Personal Dork Assistant

Home Networking

Yuck. Looks like that the Access Client Mode of a Linksys WAP11 will only talk to another WAP11 or some other 802.11b access point with an Atmel chipset. Of course, the AP/Router/Switch BEFW11S4 doesn't use the Atmel chipset, even though they're both Linksys products, so I'm SOL. If I want to put the DSL equipment in the wiring closet and go fully wireless, I'll have to get another piece of equipment to help the Smurf G3 get on. Either another WAP11, a Proxim USB Wireless Adapter, or a Skyline PCI card, all of which costs about the same. The WAP11 would be transparent to the host computer, but it's a clunky box. USB networking seems like a kludge to me. Sticking a radio antenna inside a computer case doesn't seem to bode well for its range. Although having the spare WAP11 does mean that I can get better coverage of the house, with the BEFW11S4 downstairs and the WAP11 upstairs, connected by the Cat5 run. Oh, and I can use an extra Orinoco Silver PC Card for the PB1400 to make it a roaming Internet terminal / streaming net-radio.

I know, the most practical thing is to quit grad school, get an electrician's license, and learn how to pull Cat5 through the walls. But wireless networking is just one of those sufficiently advanced technologies that appears totally magical. Although the glamour fades a bit when I have to shift the PowerBook back-and-forth just right to get a signal.