Wi-Fi

[freightdog]

Just bought a NetGear Range Max wireless PC card -

We are headed out Friday for about 9 days on the road - been looking up
wi-fi hotspots and charting them out -

Has anyone used wi-fi - I am a virgin! :elkgrin:

[BajaTaco]

Nope - I am a virg too! LOL

I would really like to get a laptop (don't have one) and do the Wi-Fi on our western states tour when we do it. Good luck with your new toy!

[Scott Brady]

You are going to love it. With my traveling, I am a WI-FI pro now. Almost every Starbucks has it, though you will pay for it.

I always try to find a locally owned coffee shop. The coffee is usually better, and the the WI-FI is usually free.

[Scott Brady]

Nope - I am a virg too! LOL

I would really like to get a laptop (don't have one) and do the Wi-Fi on our western states tour when we do it. Good luck with your new toy!

You can take my extra machine...

[BajaTaco]

You can take my extra machine...

:ylsmoke: Thanks!

[goodtimes]

Wifi? Yup.....on it right now. The only problem I have run into so far, is that I cannot *send* E-mail directly from my machine using my comcast e-mail. I can recieve it, but get an error when I try to send it, unless I am on the wireless network I have set up at home. It may have something to do with security settings here at the university.....but is not a big deal, as I can use my UofA webmail service to send E-mail. I may also be able to use Comcast's webmail service to send from my account....but I have never tried. I just wait until I get home, or use my .edu address.

You can also do what Rockcrawler (from 4wdtrips.net) does when he goes to visit his parents back in Wisconsin....just drive around until you find someone with a open network. They are usually not that hard to find from what I hear. This works for quick E-mails, but if you are driving around a neighborhood real slow, the suddenly stop infront of someone's house (when you find a open network), and sit there for a couple hours surfing the net....you might have to explain yourself to a gun-toting homeowner.

[BajaTaco]

:xxrotflma


I guess if you are counting home networks, I do have that on wireless (secured! thank you). But I have not done the mobile Wi-Fi yet.

[mountainpete]

Mobile Wi-Fi is surprisingly easy. First, I'm not an advocate of hopping on someones unsecured connection. It's stupid of them to leave it unsecured, but I personally don't feel it's right to "use" their connection because it's there... but that's just me :shakin: If you pay for the connection, you know it will work and you can often get plans from major providers that will allow you to use a national chain of hotspots.

Now to the fun stuff... Most modern cities are covered with hotspots and the range is usually about 300 + feet from the transmitter. That isn't the best range if you want to stay in your truck. You can go out and buy a stonger antenna, but it's more fun to build one yourself. There are some really cool home brew antennas for Wi-Fi and some actually work really, really well.

Here are two of my favorite cheap homebrew antennas:

Chinese Cookware antenna (http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/)
Tin Can Antenna (Cantenna for short) (http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html)

Pete

[BajaTaco]

Cool!

I like the concept of entire Wi-Fi towns (http://news.com.com/S.F.+keeps+pushing+citywide+Wi-Fi/2100-7351_3-5837070.html)

[whitethaiger]

....
You can also do what Rockcrawler (from 4wdtrips.net) does when he goes to visit his parents back in Wisconsin....just drive around until you find someone with a open network. They are usually not that hard to find from what I hear. ....

Yeah, they are not hard to find at all: I did a little survey on my street a while back: I found 22 WiFi home networks along half a mile of street with only 8 locked :Wow1:

[freightdog]

Cool - thanks for all the advice -

Pinon / Navajo Reservation / is all wifi through the school but very secure so I have DSL -

I checked for places in Durango / Cortez / and Chama - where we will be hanging out -

I bought the most powerful card I could find but will create a Cantenna! That is cool!

Thanks all! :cool:

[Desertdude]

I am always on wifi somewhere :) As a mac user the antenna in my powerbook will find anything near by and if it is not secure I can access it.

I am in a barne & Noble right this minute using their service :)

[Desertdude]

Not that you want to be in a campground but it could be a quick pit stop on the road

http://www.camp-wireless.org/site/frontpage

[durango_60]

You'll find plenty of free connections in Durango, if all else fails feel free to come park in front of my house! :ylsmoke:

[BajaTaco]

You'll find plenty of free connections in Durango, if all else fails feel free to come park in front of my house! :ylsmoke:

Welcome to the forum ;)

[durango_60]

Thanks, been lurking for a while, this site fuels my daydreams.

[freightdog]

You'll find plenty of free connections in Durango, if all else fails feel free to come park in front of my house! :ylsmoke:

Thanks Durango - I'll call your cell before I park out front...

[DesertRose]

Hi everyone - we also are now totally un-wired with WI-FI.

Goodtimes - the reason you can't send email on your POP client software is because you would need to set up an account using the network's send address - sometimes you can figure it out. If your computer can tell you what the network is (for example, at Ike's coffee shops in Tucson - free WI-FI - they use Comcast as their service provider) you can use a "reverse DNS lookup" service on the web and then usually guess what their send-mail address is and set up an account to use for sending mail on that account. I just tried a few different versions of 'mail.comcast.com' etc until one worked. Sometimes you can ask and they'll tell you but often the staff are not aware.

For finding hotspots, for those of you poor folks who still haven't been enlightened enough to buy Macs ;) , you can download programs that "sniff" out nearby hotspots, or buy little devices that do it so you don't have to fire up the laptop.

I was wondering if anyone out there has used cell access to the web using the laptop out in the boonies (when you can find a tower)? My brother said it was cheap to buy a cable for his Verizon-Motorola phone, and at night or weekends he can access the web free when he's on the road. i haven't done it yet....

And anyone happening by the far end of the Sierrita Mountains in the lovely Altar Valley, Arizona, can use our network!

Roseann

[Desertdude]

quote: or those of you poor folks who still haven't been enlightened enough to buy Macs

Ah another mac user... my peeps :D
------------------------
quote: And anyone happening by the far end of the Sierrita Mountains in the lovely Altar Valley, Arizona, can use our network!

might have to happen by some time - please leave it on even if you are out on Safari ;)

[DesertRose]

[QUOTE=

might have to happen by some time - please leave it on even if you are out on Safari ;)[/QUOTE]

You can join the coyotes & ravens :p . I think they have good parties here when we're gone.

[When I set up the Airport Extreme network, the guy from Tucson's mac store warned me to be sure to set up security - I told him we didn't have any neighbors and the only traffic on the state road was smugglers, hunters or ATVers. He could not comprehend no neighbors: "How can you stand it - being so isolated?" My reply was "How can you stand HAVING neighbors?"]

[dieck]

Mobile Wi-Fi is surprisingly easy. First, I'm not an advocate of hopping on someones unsecured connection. It's stupid of them to leave it unsecured, but I personally don't feel it's right to "use" their connection because it's there... but that's just me :shakin: If you pay for the connection, you know it will work and you can often get plans from major providers that will allow you to use a national chain of hotspots.

Now to the fun stuff... Most modern cities are covered with hotspots and the range is usually about 300 + feet from the transmitter. That isn't the best range if you want to stay in your truck. You can go out and buy a stonger antenna, but it's more fun to build one yourself. There are some really cool home brew antennas for Wi-Fi and some actually work really, really well.

Here are two of my favorite cheap homebrew antennas:

Chinese Cookware antenna (http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/)
Tin Can Antenna (Cantenna for short) (http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html)

Pete

I'm a network geek and an amature HAM. you can get a 9 DB omni antenna and mount it externally to get wifi and ranges up to half a mile or more. You can get much higher range out of 2.4ghz out of a directional antenna but difficult to operate while driving without a gymbal.