Tiny, Portable Wireless Bridge
 

Someone previously mentioned a wireless bridge (useful for hotels with wired ethernet) -- does anyone remember the name/maker of the device?

In my mind I'm seeing something the size of a deck of cards or two, powered by ethernet. I don't know whether or not it's based in reality, however.

Thanks,

C

You got the size right. But Ethernet doesn't carry power by default like USB or FW, so unfortunately you have to lug the wall wart along too. Asus, D-Link and Linksys (at least) have such models.

I have the ones below. The D-Link works great and is easy to configure. I have tried the Linksys only at home so far, it seems to work ok. But don't use the auto-configuration on the Linksys if you want to use it for travel. Just go into the web-interface directly.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...onics&v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...onics&v=glance

Apple AirPort Express...awesome little device, and it is smaller (1.5 decks of cards) than all of the others because there is no separate power brick, it has retractable AC prongs. Not only does it provide 802.11g, but it provides USB printer sharing and iTunes streaming audio out to an audio system.

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

Runs about $129 most places, works with Mac and Windows PC's...

POE (Power Over Ethernet) definitely exists as a technology, the first wireless access point I ever held in my hands had an adapter allowing it to receive power over the wire... You're right, though, I added that more as a wish-list feature than anything else. :)

Aha! That's the unit I was looking for:

ASUS WL-330G

Thanks, all.

C

Yes, POE does exist but it's an addon, that's why I said "by default". I used it to power wireless APs in hard-to-reach spots some time ago, but for that you need special switches with powered ports at the other end or "power injectors" with regular switches. There isn't a chance in a million that a random RJ45 connector will have POE, especially a random one in a random hotel, which is the goal here :-)

Last weekend at CompUSA, I bought a Netgear Wireless Travel Router, for $59.99 with a $50 rebate from Netgear -- really nice for less than ten dollars.

The Travel Router is actually described in the company's literature as the size of a deck of cards, and that's its size; it's also advertised for use in hotels and conference rooms and such where there's just one Ethernet connection. (You can set it to accept only one user or multiple users with a switch on the device.)

This sounds like what you were looking for. I've used it a couple times so far and it works fine. Can't say what its range is, however; I never walked more than a few feet away from it.

Edited to add: Here's the post where I mentioned it previously:

http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...&postcount=255