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(Originally written for publication on FoxPop in October 2003)
One of the nice things about the Psion netBooks (NB: doesn’t always apply to Series 7’s - see *) is that they’re capable of using PCMCIA form-factor cards such as modems, Ethernet cards, GSM/GPRS cards, and even WiFi (aka. Wireless Ethernet, 802.11b, etc.) cards. Whilst the price of compatible GPRS cards remains high, WiFi prices have fallen to very low levels in the last 12-18 months.
Being a Scot <grin>, it was this low pricing that attracted me to the idea of trying to get my netBook wirelessly connected using WiFi. The following pages relate how I went about this and record my own experiences and thoughts on the matter. It’s worth noting at this point that there are many ways to skin a cat and so the way I’ve done it doesn’t necessarily mean that a) another way won’t work (possibly better too), and b) that I know anything other than what I relate. Whilst I do know a reasonable amount about Psions, I knew practically nothing about WiFi when I started looking into this and had no equipment other than my home PC and my netBook. Hence please consider this a beginner’s diary rather than a guide!
Since this was effectively an experiment for me, keeping the price down was important (did I mention that already?!?). I’m please to be able to report that I now have a WiFi connection at home for less than £75 (approx. US$120) all-in. :¬)
In order to break things down into manageable chunks, I’ve decided to recount my experiences and thought-processes in a series of articles:-
Part 5 - Extending the network
(* - NB: Series 7’s aren’t capable of doing everything that a netBook can. Their motherboards can’t handle as much current and the installed OS version didn’t ship with Ethernet/WiFi drivers and/or software. Whilst I believe that there were beta drivers available at one point, my only experience is using a netBook and so that’s what I describe here.)
Saturday, 6 May 2006