Viewing By Category : wifi / Main
March 29, 2008
It won't recognize my Verizon broadband card - or at least it won't connect. Network preferences show that it thinks the "Novatel CDMA" card has become an Apple modem (huh?!). Delete the network profile, re-insert the card, bingo! Auto-configuration "just works".
I'm posting these little notes in case they might help anyone else moving to Leopard (and as a testament to the fact that whilst I love Apple, I know not everything goes smoothly with a Mac - and this is why I held off upgrading for three months after buying the Leopard DVD!).
April 13, 2007
BART is going to be offering system-wide wireless Internet access in the not too distant future. Trials have not yet begun but will initially be limited to the four stations under San Francisco (Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Center). I don't know whether the trials will be free (I suspect so) but the main service will be $10 for a day pass, $30 for a monthly pass and $300 for an annual pass with corporate plans available.
March 20, 2007
As my iTunes collection gets larger and the number of open source projects I work on grows, it gets harder to share space on my work laptop so I just took the plunge to buy a laptop for me. After a lot of deliberation - and negotiation with my "financial controller" (aka "wife") - I settled on a 2.33GHz 17" MacBook Pro with 3Gb RAM, the glossy screen and the 160Gb HD. We've been planning to buy a new Mac for Jay for a while so I also added a 2.16GHz 20" iMac with 2Gb RAM and the 250Gb HD. We also decided to try the Airport Extreme Base Station which brings together high-speed wireless with a multi-port router and a networked USB port. That'll make it easier for us to share our myriad USB devices over the network. In theory. I'll post more about how this holds up in reality in due course.
September 7, 2006
Philips have announced they will ship a wireless Skype-enabled phone. Not much details in the eWeek article but it's an interesting sign of just how mainstream VOIP in general (and Skype in particular) is becoming these days...
July 6, 2005
An interesting case in St Petersburg, FL about a man charged with "unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony" for camping outside someone's house and using their (open) wireless network.
It raises some interesting questions and, of course, highlights how important it is to secure your wireless network!
December 13, 2004
It's nice to see in-flight wi-fi becoming a reality. The rates may seem steep but if it allows you to do a couple of hours of useful work online during a flight, that's a pretty good productivity deal in my opinion.
I also read that the FAA is planning to allow in-flight cell-phone usage too at some point.
Both of these will help reduce the amount of 'dead time' that business travelers have to face when they're flying - one of the reasons that, today, I try to fly overnight so I can combine flying with sleeping and not miss any valuable work time.
September 21, 2004
I began to have problems with my year+ old D-Link WAP so I decided it was time to treat myself to a shiny new Apple AirPort Express. I just installed it. Which involved sticking an ethernet cable into it and plugging it into the wall. Bingo! Online. The cool stuff is being able to plug your stereo into it and play your iTunes library over WiFi and to wirelessly share a USB printer. And it's so small you can stick it in your pocket and take it wherever you go to create a wireless network... wish I'd had it at the Fusebox 2004 conference last weekend!
August 12, 2004
UK scientists roll out Wi-Fi proof wallpaper | The Register: something to keep an eye on if you're worried about people hacking into your wireless network. As the article notes, you'll still need to replace your windows (I didn't even know you could get radio-absorbing glass!), but it's an interesting concept and more confirmation of the mainstream nature of WiFi these days.
April 8, 2004
The BBC report that WiFi is coming to trains in Britain. GNER (Great North Eastern Railway) ran a trial of the service a while back and have deemed it a success so now they are rolling it out for all passengers. This makes rail a very appealing option: reasonable comfort, beautiful scenery, no driving / flying stresses and to top that off you can actually get some real work done while you're traveling to / from work or to / from that business meeting.
March 26, 2004
I was very pleased to read about Connexion's plans to roll out wireless Internet in planes this year with some European airlines. The ability to stay connected and get work done on long flights would allow business travelers to choose more convenient flight times without worrying about breaking up their work days so much. When visiting the East Coast right now I tend to take the overnight flight out and the morning flight back to minimize the loss of work time - with wireless inflight, I could fly during the day without losing prime time work hours. I hope it makes it to US airlines in the near future!
January 7, 2004
I was pleased to see that WiFi has proved sufficiently popular in the U.S. McD's that they're setting up WiFi in the UK with the help of British Telecom's OpenZone.
October 30, 2003
It's been a while since I blogged anything about wireless networks but this is too cool to pass up. Intel have produced a Macromedia Central version of their HotSpot Finder. The really cool thing is that Central caches results so that when you're offline, you can open Central and access the HotSpot database locally!
It confirmed the HotSpots I already knew about in the various local McDonald's and also showed that my local Starbucks has WiFi. Near work, I was surprised to see that the CalTrain station has WiFi!
It confirmed the HotSpots I already knew about in the various local McDonald's and also showed that my local Starbucks has WiFi. Near work, I was surprised to see that the CalTrain station has WiFi!
July 9, 2003
McDonald's WiFi experiment seems to be continuing apace. I have two McDonald's locally and one of them (Grove Way, Castro Valley, CA) is now part of the program. Unfortunately, that's the one I don't use. And even if I did, I'm not sure I'd want to pay "five bucks for two hours' worth" as JD indicates. I'd expect to get at least some airtime free while I was eating there - hey, I just paid four bucks for a Value Meal so you can't expect me to pay another $2.50 to work while I eat?
It will be interesting to see how the McWireless experiment pans out. Will people pay? Will it depend on the service provider in each case (Wayport in my neighborhood)? As JD suggests, it might need to be "connectivity-as-amenity".
The McD I use has just sprouted wifi so I may go and try it out soon...
It will be interesting to see how the McWireless experiment pans out. Will people pay? Will it depend on the service provider in each case (Wayport in my neighborhood)? As JD suggests, it might need to be "connectivity-as-amenity".
The McD I use has just sprouted wifi so I may go and try it out soon...
Hosting provided by
