WiFi Adaptors and Aerials

Davel - by that reasoning, we should sit and wait in the hope that hotspot providers will solve the problem for us. Which they will only do if it's profitable. IMHO, it's worth spending a £40 to solve the problem today instead of whinging or waiting.
 
You can - as said - just get a Wireless adapter for your PC and share your broadband connection.
Alternatively - if your going to be a heavy user (of the laptop) then you might like to get a wireless router/adsl modem combined... this unit does the logging into the internet and will share that connection for any other unit connected to it - either via wireless or wired lan. - This is how I'm setup. The advantages of this are: 1) you don't need your PC on - so unless you leave it on 24/7 you won't need to boot it up each time you want to connect with the laptop. 2) Reliability - your not using your PC as a router - a dedicated router is much better at routing.... 3) Firewall protection - get the right ADSL Modem/Wireless router combo and you'll get the added benefit of a hardware firewall - extra security.... 4) the WLan can be made more secure in Access Point (AP) mode than in a Peer2Peer setup.
The downside - cost and setup... not that it is that much more expensive, but sometimes they can be tricky to setup....

The question is how much will you be using the laptop whilst at home!?
 
Hi Steve,
What I'm saying is that your wifi card doesn't have a range of 10 meters, it has a specified (and very low) power output. In a typical home networking environment, that may well equate to a practical usability limit of 10 meters but that's simply down to the ability of the receiver (typically a router) to pick out that low level signal amongst all the other radio noise in your home environment. By installing better (ie more sensitive) receiving equipment, a Service Provider will be able to receive your weak signal from a much greater distance. This is why (for example) the coastguard can pick up your weak transmissions when other boats, which may be located much closer to you, can't.

On the other side of the radio link (base station to you) the effective transmission power will be greater so you will be able to "hear" the signal from a greater distance. Again, this is why you'll be able to hear the Coastguards VHF transmissions at a much greater distance than you’d hear a transmission from, say, a handheld VHF.

Really my point is that if a WiFi "HotSpot" Service Provider is trying to sell his service, he should dimension his Hot Spots so that he can service his customers and not expect his customers to have to fork out for specialist installations.
 
Good man! Excellent choice (dunno about the "In French" bit though - you might get a router setup in french!!!) - Do check that your fixed PC has a suitable ethernet connection (either Wireless or just a plain ethernet card).

Away from your home connection you will find that most hotspots are pay4service - whereby, the WLAN is open for all to connect, but when you try and visit a site it re-directs you to a local page to pay for some time/Mb. Once you've given away your personal details and a load of dosh your then free to surf the net....
What is always a little more tricky is your email service - if you use a POP3 email client (Outlook Express etc etc) then your probably configured to send and receive via your ISPs mail servers (mail.wanadoo.fr ??) ... generally picking up email via POP3 is open whereever you can get a connection, but sending emails is harder...

Most ISPs will authenticate you sending an email by the IP address you are connected by, and will only allow those connecting directly through their network to send email - so - to send via mail.wanadoo.fr you need to be connected via a wanadoo dialin or dsl connection. This basically stops their SMTP servers from sending email from anyold tom, dick or harry and makes it harder (yer right!) for spam to originate from their servers....
The simplest way round this - rather than find a local SMTP server for every hotspot you visit - is to use a webmail address - these email accounts can be accessed via a webpage and you send using the online method too ...
The pain behind this is that your emails are always online - not locally, it can be harder to send lots of emails in 1 hit, you don't have the pleasure of writing your emails whilst drifting then waiting for a hotspot to just send them - you have to copy/paste them into a new msg online, and if your on a time based service then you can end up loosing valuable time typing them...

What I have done for my wandering laptop is to setup an SMTP relay service (free to download from just about anywhere) on my fixed PC (server) that will only send emails from me - I can submit the emails from anywhere, using Outlook/Outlook Express or any other POP3 client I like - but this does need me to know where my server is - ie fixed IP address. It also requires my server to be on 24/7 .... (NB setting up an open SMTP relay that will send from any account WILL result in your account being suspended!)

I'll finish by commending a valuable little program called Ultrafunk Popcorn - http://www.ultrafunk.com/products/popcorn/ - it checks your POP3 account online - just downloads the headers and you select to download or delete it - excellent for those slow/payperMb connections.....
 
Re: Don\'t panic

[ QUOTE ]
You're still a winner:-

Get an "access point" as mentioned earlier, bung it in tupperware box up your mast, give it it's DC power - and hey presto you have a relay station which picks up the marina signal and rebroadcasts it to your laptop. No wires between the three.

[/ QUOTE ]Thanks, Trueblue, apologies for forgetting about your previous answer, but its all making a lot more sense to me now.
 
Interesting reply - I must have read it three times already trying to understand it !.

Two questions . Firstly, surely Hotmail is web mail but you can send and receive that in the normal way using OE (but not Thunderbird etc). Does this not get round the problem you raised of cuting and pasting?

Secondly, am I understanding you right that you send an e mail using OE and any ISP to your home PC, which must be switched on 24/7, and which then relays it as a pop 3 mail using your normal ISP? Does a PC used in this way have a fixed IP address - I thought that this was changed by the ISP every time you logged on

As you will have gathered, my knowledge is very limited! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Re: WiFi Adapters and Aerials

Lemain,

I've found (googled) some references to home brew antennas:-

tin can antenna

and

USB WiFi This latter is a bit slow to load, but contains links to other sites. The sardine can looks quite simple, though I'd still prefer to stick with an access point / WiFi bridge with / without ethernet cable 'cos I'm not convinced that USB cables work for longer distances than 5m.

It all depends what kit you already have.
 
SMTP servers are reasonably easy to understand ... when explained properly!!
First off - this is just for sending email via Outlook/Outlook Express etc...

At home I connect via Pipex - so Outlook is setup to send emails from SMTP.DSL.PIPEX.COM - and this works very well ...

When I go round to the in-laws they are also on Pipex (and have wireless!) so I can sit down, type an email and send it via the pipex SMTP mail server.

At work we are on a different ISP - if I try and send my email (from the same laptop) via SMTP.DSL.PIPEX.COM it gives an error - because the IP address I'm connecting from isn't one of pipex's .... so I have to send via our works smtp server... which is accepted because it knows the IP address I'm connecting by.

What I did then was to setup my own SMTP server at home that I can submit my emails too - then my SMTP server can submit via Pipex as normal ....

I wouldn't recommend setting up an SMTP server unless you know what you are doing though ...

That help?
 
So in effect, you are using your own PC at home as a personal home brew ISP for you alone?

Always found that the only real way to learn IT is to have a go. So maybe ............
 
AFrogley thank you... Have now ordered a wirless card for the PC - have to do it all via a french site Pixmania as if I go to a UK site they nearly all want £20+ to post any item to europe... Crazy Maplins/PC world et al want even more - so silly when the normal or sign for postage uk-france is less than £5 and arrives in 3 or 4 days.. Just do not do business with the UK firms any more and struggel in French.

I have copeid you post to word and will refer back to it - now have wireless card to go into lap top and the D-link 120 and a D-link router - just wait for it all to arrive and hope it works -

-------------------What I have done for my wandering laptop is to setup an SMTP relay service (free to download from just about anywhere) on my fixed PC (server) that will only send emails from me - I can submit the emails from anywhere, using Outlook/Outlook Express-------------------------------

Where do I get this SMTP from please? If I install this I just leave my PC on connected to wanadoo and... Is that it?

many thanks for the help so far....

regards

Michael
 
USB or Ethernet? 802.11b or 802.11g?

Many thanks for all the replies. Very much appreciated. Now for a couple of follow-up questions:

I like the idea of the Adaptor being on the end of a lead so I can place it in the best position. The choice seems to be between an Adaptor on the end of an Ethernet cable (Airbridge) or one on the end of a USB lead (D-Link DWL-120) Is there a speed issue between these two methods? I am not sure of the relative bandwith of Ethernet, USB 1, USB 2 and the WiFi transmissions. Which is the limiting factor?

That brings me on to my second supplemental question. Is it worth paying the extra for a 802.11g Adaptor or am I fine with 802.11b? Which do most marinas use? Would a 802.11b Adaptor be redundant in a couple of year's time and need replacing?
 
Re: USB or Ethernet? 802.11b or 802.11g?

[ QUOTE ]
Ethernet cable (Airbridge) or one on the end of a USB lead (D-Link DWL-120) Is there a speed issue between these two methods?

[/ QUOTE ]

I doubt it. Ethernet typically means 100Mbits and USB is 12Mbits or 480MBits depending on implementation.

The marina's connection to the internet will be 0.5 or 2Mbits. Your WiFi link will be highly variable, within my house the rate falls quickly from 54 to 5 and often the actual delivery of data is below current negotiated WiFi link headline speed.

Some people claim the slower B version of WiFi holds a better connection in bad ocnditions.

Your choice should be driven by everyday practical considerations such as do you want a route a slim flexible USB cable around the cabin or conversely do you think the USB socket on your computer is strong enough for daily use.
 
Re: USB or Ethernet? 802.11b or 802.11g?

I like to think I'm a simple soul, and these issues are getting over complicated.

Firstly, Email
The essence of the internet is that once you have connected you can go anywhere (like a spider's WEB - gettit?)Nothing to do with ISP's IP addresses etc.

All you have to do is to signon to the email service(s) that you use and collect and send mail for that provider.

Outlook - and -Express let you set up multiple accounts for different email services, and you can setup different parameters for each. I have a stack of a dozen, and I collect all my mail at one go.
The only thing for which you have to watch is that if you are replying to an email which came in from a source other than your default, then the reply will fail Outlook says "reply will be sent via--". The solution is to click on the accounts tab above the text tab and select whichever you are currently connected to. No extra wires or software, easy peasy.

Secondly, USB or Ethernet
<ul type="square">[*] USB was designed to connect different peripherals (printers, cameras, w.h.y) to a single computer,
[*] as an aside I don't think plug 'n play was part of the concept, but that's not the issue here.
[*] It's not a networking faclility.
[*] Peripherals typicall sit near their computer, so the maximum length of cable is limited to about 3m.
[*] WiFi USB "dongles" were not intended to be attached via a cable, but there is probably no good reason why it should not work, but I'd be "concerned" about how much power they might radiate - that is even if you stick it in a can it's signal output might not be very good anyway. I just don't know, and it's only a maybe.
[/list]

Ethernet
<ul type="square">[*] Is a networking designed feature
[*] Cable runs can be up to 180m. without any signal enhancement
[*] Is designed to be shared between multiple computers (not current issue)
[*] Shouldn't have plug 'n play issues as the PC only "sees" one connection.
[*] More robust than USB
[/list]

What to do?

If you've already got a WiFi dongle get a 3m. cable and see if it works. If it doesn't get an access point and stick it up your mast

If you'r a greenfield site, or want to start over then, I'd go with the access point up the mast but ethernet cable to your laptop. NB you'll need a DC power feed to the access point, plus a crossover adaptor for the PC end, both cheap from Screwfix.

Forget 802.11g it's like towing a caravan with a Ferrari.
 
Re: USB or Ethernet? 802.11b or 802.11g?

This is a really interesting and informative thread. I think the glitch that some people might have with sending and receiving emails via a mail robot (like Outlook) as if they are from mail addresses other than those of their ISP is common. I had it and could never send orange.net emails from my ntl ips connection. Then I found a setting in Outlook - under internet email settings, go to more settings, outgoing server. Then you click my outgoing server SMTP requires authentication and make sure use same settings as my incoming mail server is set. Voila! I'm no software techie, I just stumbled on this answer in the course of trying out all sorts of settings so I could use my email accounts freely from one place. It works vice versa too. Or there is always mailtoweb!
 
Re: USB or Ethernet? 802.11b or 802.11g?

[ QUOTE ]
Firstly, Email
The essence of the internet is that once you have connected you can go anywhere (like a spider's WEB - gettit?)Nothing to do with ISP's IP addresses etc.

All you have to do is to signon to the email service(s) that you use and collect and send mail for that provider.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not so.

Most ISP's will limit the sending of emails only to their own subscribers who are connecting through one of their points-of-presence, i.e. the IP address of the sending device has to be a member of the ISP's reserved address range.

Some ISPs will allow SMTP email sending using Secure Password Authentication but in my experience not many do.

I often resort to sending emails using a web based email service and receiving emails using Outlook.
 
Re: USB or Ethernet? 802.11b or 802.11g?

[ QUOTE ]
Then I found a setting in Outlook - under internet email settings, go to more settings, outgoing server. Then you click my outgoing server SMTP requires authentication and make sure use same settings as my incoming mail server is set. Voila! I'm no software techie, I just stumbled on this answer in the course of trying out all sorts of settings so I could use my email accounts freely from one place. It works vice versa too. Or there is always mailtoweb!

[/ QUOTE ]


works for me with using a vodafone a/c with ntl
 
Im a bit lost. I have an access point i bought when wi-fi first began, that allowed one laptop to surf wirelessley, latter i bought a router which allows sometimes 4 of us to use our laptops but ever more slowly, both these need to be pluged in by cable to either an adsl or cable modem which itself must be have a cable attached to the telephone or cable line connection.
All our laptops have builtin annteners but an old tosheba which has a d-link addapter works just as well.
So how can i get the signal into a router or accsses point other than by cable??
 
What was being discussed was the lack of decent signal in marinas below decks ie where you want to actually use your laptop (or computer)...

Some of the options are:
1) Get an USB wireless box - so the box can be remote from the laptop and be possitioned above decks to get a better signal

2) Get a PC Card/USB box that can take an external aerial - the aerial can be mounted anywhere it gets a good signal

3a) Get a wireless access point and mount it up the mast, run power AND a Cat5 ethernet cable back down - plug the cat5 cable into your laptop - no need for wireless on your laptop

The problem with those options are that they require extra cables comming from your laptop - fine if you have a fixed computer though

3b) Get a Wireless access point (not the ones with DSL modems built in) mount it up the mast, run DC power to it and use it as a bridge point - it receives signals from your laptop and passes them on to the marina's access point and then passes back the response - ie a bridge between the two computers. The main advantage of this is there is no wires between any of the units and you get a good signal - a little overkill unless you have severe signal problems or use the facility a lot.
 
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