N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

Many of the experienced Linux people probably think this is dead simple but its cool for us N800 Newbies

The I found this article , which gave me the idea of I can use my D-link (DWL-G122) USB dongle WIFI and Win XP internet connection sharing on a Internet Cafe PC to provide a NET route for the N800 http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...02april08.mspx.

Last year when traveling to Europe I found very few internet cafes had WIFI
so Now that I just got a N800 and am going back to Europe this spring, I can use this method to get a cheaper Impromtu wifi connection for the N800.
Most cafes dont mind you using a USB Port on their PCs and of course the PCs have to be running Win XP for this hack to work

The few other wifi hotspots I found were expensive sometimes $5 per hour!!

Most cafes wont let you install software from a CDROM but if you store the small XP driver files for Dlink , or whatever dongle you use,somewhere online that you can download to an internet cafe PC from a WebBroswer or put the files on a USB drive.

You can install --> plug in the usb dongle, "feed it" the downloaded driver.

Then follow the few steps in the article above and you are in business.
I had also thought about using a Bluetooth or USB cable connection to get net access at a cafe but they required more hacking on PC and N800. With this method NO hacking required on n800 side.

DONT forget to take your USB Dongle with you when you leave the Cafe!!

Bon Voyage
stephen
www.swingkats.com

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

Hi Stephen, Thanks for the link.

But don't you think it is easier to use a bluetooth USB dongle for this sort of connectivity:

http://www.internettablettalk.com/wi...a_a_Windows_PC

This requires a single dialog box interaction on the Windows box.

Connecting up at internet cafes is a primary use case for me, so I am very interested in this being as simple as possible. Is there some reason you are not doing it this way?

Thanks,
Travis

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

The instructions is for a Nokia 770.... can u use a bluetooth wireless adapter with a Nokia N800 also?

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

You still have to install the drivers and the Bluetooth software stack on the PC. The first instruction in the howto is put in the CD, but since the cafe won't let you install software from a CD, your still going to need a thumb drive or an internet site with the software.

I'm a little confused as to WHY. If you have a PC with internet access, why not just use that instead of the much more constrained (and hard to read) iT platform? Then transfer any files you might have downloaded to the iT via USB.

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

Hello All
I wanted to use the N800 at the internet cafe instead of the PC becuase I want to be able to access bank, crdeit card and brokerage websites, which I do not Dare do from the Cafe PC. Plus I'd like to get POP3 email over to/from N800 saving a lot of time to avoid hotmail/yahoomail etc. I can still use the cafe PC for general websurfing Insecure

What would be ideal if the Cafe would let you boot from a Knoppix/CD/DVD but they wont because they have their own Win XP S/w which monitors your activity and time used.

Also the reason for using Wifi instead of Bluetooth
1) nothing to configure/hack on N800 end
2) faster connection plus possibility of enabling wap/wep for
more "security"


I will try bluetooth to see if it works. where did you get the "hcitool" for the N800

thanks
stephen

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

I just reread the HOWTO and there is nothing about installing software on the PC that I can find. However, I was assuming that the Bluetooth stack was bundled with XP SP2 and perhaps this is not the case. And maybe the bluetooth dongle requires extra software installed (but maybe it can be bundled on the dongle like OP did for his Wi-Fi solution). I really don't know.
What drjazz said (accessing secure sites) plus running net-centric programs like RSS feeds, etc. I want to download content to read later, outside of the internet cafe. Most internet cafe machines are infected with viruses, trojans, and spyware. It is not even safe to login in to gmail or yahoo mail there (I also have pop3) due to keyloggers and maliciously modified browser software and system libraries.

I am doing a multi-month round-the-world trip later this year, hopefully with an N800, so I really want to figure this out :) This will require some routine money transfers and balance checks. In addition, US laws require you to notify brokerages or banks a minimum of 60 days after any fraud or they have no liability. So you are effectively required to login into all of your brokerage and bank accounts with a minimum cycle of 50 days or so which, when you are on the road, increases the probability of fraud in the first place. There is no way to guarantee security outside of using your own client.

Actually, I didn't know that one could even install a driver (like Wi-Fi or bluetooth) at a cafe.

Travis

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

Would someone who owns a Nokia N800 and a USB Bluetooth Adaptor (on their PC or Notebook) please try to connect to the internet this way? I do not want to spend $50 on a USB Bluetooth Adaptor and then find out I wasted my money.

PS: I am getting a Nokia N800 on Tuesday, but I do not have wireless internet at my house yet. I wanted to add bluetooth to my computer for months now, so maybe I will not have to also buy the USB Wireless G Adaptor if this works. The Nokia N800 was so much money I do not have the money to buy both right now.

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

I did find this information at:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/BluWireless/BT007SI/


It looks like the PAN (Personal Area Network) profile might be what we are looking for. That would mean nothing to install on an XP SP2 box, and only one dialog box, and then just run the two line script that one has pre-written on the N800. This should give at least 0.5 Mbits/sec (the literature says twice that) in practice which is as much or more than you are probably ever going to get at most internet cafes.

drjazz, have you successfully tried the dynamic Wi-Fi idea in your original post?

Travis

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

Hello
I agree with Travis, Net cafe PCs are too dangers for using financial websites
and its also important to beable to download/upload content onto the N800.

I also investigated a 3rd method of net connection via the N800 USB cable
http://maemo.org/maemowiki/USBnetworkingWinXP
but this required hacking on both PC & N800. This would certainly be cheaper because you do not have to buy anything else.

Also remember which ever method you use it must NOT require a reboot of the
NET Cafes PC . I found in Germany, not only would the Cafe manager be very annoyed if you tried to reboot, but many cafes wipe your PC Hard drive after each session and copied a fresh Win XP OS onto the PC.

Using the D-Link Wifi USB , I did NOT follow the instructions to install with their setup program first. I plugged in the USB adapter and then "fed" it the drivers. It recognized the
DLINK and put a Networking Application in the Tray at the bottom right of the screen, without a reboot.

So it is important to do a "dry run" at home with your adapter at home to simulate the "XP Cafe environment "before going out on the road. If you buy a USB Wifi adapter locally from Circuit City, Staples etc, if it does not work the way you need it too, you can always take it back.

Best of luck and let us know what method works for you WIFI, Bluetooth,or USB cable and WHY.

thanks
stephen

Re: N800 Net access at Cafe with Wifi Dongle
 

The HOWTO says
When you give it the driver CD it installs the drivers AND the Bluetooth stack, usually Widcomm, but sometimes something else. And a BT stack is not native to Windows XP.