So, as an impulse, I broke down and bought an N800 from CompUSA.

First thing I did (after ordering a beer) was to try to connect to a personal telco node and to my surprise, the N800 couldn't find the node. Since I'm the guy who installed this node, I know I was sitting only 10' from the hardware, and I whipped out my 770 which could find it and connect no problem.

The only way I was able to connect was by manually creating a entry in the connection manager (and enter the ssid). FWIW, this AP is unsecured.

When I got home, the N800 was able to find my WPA-enabled access point no problem and connect after I entered the key.

So... Has anybody else had N800 problems connecting to an "open" access point? Can I assume this is a bug?

Brad.

I am curious as to the hardware/radio you are using to run your node. I sometimes hang out with the Seattle Wireless guys up here. I have a N800 and haven't had any trouble finding or connecting to nodes. I have found the N800's reception range, like the 770's to be quite good. I use Kismet for doing site surveys. Have you tried to see if your node is detected in Kismet, if not the official WiFi finder app?

No problem with open (or otherwise, so far) access points here.

Waiting for my N800 to arrive. What is Kismet and is the program hard to install.

Kismet is an 802.11 layer2 wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system.
apt-get install kismet
do that from cli

Seri..Thanks, after I did the post and went and did the search to learn more. I understand the sniffer application, used many different versions on PPC, what you typed is Greek in the mirror for me.

Once I recieve the N800 on Friday I will have a lot to learn.

Nothing too exotic I'm afraid: The AP is a Linksys WRT54GC with a cheapie antenna, used as an access point (I bypass the router functionality and simply plug the LAN into the 4 port switch). An old IBM Netvista 8364 (Pentium 233 mobile MMX w/ 2 ethernet cards installed) running m0n0wall for the firewall and also provides a nice captive portal.

I can't say enough good things about m0nowall - it's been rock solid at my favorite local dive bar, and I'm running it on low-end hardware and home for months.

Well, it must be something odd with the node. I reloaded my 770 yesterday and when I took it to the bar tonight it couldn't find the access point either (until I added it manually). I'll try with my laptop and perhaps try Kismet - I know this was working.

Will have to investigate more.

Brad.

I got my NOKIA N800 on Friday I am in the NW burbs of ATL GA and my subdiv has a wifi hub and my pocket pc and ny centrino labtop pics up the web with no problems from my home and my nokia has spotty connection and when it does connect it doesn't let me load some pages and also blocks me from downloads. I am sure there is a fire wall some where I have to fix but I have to admit I am a nubie to this OS system. Thanks