802.11 Acccess Points with Dialup Capabilities?

timothy asks: "Since I like to visit friends and family, yet still be able to access the internet without hurting -their- access, I have purchased an all-in-one Linksys NAT box which combines firewall, NAT, 4-port switch, and 802.11b access in one cute little box. That's great when staying with people who have an ethernet network, but doesn't work for dialup. More and more people have DSL or cable, but Motel6 is still POTS! ;)"

"I'm thinking of either selling or supplementing the Linksys because it lacks a serial port for controlling a modem. In fact, despite the many brands of wireless AP right now, the only maker I can find with the ability to use a modem (besides Apple -- both generations of Airport have built-in modems) is SMC. One of their Barricade models has a serial port in addition to 3 hardwired ethernet ports and wireless, and a friend has demonstrated how it can be hooked up with an inexpensive 56K modem. This model has a decent web-based interface, but it's also not ideal for travel: sort of clunky to need a 2nd box (the modem), another wallwart, etc.

Can anyone suggest a box more akin to the Linksys (seems well-constructed, stacks, good indicator lights on front) but with a built-in modem? The ideal would be a single box I could set up quickly on any borrowed phone line to provide both wired and wireless access. The Apple Airport is the only one-box way to do this I can find, but I've heard only bad things about the Java setup utility necessary to make it work under Linux. (It also doesn't allow MAC address cloning, not necessary for dialup but often is when broadband is available) All suggestions welcome!"

Comments

Let me ask you this....

[Chanc_Gorkon]

If your at a friends house with your laptop and they don't have a network or broadband connection and all they have is a dialup, why don't you just use the dialup with your built in modem?? Most laptops have these built in. If it's a winmodem and doesn't work under linux, external modems are small enough to just stick in your bag as well. You can always cart the WAP in your bag as they aren't that big and if they have broadband, good, if they don't, well use the modem.

I know most hotel rooms if they do have a analog port to plugin to, they are not always in the right spots, especially in a Motel 6, so this may not seem nice, but when are you in a hotel, for business, why are you staying at a hotel that doesn't have a nice desk in the room like a Hilton? (I was at one once and this worked great when I borrowed a department laptop so I can check e-mail when at a conference.....). When on vacation, if I had a laptop, I may surf in the morning looking up local stuff, and maybe check my e-mail, but after that I unplug and remain that way until the next day. Same would go at my parents house. They have a computer and so does my brother for that matter. I can use either in a pinch.