Centrino Mobile Technology
Moderator: Wiz Feinberg
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Chris Schlotzhauer
- Posts: 2207
- Joined: 11 Jan 1999 1:01 am
- Location: Colleyville, Tx. USA
Centrino Mobile Technology
I just bought my two kids a new Dell "Inspiron" notebooks with the new Intel M chip and Centrino Technology. This includes a wireless mini-PCI card which means they can access high speed internet completely wireless wherever ther is a wireless router or "hot spot", such as at the University, airports, Starbucks, etc. Anyone have any experience with these? Some service is free, but you still have to subscribe to a provider such as T-Mobile. Any tips, advice, or recommendations on providers?
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Jon Light (deceased)
- Posts: 14336
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Saugerties, NY
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Mark Ardito
- Posts: 899
- Joined: 9 Aug 1999 12:01 am
- Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Chris,
Yep, I have tons of experience with the wireless stuff. I have wired my entire house with CAT5e cable in the walls and then put Ethernet jacks in every room and I also have setup a wireless ethernet system throughout the house with repeaters and all. This way, if I have my laptop I can sit on the couch and watch tv and surf wireless if I want, or if other people in my house want to use a laptop in another room they don't have to drag a cat5 cable everywhere they go. This system has worked GREAT in my house.
Also, I am currently in Graduate school and the University I attend has wireless internet running throughout the ENTIRE campus. No matter where you are or what building you are in, if you have a laptop and a wireless card you can get on. It is really cool!
I take public transportation to and from work/school. I used to be able to pick up "hot-spots" on the train ride as we passed through different parts of Chicago, but that has kind of gone away. More and more are getting smart to the idea of people like me just sitting on their connection and surfing. Most Starbucks in Chicago are wireless internet and some of the other coffee houses.
Mark
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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com
Yep, I have tons of experience with the wireless stuff. I have wired my entire house with CAT5e cable in the walls and then put Ethernet jacks in every room and I also have setup a wireless ethernet system throughout the house with repeaters and all. This way, if I have my laptop I can sit on the couch and watch tv and surf wireless if I want, or if other people in my house want to use a laptop in another room they don't have to drag a cat5 cable everywhere they go. This system has worked GREAT in my house.
Also, I am currently in Graduate school and the University I attend has wireless internet running throughout the ENTIRE campus. No matter where you are or what building you are in, if you have a laptop and a wireless card you can get on. It is really cool!
I take public transportation to and from work/school. I used to be able to pick up "hot-spots" on the train ride as we passed through different parts of Chicago, but that has kind of gone away. More and more are getting smart to the idea of people like me just sitting on their connection and surfing. Most Starbucks in Chicago are wireless internet and some of the other coffee houses.
Mark
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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com
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Jeff Agnew
- Posts: 741
- Joined: 18 Sep 1998 12:01 am
- Location: Dallas, TX
Centrino is nothing more than Intel marketing-speak for a technology that's been around for years. The difference is that Intel put the wireless access card on the CPU instead of an external device. That's good or bad, depending on your needs.
The technology is 802.11b, or WiFi (wireless fidelity). There are newer versions, such a 802.11a or 802.11g, which are faster but have shorter range.
There are two kinds of hot spots you can access with WiFi, commercial and free. As you discovered, T-Mobile is one of the providers, along with Boingo, Verizon, and others. You do not have to also subscribe to an ISP to access their service, or any other hot spot. Most commercial providers offer daily or hourly rates.
In your neighborhood, you can find a hot spot at the local Starbucks on Glade Road.
Free providers offer access to their network simply by logging on. There is no signup or airtime cost. Schlotzsky's is installing free access in all its locations but they are currently concentrated in Austin.
Here or here is a list of free hot spots in Texas</a>.
Here is a list of commercial hot spots in Texas.
To use WiFi in your home, you can add a wireless access point to your broadband connection. Several companies, such as Linksys and NetGear, make access points that are combined with routers.
Be aware that WiFi technology is quite unsecure and that the default configuration of most access points is to leave its minimal security features off. Look for products that allow 128-bit WEP encryption and the ability to restrict access by MAC address.
Finally, there is software available you can load on your laptop which will seek out hot spot signals as you drive around and give lots of information about them, such as encryption type, access method, signal strength, etc. This practice, called wardriving, can be quite interesting
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jeff Agnew on 25 June 2003 at 04:54 AM.]</p></FONT>
The technology is 802.11b, or WiFi (wireless fidelity). There are newer versions, such a 802.11a or 802.11g, which are faster but have shorter range.
There are two kinds of hot spots you can access with WiFi, commercial and free. As you discovered, T-Mobile is one of the providers, along with Boingo, Verizon, and others. You do not have to also subscribe to an ISP to access their service, or any other hot spot. Most commercial providers offer daily or hourly rates.
In your neighborhood, you can find a hot spot at the local Starbucks on Glade Road.
Free providers offer access to their network simply by logging on. There is no signup or airtime cost. Schlotzsky's is installing free access in all its locations but they are currently concentrated in Austin.
Here or here is a list of free hot spots in Texas</a>.
Here is a list of commercial hot spots in Texas.
To use WiFi in your home, you can add a wireless access point to your broadband connection. Several companies, such as Linksys and NetGear, make access points that are combined with routers.
Be aware that WiFi technology is quite unsecure and that the default configuration of most access points is to leave its minimal security features off. Look for products that allow 128-bit WEP encryption and the ability to restrict access by MAC address.
Finally, there is software available you can load on your laptop which will seek out hot spot signals as you drive around and give lots of information about them, such as encryption type, access method, signal strength, etc. This practice, called wardriving, can be quite interesting
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jeff Agnew on 25 June 2003 at 04:54 AM.]</p></FONT>-
Chris Schlotzhauer
- Posts: 2207
- Joined: 11 Jan 1999 1:01 am
- Location: Colleyville, Tx. USA
Jeff, your reply is very informative. Thank you for the links. I will read and try to absorb some of this. My son's notebook is at home, so I can experiment with it here. My daughter's is in Lubbock. I don't see too many providers up there, but I'm sure Texas Tech has service.
If I purchase a wireless router for home, I just simply plug that into my Comcast cable modem, right? I noticed there is only one output on that modem, so would I have to switch them out when I use my hard wired computer?
Thanks again.
If I purchase a wireless router for home, I just simply plug that into my Comcast cable modem, right? I noticed there is only one output on that modem, so would I have to switch them out when I use my hard wired computer?
Thanks again.
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Bobby Lee
- Site Admin
- Posts: 14863
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Cloverdale, California, USA
The company loaned me a Mac laptop for some testing. I took it home, opened it on the kitchen table (no wires at all) and suddenly:
No wires. Pretty cool when you think about it.
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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax</font>
I was in shock. How do it know? Turns out that the Mac includes a feature called "AirPort". It went out and found the wireless network in my house, connected to it, then connected to the Apple web site.<SMALL>There are updates available for your computer. Would you like to download them now?</SMALL>
No wires. Pretty cool when you think about it.
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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax</font>
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Bobby Lee
- Site Admin
- Posts: 14863
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Cloverdale, California, USA
Chris, I use a LinkSys Wireless Access Point Router, connected to the Comcast cablemodem. The router includes a 4-port switch, so that computers close to it can be wired up in the usual way. I have my main box wired in, but Mrs. Lee's box upstairs and my laptop both use the wireless receivers.
The Linksys model number is BEFW11S4.
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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax</font>
The Linksys model number is BEFW11S4.
------------------
<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax</font>
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Jeff Agnew
- Posts: 741
- Joined: 18 Sep 1998 12:01 am
- Location: Dallas, TX
Chris,
As b0b said, you'll need a router to sit between your cable modem and any other machines on your home connection. This is a device that distributes the cable modem's connection to one or more computers. It will also act as a hardware firewall and provide network address translation (NAT) so several computers can share one IP.
Most access points, like the Linksys, offer Ethernet ports for hard-wired connections. Some also offer a print server so you can share your printer between multiple computers.
If you add the Linksys or any other similar device, be sure to download the latest firmware updates, turn on encryption, and restrict access to your network by MAC address (which is not a Macintosh, BTW.)
As b0b said, you'll need a router to sit between your cable modem and any other machines on your home connection. This is a device that distributes the cable modem's connection to one or more computers. It will also act as a hardware firewall and provide network address translation (NAT) so several computers can share one IP.
Most access points, like the Linksys, offer Ethernet ports for hard-wired connections. Some also offer a print server so you can share your printer between multiple computers.
If you add the Linksys or any other similar device, be sure to download the latest firmware updates, turn on encryption, and restrict access to your network by MAC address (which is not a Macintosh, BTW.)