One-all
I had a couple of techie things to do this weekend: set up a D-Link DWL-122 USB Wireless adapter and install Skype.
- D-Link WiFi adapter: Mr. Bsag wants to move the old G3 iMac into his studio so that he can use it to view the reference photographs he takes of an area when he’s out sketching. At the moment, he prints the shots out and uses them in conjunction with his sketchbook, but viewing them on screen is easier and less wasteful of ink. We’ve got an Airport network, but old-style Airport cards are expensive, and we’d need a long, messy ethernet cable to reach his studio. So I thought this would be a cheap way to get around the problem. How wrong I could I have been. I installed all the drivers, rebooted and plugged the adapter in. In the preference panel, it registered the Airport network and said it was connected, but also reported an Incorrect WEP key and so wasn’t actually connected at all. After a lot of faffing about and an email to D-Link support, it seemed that the D-Link was expecting a 26 character hex key for 128 bit WEP encryption. Fine. I used the Airport Base Station utility to change the WEP password to a 26 character hex string. Still no dice. It Just Doesn’t Work. Bsag 0, Technology 1
- Skype: I’m going to a symposium in Japan in just over a week, and I thought that it might be fun to set up Skype to phone home while I’m away (assuming I manage to get a net connection at some point while I’m there). I downloaded and installed on both my laptop and the iMac (very easy) and set up accounts for me and Mr. Bsag. I was itching to test it, but Mr. Bsag was out. Feeling a little bit like Milly-No-Mates, I decided to rig up a system to test the audio quality by using a portable radio. I took the laptop downstairs and switched on the radio. Then I called Mr. Bsag’s account on the iMac and ran upstairs to answer the call. There was a bit more running up and down stairs as I realised that I hadn’t set the audio preferences correctly, but finally I got to have a lovely—-if one-sided—-conversation with Radio 4, for free! Bsag 1, Technology 0
Full time result: One-all.
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Do you connect to Broadband via a USB modem? When I set up my 2 Laptop + 1 Desktop wireless network it worked perfectly till I went BB using the free USB Modem supplied by PlusNet - I found I could have one or the other, but not both. I had to buy a LAN hub and a LAN modem to get the system working. Of course, this may not be relevant to a Mac user, but it seemed the USB Modem wanted to usurped routes that the Network wanted, and the network lost!----- Jonathon Briggs: No, I use a LAN cable modem (Telewest box), so I don't think that's the problem. The airport part of the network still works fine with my laptop. The D-Link just doesn't seem able to authenticate itself with the WEP passphrase or key. Grrr.
by bsag @ 05/03/2005 6:04 pm • Permalink •
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Can you get it to work on an ad-hoc basis to confirm that transmission and reception is taking place?
by Jonathan Briggs @ 05/03/2005 7:03 pm • Permalink •
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I have started using Skype too, to speak to my sister in NZ. It works well and simply with no faffing about. If you want to test it further you are welcome to give me a call. My Skype name is BrightonRock.
by ThoughtBadger @ 06/03/2005 3:04 pm • Permalink •
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I'm a skype-r too. I talk to a friend/colleague in Vancover and use it to call home (to a landline). SkypeOut is so much cheaper than using a normal phone. I've spent 2 ⬠in four months. Skype is GREAT!
by Ian @ 07/03/2005 11:04 am • Permalink •
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Jonathon Briggs: It's certainly connecting because it's getting the name of the Airport network. I've been having a long conversation with support about it, so hopefully I'll be able to get something working in the end.
ThoughtBadger and Ian: Yep, Skype is really cool. I was surprised by the quality of the link, even when not using a proper headset.
by bsag @ 07/03/2005 8:03 pm • Permalink •
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I got a D-Link wifi hub a few months back, and encryption didn't work at all until I downloaded and installed a firmware update on it. Up to that point, any attempt to save encryption settings froze the hub completely, and needing a power-cycle.
by Caitlin @ 08/03/2005 12:03 pm • Permalink •
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and left it needing a power-cycle, i mean
by Caitlin @ 08/03/2005 12:04 pm • Permalink •
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I have to say, D-Link with a Mac is just not a good idea unless you're using something like a wireless ethernet bridge. The drivers are terrible, and they neglect to tell you when the drivers will work on one set of 10.2.x or 10.3.x versions of OS X but not others. I speak from harsh experience. And their tech support are terrible, if not rude.
They're cheap. Ya gets what ya pays for.
by Andrew White @ 09/03/2005 1:04 pm • Permalink •
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Caitlin and Andrew White: Hmm, I think the whole purchase was a big mistake. It's true, I'm a cheapskate, and I could have saved a lot of trouble by choosing another method. I did consider getting an Airport Express, but I still haven't been able to find out if it's possible (with a 'snow' 802.11b Airport base station) to extend the network with an Airport Express and connect a wired machine to that Airport Express.
by bsag @ 09/03/2005 6:03 pm • Permalink •
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