is how it works, seeing as how it shows you when you're connected to the LAN.

 

[RRoton]

I don't think there is any LAW against using someone else's wireless network. I do it all the time. When you install a wireless network, you have the option of setting it up as OPEN or CLOSED. A lot of people (and some company's) intentionally set them up as OPEN as a public service. When I originally installed my wireless network, I set it up as closed (password protected). I later changed it to OPEN, and set it up so nobody could use it to hack into my system. You will find OPEN networks at all the better hotels and resorts, some hospitals, most truck stops, etc. Someday there will be so many OPEN networks in this country, you will rarely ever be out of a "hotspot".

 

[guava]

I don't think there is any LAW against using someone else's wireless network. I do it all the time. When you install a wireless network, you have the option of setting it up as OPEN or CLOSED. A lot of people (and some company's) intentionally set them up as OPEN as a public service. When I originally installed my wireless network, I set it up as closed (password protected). I later changed it to OPEN, and set it up so nobody could use it to hack into my system. You will find OPEN networks at all the better hotels and resorts, some hospitals, most truck stops, etc. Someday there will be so many OPEN networks in this country, you will rarely ever be out of a "hotspot".

Case Law in Federal Court as of AUG. 2004.



Charlotte NC federal district court



I agree with you. Close your network if you don't want me in there. I do it all the time and almost rely on it as an access point. Unfortunately, the people that get in and then act will 'ill-intent' ruin it for those that are just accessing the internet.

 

[Hohn]

I'm running an Apple Powerbook G4--- 1. 67MHz, 1GB RAM, DVD burner/reader.



I connect wirelessly to an Apple Airport Extreme basestation-- 802. 11g wireless (54Mbps max), connected to my DSL modem.



The weak link in the internet speed seems to be the server on the other end.



Apple's operating system is great. They make it easy for a moron like me to manage more complex things like home network setup.



Software for apples is generally very good, but pricey. They do come with a lot of software, though. Not a lot of people want what apple provides though (Itunes, IDVD iMovie, iPhoto, etc).



I like my apple, but I can't say I'm a covert yet to the Mac cult. It works and works well- just in a different way that I'm still learning.



jlh

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Something for you guys to consider that are leaving your own net connection "open" to the world. Say someone uses your connection to plan terrorist activities and it is traced back to your IP address - who's door do you think the FBI will come knocking on? I don't let any of my clients nor my friends leave their networks open. JMHO

 

[Royk]

First, let me get something off my chest... . Windows ME Sucks... . like driving a '03 6 liter Powerstroke... . Uncle bill won't even support it... you'd be better off reverting back to 98.

The guy who sold me the laptop also threw in a copy of XP Home, but said DVD playback was better with ME so he put that back on. I left ME on it so my son could watch DVDs on long trips, but maybe I'll load XP on and see how it looks.



Roy

 

[ProMac1K]

What is the reason for ME? Also, NT? Why are they so special that they are different from 98?

 

[guava]

What is the reason for ME? Also, NT? Why are they so special that they are different from 98?

ME was strictly a marketing ploy. XP was coming out but wasn't necessarily backwards compatible with a bunch of hardware that people were still using.



Microsoft decided to put a fresh face on 98 to give it the look and feel of XP but not have any of the features. They rushed it to market to take advantage of the XP hype and it wasn't a stable product.



NT (short for New Technology) brought a windows product to the business world.





They aren't 'special' or different from 3. x, 95,98, ME or NT, 2000, XP. Think of one as home level and the other as business level. Just a matter of stability and usability.

 

[Rotty]

I have a wireless system in my home, (D-Link 802. 11b/g). It works great. But as I learned in amatuer radio, nothing transmitted is private. Lock down the router so in only allows your MAC address, turn off broadcast, use encription (sp), and reset the main password to something criptic so only you know what is, and set the option so only a hardwired connection can change the settings.

My place of employement also use wireless routers and they essentally do the same thing.

I also always had good luck with HP products on laptops, printers, scanners, etc. great service after the fact and it just works.