Hi Peggy,
Let me give you a few options apart from using dialup.
1. Humanware maintains an up to date list of compatible wireless cards
for the BrailleNote. These can be bought directly from Humanware or on
eBay. I picked up an Ambicom card on eBay last december for around $45.
Just about everyone seems to have access to Wifi nowadays; if you visited
somebody whose house was equipped with a wireless router, you could
simply slip the wireless card into the BrailleNote and connect to their
network just as if you were connected via Ethernet wires. They might
have to give you a key to logon to their network, but apart from that,
there should be no complications at all.
2. Humanware also maintains a list of compatible Ethernet (wired) cards
for the BrailleNote. Again, these can be picked up on eBay or from
Humanware directly. If you're visiting someone who does not have wifi
access in their house, but does have a wired router (typically they would
have a wired router if they need to access the internet from more than
one computer simultaneously), you would slip the Ethernet card into your
BrailleNote, plug one end of an Ethernet cable into the card, then plug
the other end into a spare plug on the person's router. Note that
Ethernet cables are available at most electronics stores, and are pretty
cost effective.
3. If you're visiting somebody who does not have wifi in their home, but
who would let you use the internet when they're not using it themselves,
you could buy an Ethernet card, then have them unplug one end of their
Ethernet chord from the back of their computer and pass it to you; you
could then plug that end into your BrailleNote. (Note: this is only
realistic if the person you're visiting uses cable. If they use
DSL/ADSL, it would be a bit more complicated since you would have to
logon to a website and "register" your BrailleNote's Ethernet card with
their ISP, which is probably not worth the bother.)
4. If you're visiting someone who's fairly tech savvy, they can
configure their computer to share an internet connection over wifi.
Using a wireless card, you could then access that shared connection as
long as you were fairly close to their computer and their computer was
on. Note, though, that I've found this slightly frustrating at times to
get working on the BrailleNote, but it's doable.
5. There are applications for cell phones that enable the cell phone
connection to be shared over wifi, which, again, you could access on the
BrailleNote if you bought a wireless card. For example, for Symbian,
look up Joikuspot and Walking Hotspot. Once again, this is one of the
trickier methods, in my experience, to get working on the BrailleNote - I
never did get the BrailleNote to work with a connection which was being
shared over Joikuspot - so be sure you play with the demo of such a
program prior to purchasing it.
6. If you're visiting someone who has either Active Sync or Windows
Mobile Device Center installed on their computer, you can set up a guest
partnership between your BrailleNote and their computer, and access the
internet through their computer's internet connection.
7. Does your cell phone have an infrared port? If so, I've heard it can
be easier to use your cell phone as a modem with the BrailleNote through
infrared rather than through bluetooth.
These are just some thoughts. I hope this is all clear! Let me know if
you want more information on anything I've said.
All the best and good luck,
Grant
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peggy Kern" <[email protected]
To: "Braillenote" <[email protected]
Date sent: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:07:24 -0700
Subject: [Braillenote] I want to learn more about LAN connections
Hi, all. I'm thinking of changing providers, and am trying to
figure out
what will be the best for us.
Right now I have Earthlink as my provider, and like them because
they have
dial-up, which I can use when away from home and at a place where
I can't
get a wireless connection. But do to some dissatisfaction with
Earthlink's
technical support, I'm considering looking for a different
provider for my
DSL. I'm considering going with AT&T, which I've heard works
well with the
BrailleNote. But I'm trying to figure out what to do when away
from home.
I could keep Earthlink as a dial-up, and just use a dial-up
number when away
from home. But then I'm paying for dial-up while home and not
needing it.
I do have a data plan on my cell phone, so I could get rid of
Earthlink and
just use the data plan, but the bluetooth with my BrailleNote and
my 6620
doesn't always seem stable, especially when I want to go on the
web.
Usually my vacations are in Portland, where most people I visit
have
Comcast. If I got some kind of LAN plug, could I plug the plug
into the
family's computer and the other end into the BrailleNote, and
connect that
way? I usually just use dial-up, because there are no wireless
connections
picked up by the BrailleNote in the areas where I'm staying. So
with my
limited knowledge, dial-up seems to be my only option when away
from home
and unable to get a wireless connection. But if I can get a LAN
thing going
and get rid of Earthlink dial-up altogether, that might be
another option.
But I know nothing about LAN or how it works, or what I'd need to
do or
where I'd need to plug in to use a LAN connection. Does anyone
have any
thoughts or suggestions I might not have considered yet?
Peggy
http://kernsac.livejournal.com/
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