weak wireless signal
 

I am not very close to a hot spot. My laptop with usb wireless adapter can pickup the signal very well. My n800, however, could not detect the infrastucture. Is there any way for the n800 access to that same access point? can we use usb external wireless adapter on n800?

Re: weak wireless signal
 

Realistically, no.

Re: weak wireless signal
 

You can only use USB devices on the N800 if you build yourself a special power-inserting cable - and with cable and wall-wart attached, there is not that much point in a handheld device any more.

The WiFi radio on the N800 is quite up to laptop built-ins - if it doesn't see the network at all, while a laptop does, it is more likely to be the known issue with 802.11pre-n signals blocking the reception of 802.11b/g on some radios (including the N800). The only thing you could do would be to disable pre-n on the disturbing device or, under favourable conditions, switch to another band on the AP.

Re: weak wireless signal
 

With my laptop I have to use an external USB adapter to reach the network. The laptop built in adaptor is just as weak as N800's. Assume I can inject the 5V necessary for the USB adaptor, is there software to use to connect?

Re: weak wireless signal
 

It probably won't be there right out of the box unless the stick uses the same chipset as the N800 (which it better shouldn't, or it would have the same problem), but theoretically, you can add all missing modules.

However, the N800 uses a ARM CPU, and as many WiFi chipsets have closed-source binary components or assembly code as part of their Linux drivers, it is rather unlikely that you could compile a driver for your WiFi stick - beyond outdated b-only hardware the chances are somewhat slim.

Re: weak wireless signal
 

That is very unusual. USB wi-fi dongles aren't usually very sensitive, quite the opposite. I can't even get my laptop to connect to the office wi-fi with its dongle unless I move very close to an AP.
The N800, on the other hand, is _very_ sensitive. I can see all, or at least most of, the neighbourhood wi-fi networks inside a 200m radius from home. I can even connect to some of the weakest, open ones if I want. I saw the airport hotspot from more than a kilometer away. In town I can sit in the park and connect to a number of coffee shop hotspots from around the park (it's a small park, admittedly).

If your N800 doesn't see the network you could check if there's any draft-N wi-fi networks nearby - some of those have been reported to make the N800 blind.

Re: weak wireless signal
 

You are right about USB dongle. That is for the most. But if you pick the right adapter, it is way better than the buit ins of laptop. I use the Hawking adapter, which can pick up signal where internal adapter and N800 can't do. I hope there is way to use this adapter with my N800, so I don't have to carry my laptop all the time.

Re: weak wireless signal
 

Hawking Technology makes more than one USB WiFi adapter. Which one do you have? The HWUG1?

My understanding is that USB WiFi driver support in Linux is spotty, but you may be in luck if you do have the HWUG1. A quick Google search seems to indicate good support for it in Linux.

Whether you're using the HWUG1 or another adapter, you're almost certainly going to have to compile a custom Linux kernel to add support for your adapter to your Internet tablet. You'll also need a USB adapter--and possibly some sort of power injector--to get everything working.

Re: weak wireless signal
 

No power injector is required, as long as it takes less than 100 mA, because USB OTG works now:
http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ead.php?t=4177
But kernel modules to support any WLAN will be req'd, and likely not available as binaries.

Re: weak wireless signal
 

I have the HWUG1, but too bad for me. I know nothing about Linux. N800 is my first Linux device. Can you give me some info on how to do that? Do we compile within N800 or we need a Linux machine with some kind of compiler...? Thanks