Wireless for Idiots: Freeper needs 'what-to-buy-and how-to-hook-it-up' help with wireless.

Rudder | 07-09-06 | Rudder

[Rudder]

I always lurk on these computer-help threads because they're so informative and downright useful. But this is my first request.

My dear lady friend drives long-haul OTR and wanted me to help her with using a laptop logged on the net and without trailing a 3,000 mile cable.

So we got a new lap top (a Dell that comes with a "wireless" card.)

The question is: What do we need to do to enable (what kind of) wireless link from a mobile (tractor-trailer or a boat/ship) unit to the internet?

[RosieCotton]

You're going to need something other than a standard wireless card. Those will connect to a wireless router / access point - and there are lots of them available in coffee shops and restaurants and libraries and such - but the router has to be wired to something in order for wireless devices (like computers) to connect to the internet. It wouldn't work on the road, in other words.

She might be able to use blue tooth and a cell phone, but that's not something I've ever worked with. Pinging some folks who might know more.

They also make add-on cards that connect to what is basically like a cell signal. You have to have a subscription for that to work, and it's pretty expensive and, I'd guess, there aren't too many places to connect outside of major cities. Verizon's page with info on that is here.

[Rudder]

The specs: Dell "Inspiron" B130; Windows XP; 512MB shard memory; Intel® Pentium® M 735 Processor (1.70GHz, 400MHz FSB, 2MB Cache; 3 usb ports; Express Cards slot (54mm); 56 K v92 Modem; Integrated 10/100 Ethernet; A wireless card installed but not sure whether it's a Dell 1370 or a Dell 1470; 40 Gig HD.

[tomzz]

She might be able to use blue tooth and a cell phone, but that's not something I've ever worked with. Pinging some folks who might know more.

Bluetooth uses more energy than you'd want for internet usage. Most people use a tether cable and a cellphone. Unlimited data access with Cingular is an extra 20 a month which is money well spent near as I can tell. It's about double the speed of a 56K modem which is adequate for most email and browsing.

[RosieCotton]

There ya go...good info. So Cingular acts as an ISP and gives you a number to call, or how does that work?

I've never used a cell phone for internet, so I'm curious.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I've never used a cell phone for internet, so I'm curious.

I use one for emergencies when I'm away from home.
My Verizon/Motorola phone acts as a modem when I hook it to my laptop using a USB/Motorola cable.

For an ISP I use a free Juno account. You only have to put up with a movable ad banner.
For $10 a month you can get an ad free Juno account. Works for me.

[Rudder]

Thanks a whole bunch. I'm going to need just a few minutes to digest all the info in your reply. I think she has in mind mostly using the various truck stops' facilities via a wireless router. Does this take a subscription to something like an ISP?

Also, for a fee, her cell phone Co. can make her phone capable of exchanging computer data---can this be accessed by computer modem (e.g., plugging the cell phone into a computer port? (is this what you mean that would require an add-on card?)

Bluetooth is a word I recognize, beyond that I know virtually nothing.

[Rudder]

Unlimited data access with Cingular is an extra 20 a month which is money well spent near as I can tell. It's about double the speed of a 56K modem which is adequate for most email and browsing.

Yeah baby! That sounds like the ticket...it enables a truly mobile interconnection, and for only 20 smackeroos a month.

I knew something like this existed, but I've beeen ignorant of the operational details--Thanks!

[tomzz]

Cingular provides a little application you download and there is a number set as a parameter which you have to change, at least on the east coast:

*99***1#

has to be changed to

*99***3#

The app gives you a choice of GSM or wifi but you don't use the app for wifi.

The new laptops have comm capabilities quite a bit beyond what has been there in the past. You've got your own wifi setup, the laptop's modem, ordinary ethernet cable hookup, the cell phone/tether link, public libraries which usually have wifi facilities, many churches which have wifi setups, and whatever else you can come up with so that it's pretty hard to be without the internet. The one thing I recommend you avoid is things like Boingo or Tmobile or Barnes/Noble hotspot services. Those things are flakey and the outlets seem to change every other week so that they're not at all easy to use as they claim to be.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

Thanks for the thread. I've been wanting to learn about this for my somewhat remote construction jobsite, but I was too afraid to ask.

[AnnaZ]

Best investment I've made, lately:

[rikkir]

Right before I got out of trucking (otr), Flying J was setting up Wi-Fi access at all of their locations. Don't know if that's still in the works, but have her contact them for more info.

[Rudder]

For an ISP I use a free Juno account. You only have to put up with a movable ad banner. For $10 a month you can get an ad free Juno account. Works for me.

Sounds like you got this wireless thing down. Does using a cell phone (e.g., My Verizon/Motorola phone acts as a modem when I hook it to my laptop using a USB/Motorola cable.) require a special card and port, other than a standard usb?

[Rudder]

Flying J was setting up Wi-Fi access at all of their locations. Don't know if that's still in the works, but have her contact them for more info.

Thanks...will do.

[Rudder]

You're very welcome.

I hope this proves useful to you. I've already learned enough from this thread to enter the wide, wide world of wireless.

[Rudder]

Looks interesting...I wish the link would work.

[AnnaZ]

Sorry.

[toddlintown]

Sprint $49.99 for the card, $59.99 unlimited access, Sprint now offers Mobile Broadband in more than 220 markets (cities with a population of 100K or more) - now covering more than 152 million people.



http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/wirelessHighSpeedData_tabC.html

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Does using a cell phone require a special card and port, other than a standard usb?

Nope. I've used Samsung and Motorola with nothing more that a $10 cable (proprietary) I got from eBay.
Plug and Play. When the cable is plugged in, WinXP recognizes it and sets it up as a modem. When you open Juno or whatever ISP software you are using, you select that modem and then setup a local number to dial and off you go.

One caveat. I would not use this method for extensive browsing. Because the modem speed at best is only 14,400 kpbs. OK for email but web pages load really slow. You could use something like the "Off By One" browser (Google it) to eliminate a lot of the graphics and speed things up...though I've never tried it. I load Firefox after the modem connection hooks up.

[red-dawg]

My brother is an OTR trucker and he also has a Dell laptop.
He disabled the internal wireless card and picked up a Hawking USB wireless adapter
and uses it all the time talking to his wife and web-camming with the kids.

He disabled the internal one because the Hawking has superior range compared the the Dell internal.
He stops at truckstops that have wifi hotspots in the parking lot like Flying J and Petro.
Most of the national truckstop chains have them.
He pays something like $30 / month for nationwide access at certain truck stops.
He says that the most important part of this is the Hawking adapter, it has superior range compared to anything else.

[toddlintown]

Nice legs, but no link.

[martin_fierro]

Ping.

[AnnaZ]

Corrected, with apologies, at reply 17.

[TalonDJ]

With Verizon you can direct dial to their older dialup ISP for free. I do it all time. Gives you about the speed of a 14.4 modem but it only uses normal airtime minutes (unlimited on weekends) and word very nicely with my bluetooth.

[TalonDJ]

I use Verizon, bluetooth and a Motorola phone. Costs me nothing at all beyond the phone the laptop and a bottom end verizon service plan (not a broadband or internet plan). It is not fast but I can post to FR while driving on the freeway ;-D

[TalonDJ]

Depends on what you are doing on the net. I don't have any powers issues with it for light email and FR posting use. Beats the heck out of digging up wires and juggling stuff. I can dig up the laptop and check mapquest while I am still driving.

[KoRn]

ping

[KoRn]

If its a new laptop all you need is a wireless "G" access point. They are very easy to setup and get going by virtually anyone.

I can't stress this enough. BE SURE to enable security, at least WEP to keep people from accessing your network and or sniffing your traffic. When I'm bored I'll sometimes grab a laptop out of the office, fire up Ethereal and ride around town during my lunch hour. It would literally scare the hell out of people how many businesses have completely wide open wireless networks, using applications that transfer data in insecure ways.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

With Verizon you can direct dial to their older dialup ISP for free.

That would be cool to try.
Is it an 800 access number?

[N3WBI3]

TechSupport PING

If you are interested in the TechSupport ping list please mail me

[bwteim]

My two cents

1. Figure on about $50-60 per month from a major cell provider for unlimited access with a PCIA modem card for the laptop - add about 150 or so for the card itself if the wireless card you describe does not fit that bill.
1a. Go for 24 hour coverage, not by the megabyte transfer...
1b. See if the provider will let you have a trial run or else your buddy is out big bucks.
2. Driving in major metro areas is a plus - as coverage is flaky in many areas.
3. Find a site such as
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex6/refresh.htm
and bookmark it to refresh your connection. Some providers will drop you like a hot potato...
4. Claimed transfer speeds and realized transfer things are different, IOW, mileage will vary, just like his truck;)

[bwteim]

Here is a good discussion site - EVDOforums.com

http://www.evdoforums.com/forum-3.html

[TalonDJ]

Nope, it is a # number that stays internal to Verizon.

[6ppc]

I see a lot of discussion about using cellphones for connectivity, but if she only needs access when she is not driving the built in wireless should work just fine...no need for additional equipment or services.

Most large truck stops and many hotel/motels now offer free or inexpensive wireless. The laptop should auto-detect any available access points and most likely she will only need a mouse click to connect.

The only reason she would need data access via cellphone is if she needs to have on demand connectivity between rest stops.

[Restorer]

An awful lot of chain motels also have wireless access. It seems they initially required a password, but then their front desk people spent all night doing tech support (probably not very well.)

So it seems most of them are just wide open, now. When traveling I often pull into the parking lot of a Quality Inn or Best Western to check my email. Sometimes you have to try different places in the parking lot to connect.

I hadn't thought of truck stops, thanks for the idea.

[EricT.]

My wife just got that, too. It works very well in town. We haven't used it on the road much.

[Rudder]

The laptop should auto-detect any available access points...

Thanks, that little bit of detail was something I didn't know for sure. I thought something like an antenna might have been necessary, but apparently not. I surmise the Wireless card contains a radio transceiver, correct?

[Rudder]

Thanks for the link.

[Rudder]

I can't stress this enough. BE SURE to enable security, at least WEP to keep people from accessing your network ...

Thanks! I've been slowly catching up on wireless security and am learning about disabling certain Windows components, but...

WEP ???

[bwteim]

You're welcome. Despite its monthly expense, the modem card and then service via cell providers has some advantages over the wireless networks they offer at hotels/truck stops etc.

[Rudder]

Since she (my trucker friend) has, and uses extensively, a company cell phone, and is computer facile, she would like to use both the parking lot wireless and the fully-mobile (ala cell-phone) wireless.

Often she is in unexplored (too her) areas and would like to be able to stop road side and do a map quest. As it stands now she calls me on the cell and I do a map quest for her...but I'm not always home.

[Osage Orange]

Nice hat.........

[KoRn]

"WEP ???"

It's encryption for your wireless traffic. Without encryption someone can be near your network and 'see' your traffic, 'sniff' your traffic. An example would be me sitting in front of your house with a laptop and a sniffer running. I could literally see everything you are doing, and decoding your sessions. With an assembled packet stream I could read your usernames and passwords if you were communicating with insecure applications, and that happens allot. I don't even need to be connected to your network to so this. The sniffer operates at layer 2, network connectivity as most people know it is at layer 3 with regards to IP addresses.

Nevermind the jargon, just encrypt your traffic! Then it would only take hours or days to do what I just said, but then if your traffic isn't visible in the first place, no one will know it's there. ;^)

[Rudder]

Got it. Thanks.

[js1138]

Express Cards slot (54mm);

If the built-in wireless card isn't what you need, you are screwed. The Express Card slot is brand new, and no one makes wireless cards for it yet. New laptops have this slot, but it is currently useless. There's nothing to plug in, and the only effective adapter is $200.

This means that the laptops currently being sold (nearly all of them) CANNOT get Verizon wireless Internet.

[COBOL2Java]

Here's some good info on how to secure your wireless network:

Securing your Wireless Network
Improve Home Network Security

In addition, as this article says, configure your wireless router to NOT broadcast your SSID (Service Set IDentifier). Even so, change your SSID to something that more closely resembles a password (i.e., with a combination of alpha, numeric, and special characters), like 'J0urn@1' - or even better yet, let a 2-year old type it out, and get something like '@Ef8df8(*33v]' :-). I live in a fairly "wireless" neighborhood, and you wouldn't believe how many SSIDs I "see" out there, with names like "default," etc.

Change your password frequently!

[6ppc]

I surmise the Wireless card contains a radio transceiver, correct?

Correct

[somemoreequalthanothers]

This week my company hooked me up with wireless. I furthered my education quite a bit. We have a Verizon wireless card, which is essentially a cell phone in my laptop that provides the connection. It works reasonably well, the speed is decent, costs $60 per month but requires a contract of one year.
Unfortunately I can't get service at home with it, as I live somewhat in the boondocks. I was looking forward to surfing the net in bed, but such is not to be.