#258591 - 20/06/2005 11:51
Wireless Access Point info please
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enthusiast
Registered: 06/08/2002
Posts: 333
Loc: The Pilbara, Western Australia
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Due to my location, I can only get broadband via 2-way satellite.
Currently, the satellite modems are connected to my girlfriends PC (Win XP) via USB and a software app called DirecWay Navigator. This PC then shares the internet connection to my PC, which means that if I want internet access, I have to fire up her PC too.
As I am thinking of purchasing a laptop with WiFi, I would like to know if it is possible to get a Wireless Access point that can interface with the satellite modems via USB?
Thanks!
_________________________
Peter.
"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." - George Best
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#258592 - 20/06/2005 12:23
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: pedrohoon]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
As I am thinking of purchasing a laptop with WiFi, I would like to know if it is possible to get a Wireless Access point that can interface with the satellite modems via USB?
Highly unlikely. It is possible to purchase ADSL capable routers which have a USB socket to put a USB ADSL modem into but it has to explicitly support the device. 99% of these USB devices require the firmware to be loaded in at startup and chances are that this satellite modem requires the same thing. Basically, you're better off asking if the broadband company can supply you with an ethernet version.
One possible solution which may prove too much of a hack is that you can buy USB extenders which work over ethernet. They're pretty expensive however and compatibility isn't guaranteed. You also have to rig it so that only one PC at a time will ever access the modem.
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#258593 - 20/06/2005 12:41
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: pedrohoon]
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addict
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 498
Loc: Virginia, USA
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Quote:
Currently, the satellite modems are connected to my girlfriends PC (Win XP) via USB and a software app called DirecWay Navigator.
I thought the DirecWay "modem" also had ethernet out. No?
Edit: Yes, there are models that don't require a host computer.
Edited by Dylan (20/06/2005 12:46)
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#258594 - 20/06/2005 13:40
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: Dylan]
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enthusiast
Registered: 06/08/2002
Posts: 333
Loc: The Pilbara, Western Australia
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Thanks for the link! I am not sure which model we have here (model info is not conspicuous) but there is definitely no ethernet port, only USB. The modem was supplied as part of a package deal by the ISP (Bigpond), so it looks as though we are out of luck unless we cough up for one of the models listed on that link, or unless we can just get the 'gateway' mentioned as part of the DW4020 model and combine it with the existing two (TX/RX) modems. Or are there any routers with a USB input? (You can tell I don't know much about networking  ) (Being almost midnight doesn't help either  )
_________________________
Peter.
"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." - George Best
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#258595 - 20/06/2005 14:06
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: pedrohoon]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
The modem was supplied as part of a package deal by the ISP (Bigpond), so it looks as though we are out of luck unless we cough up for one of the models listed on that link, or unless we can just get the 'gateway' mentioned as part of the DW4020 model and combine it with the existing two (TX/RX) modems.
The gateway is probably a small PC of some kind. If you can pick up a cheap PC somewhere then you could just use that instead?
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#258596 - 20/06/2005 16:38
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: pedrohoon]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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If it's similar to the Starband service, the software they load also includes a proxy. Make sure you use it, as it can speed up the loading times on web pages. The one I saw would receive all the images and extra content back along with the main HTML page to cache, so it was there when the web browser would start asking for them as it parsed the HTML. That way, you don't see the nearly second lag time between request, html and image loading.
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#258597 - 20/06/2005 19:25
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: drakino]
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old hand
Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
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Any free Linux or BSD proxies do this same thing?
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#258598 - 20/06/2005 19:47
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: TigerJimmy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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I doubt it, as the proxy setup (that again Starband used) depended on the client piece, as well as the servers on the other side of the connection. The servers at Starband were the ones to quickly grab the HTML, parse it and start grabbing the rest of the pieces to send back. The piece on the client side simply aceepted all the pieces from the server.
The easiest way to tell this was going on was to check the Internet control panel and see what the proxy was set to. Starband showed a 127.0.0.1 proxy, but I can't remember the port. The person I knew with it dumped it a while back in favor of some small town DSL setup that came to his area.
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#258599 - 20/06/2005 20:35
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: TigerJimmy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14491
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
Any free Linux or BSD proxies do this same thing?
If you mean "caching proxy servers", then yes.. The ISP itself is probably using a version of squid, and that software runs native on Linux, *BSD, etc..
Cheers
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#258600 - 21/06/2005 11:22
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: tman]
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enthusiast
Registered: 06/08/2002
Posts: 333
Loc: The Pilbara, Western Australia
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Yes, it looks as if that will be the cheapest way to go while freeing up the GF's PC. I was thinking along the lines of a mini-itx system, as it would only need to run Windows, the DirecWay Navigator software, and some kind of anti-virus/firewall, and should be low-powered enough to leave on 24/7. Would a mini-itx system be fast enough to do this? If the sat modems were connected to the mini-itx system via USB, and a WAP was connected via ethernet, would windows XP's internet connection sharing feature work through the WAP? Sorry if these questions seem stupid, but the limit of my networking knowledge is plugging in my empeg via ethernet to my PC Thanks!
_________________________
Peter.
"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." - George Best
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#258601 - 21/06/2005 11:25
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: pedrohoon]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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I would think a mini-itx would have sufficient oomph to do what you're asking. I've used a similar configuration in the past (WAP connected to windows machine with ICS) and it worked a treat.
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Cheers,
Andy M
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#258602 - 21/06/2005 23:43
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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Shouldn't a setup like that function as an access point just by adding a WiFi card?
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Glenn
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#258603 - 22/06/2005 00:04
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: gbeer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
Shouldn't a setup like that function as an access point just by adding a WiFi card?
It'd work fine in Adhoc mode but I don't think you can do AP mode in Windows.
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#258604 - 22/06/2005 00:40
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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I've seen a $15 Hawkwing usb adaptor, the UI for is strange, it's a challenge to get all the settings right at the same time, but it has infrastructure, ad-hoc and AP choices.
_________________________
Glenn
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#258605 - 22/06/2005 12:08
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: andym]
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enthusiast
Registered: 06/08/2002
Posts: 333
Loc: The Pilbara, Western Australia
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Thanks Andy, should I go for the M10000 with a fan-cooled 1GHz C3 CPU or would the ME6000 with a fanless 600MHz Eden CPU be adequate?
How does the 600MHz Eden compare to a P3 500MHz CPU?
Thanks!
_________________________
Peter.
"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." - George Best
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#258606 - 22/06/2005 12:21
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: pedrohoon]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
Thanks Andy, should I go for the M10000 with a fan-cooled 1GHz C3 CPU or would the ME6000 with a fanless 600MHz Eden CPU be adequate?
A fanless 600MHz Eden should be fine as you're not doing anything particularly strenuous on it.
Quote:
How does the 600MHz Eden compare to a P3 500MHz CPU?
Rule of thumb for VIA CPUs is that effective speed is a little over half the real clockspeed.
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#258607 - 22/06/2005 13:00
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: tman]
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enthusiast
Registered: 06/08/2002
Posts: 333
Loc: The Pilbara, Western Australia
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Thanks Trevor,
would the setup on the attached diagram work?
Attachments
258305-Network_layout2.GIF (133 downloads)
_________________________
Peter.
"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." - George Best
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#258608 - 22/06/2005 14:21
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: pedrohoon]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
would the setup on the attached diagram work?
Yep. Looks fine. You'll probably want to turn off useless graphical tweaks on the ICS box and make sure you've got a good firewall installed.
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#258609 - 23/06/2005 09:32
Re: Wireless Access Point info please
[Re: tman]
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enthusiast
Registered: 06/08/2002
Posts: 333
Loc: The Pilbara, Western Australia
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Great, thanks again!
_________________________
Peter.
"I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted." - George Best
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