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[Naked Snake]

My brother in law has asked me to establish a WiFi hotspot at his place so he can access the internet on his "Pocket PC" PDA at home... My questions:

1. Is it necessary to have a desktop or laptop computer in order to make this work? Or can we just buy a wireless-DSL modem/router/whatever and have the PDA directly get online from that?

2. Does it have to be broadband? Or can it be done with dial up?


3. Anything else I should know?


Thanks!

 

[B'z-chan]

From my understanding most wireless routers/hubs require a cabled connection for setup purposes. After that your good at least thats how its gone over here. I just set mine up this week and its smokin.

I dont think there is a 56k wireless adapter.

this seems pointless in a way. Unless he's got built in Wifi on his pocket pc. If not just forget about it.

 

[teruterubozu]

He wants you to establish a wireless connection just for his PDA?

Just tell him to walk over to Starbucks or let him sit at the airport.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I helped my gf pick out a wireless dial-up system for her dad last year for Christmas. It was a blue tooth modem. I got invited over for Christmas so I could set it up. Worked great too. Just plugged it into the phone lines, configured the blue tooth adapter and off it went. If he has a blue tooth card in his PDA, that may work for him too.

BTW, I'm not sure I'd set up a WiFi network just for a PDA. Now a PSP on the other hand... I have a WiFi network at home too, and it rocks.

 

[Naked Snake]

He wants you to establish a wireless connection just for his PDA?

Just tell him to walk over to Starbucks or let him sit at the airport.

The funny thing is, there's a Starbucks 5 minutes away from his place and he's been trying to get his PDA online there without any luck, he called me today saying "Fuck Starbucks! Can you help me do this at home?" :lol

He only visits this town a few times a year (and doesn't stay more than 2 weeks each time), his PDA has built in WiFi and Bluetooth.

I know it sounds pointless to have a wireless network just for his PDA, but I'd get to use it too (I spend a lot of time there when he's out of town; gaming/movie watching is 10x better in an empty house), and he also said that his stepson could benefit from it when he visits.

 

[Lil' Dice]

First you'll need a wireless modem/router. The tricky part comes from having to install the wireless base station's sofware, this is where you would set up your network settings. If the software is compatible with his pocket PC then he can configure it using his portable device once installed. Otherwise you'll need a PC/laptop with said software installed to set up his pocket PC.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

First you'll need a wireless modem/router. The tricky part comes from having to install the wireless base station's sofware, this is where you would set up your network settings. If the software is compatible with his pocket PC then he can configure it using his portable device once installed. Otherwise you'll need a PC/laptop with said software installed to set up his pocket PC.

The Linksys wireless access points are configured without the use of any software except a web browser. You should be able to do that from the Pocket PC no problem.

 

[alejob]

Here is another option:

You need a computer with a wireless card. Connect to the internet with the dial up modem on the PC, enable internet connetion sharing on your PC, set the wireless cards on both the PC and PDA to ad-hoc mode(peer to peer) and presto. Internet access from the dial up modem, to the PC, thru the wirelees network to the PDA.

 

[jobber]

Hey, I don't have to make a new thread!

Anyway, I just purchased a 802.11g wireless router and cards for my laptop and desktop. Is it wireless pretty secure? I live in the hood and I don't think anyone around me even has a computer, but what about hackers and stuff? Will I still need my software firewall? AND does it work well with Xbox Live?

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Hey, I don't have to make a new thread!

Anyway, I just purchased a 802.11g wireless router and cards for my laptop and desktop. Is it wireless pretty secure? I live in the hood and I don't think anyone around me even has a computer, but what about hackers and stuff? Will I still need my software firewall? AND does it work well with Xbox Live?

No, it's not really all that secure, especially right out of the box. You'll definitly want to lock down the security on the router so that someone else isn't leaching off your connection. You'll find several types of security options on the router including WEP, WAP, and MAC address filtering.

 

[jobber]

No, it's not really all that secure, especially right out of the box. You'll definitly want to lock down the security on the router so that someone else isn't leaching off your connection. You'll find several types of security options on the router including WEP, WAP, and MAC address filtering.

I'm guessing you're talking about someone in my area leeching my connection?

Oh boy...this sounds more interesting that just throwing all the crap together

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I'm guessing you're talking about someone in my area leeching my connection?

Oh boy...this sounds more interesting that just throwing all the crap together

Yeah. If you don't lock down the security, someone living near by may be able to connect to your network and use your Internet connection, not to mention have access to machines you on your network. It's simple enough to use the security options, but most people never turn them on.

 

[chinch]

My brother in law has asked me to establish a WiFi hotspot at his place so he can access the internet on his "Pocket PC" PDA at home... My questions:

1. Is it necessary to have a desktop or laptop computer in order to make this work? Or can we just buy a wireless-DSL modem/router/whatever and have the PDA directly get online from that?

2. Does it have to be broadband? Or can it be done with dial up?


3. Anything else I should know?


Thanks!

1. You don't need a permanent PC if you simply have a wireless router and cable/dsl modem. You'll want a laptop or PC handy however to setup the router, enable wireless and navigate the firmware probably.

2. There are very few dial-up wireless routers and if you found one i'm not sure how it would be run w/o a PC
http://alwaysonwireless.com/index.php?page=productInfo

3. this is quite simple, once setup. i would highly recomment broadband given the price of products vs wireless dialup.